Bug#340390: Installation report: no disks detected
On Wed, Nov 23, 2005 at 10:46:20AM -0500, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 22, 2005 at 10:59:52PM -0800, Ross Boylan wrote:
> > Package: installation-reports
> >
> > Boot method: CD
> > Image version: etch beta1 http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/etch_d-i/i386/beta1/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso
> > Date: 2005-11-22 22:00 Pacific
> >
> > Machine: OmniPro Intel System
> > Processor: P4 630 3GHz
> > Memory: 2G
> > Partitions: one DOS parition from Win98 installer Fdisk
> >
> > Output of lspci and lspci -n: ? sorry
Shouldn't lspci be on the install disk? I couldn't find it there.
I've attached the contents of /proc/bus/pci/devices in case that's any
help. I could poke around /proc or /dev some more if someone would
tell me what to look for.
> >
> > Base System Installation Checklist:
> > [O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
> >
> > Initial boot worked: [O]
> > Configure network HW: [O?]
> > Config network: [ ] cable not connected; skipped
This time I started with the cable in, and the network detection and
configuration seemed to go OK. In particular, it got the domain from
my dhcp server.
> > Detect CD: [O]
> > Load installer modules: [?]
> > Detect hard drives: [E]
...
> > Comments/Problems:
> > The installer did not detect any hard drives. I suspect this has
> > something to do with the motherboard, which I think is relatively new:
> > Intel D945PSNLK. One 250GB WD SATA hard drive. The block diagram
> > shows that the Intel 945P chipset controls the drive via the Intel
> > 82801G hub.
> >
> > Still, I thought this was pretty generic; I'm a bit surprised there
> > was a problem. The vendor did say the hardware should work with
> > Linux.
>
> What mode is the bios set to for sata?
I've hunted around the bios, and don't see anything that looks much
like a sata mode setting.
Use automatic mode is enabled for disks. The documentation says
"If you select Auto in the BIOS setup program, the BIOS automatically
sets up the PCI IDE connector with independent I/O channel support.
The IDE interface supports hard drives up to ATA-66/100 and recognizes
any ATAPI compliant devices .... The interface also supports
second-generation SATA drives. The BIOS determines the capabilities
of each drive and configures them to optimize capacity and
performance. To take advantage of the high capacities typically
available today, hard drives are automatically configured for Logical
Block Address and to PIO Mode 3 or 4, depending on the capability of
the drive. You can override the auto-configuration options by
specifying manual configuration in the BIOS Setup program."
>
> In my experience the intels must be set to native/enhanced not
> combined/emulated for them to work properly with linux.
As I said, nothing very much like that in the BIOS that I could see.
> They should
> appear as /dev/sda not /dev/hda.
Neither is present.
Might have to be in ahci mode to work
> at its best if it supports that new standard.
I tried selecting the ahci driver in the detect disks screen, but it
didn't detect any disks.
The bios does indicate the hard drive is there.
>
> > The system also has a floppy and and DVD/CD drive; I booted off the
> > latter.
> >
> > fdisk /dev/hda when I shelled out reported it couldn't find the device.
> >
> > It's a new machine.
...
>
> > I gave this a shot because my initial Win98 installation got hung up.
> > The Win98 installer did detect and partition the hard drive, though
> > the reported size (40G) was much smaller than the actual size (250G).
> > I manually create one 6G partition at the start. The Win98 install
> > hung up before I got to format the partition.
>
> Not sure win98 supports drives that big. Quite sure it doesn't
> actually.
FAT32 is supposed to work for up to 2TB. My vendor says that Intel
says the chipset on this motherboard is incompatible with Win98, so I
guess it's not surprising it didn't work. But how will I play Red
Alert :(
>
> Len Sorensen
>
I'll give a Win2K install a shot while I'm at it; Intel says that
should work.
I'm surprised detecting the disk is so problematic; I thought
everything worked through standard interfaces.
BTW, am I correct inferring that SATA and 2.4 kernels are not a good
mix?
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