Re: Installation on Sony Vaio VGN-A417[S|M]: Opinions
--- Lennart Sorensen <lsorense@csclub.uwaterloo.ca>
wrote:
> If the optical drive is not SATA _and_ the bios
> allows you to put the
> SATA controller into native mode rather than
> combined mode (required to
> make it possible to install windows without having a
> floppy drive to
> load drives) then it should have a decent chance of
> working. So far my
> experience shows that this is not an option on Dell
> laptops. I had to
> install with 2.4 kernel (where ide-generic seems
> able to tolerate
> things, while 2.6 saw sata and tried to use it and
> lost the dvd drive),
> and then use a 2.6 kernel with the not yet finished
> SATA ATAPI support
> enabled, after which it could find all the drives.
>
> > Could anyone hazard a very vague guess as to when
> one
> > of the working snapshots of Etch will have the
> > necessary SATA Atapi support for these laptops?
>
> Well when SATA ATAPI support is complete, those
> laptops should work much
> better, although it appears to me that laptops will
> also work better the
> day windows can install on the SATA drives in native
> mode instead of
> PATA emulation mode.
>
Len,
I've managed to find a shop in the UK (John Lewis)
which will let me return the product if I can't
install Debian within 30 days.
Thank you for taking the time to explain about the
SATA native/combined mode.
Regards,
James.
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