[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: lenovo s205 installation problems



* Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> [120204 19:54]:
> On Sat 04 Feb 2012 at 14:12:10 +0000, Russell L. Harris wrote:
> 
> > (2) The BIOS setup gives two options for "SATA Controller working
> > mode"; they are AHCI and IDE ("compatible mode").  Some of the
> > articles I found on this matter recommend IDE mode unless there is a
> > need for RAID; other articles recommend AHCI unless the OS release
> > date is pre-2007.  Some articles warn against changing the mode after
> > installation; at least one article argues to the contrary.  Which mode
> > should I use?  Is selection of the wrong mode causing the failure of
> > GRUB to boot?
> 
> If trying the mode which isn't the 'wrong mode' still results in a
> non-booting machine you have a problem.

Thanks, Brian.  

I now have another machine running as an approx server, which may save
time with repeated installation attempts.  (But I have not compared
the data rate of the ethernet link versus the data rate of the DVD via
USB2.)  

Installing with BIOS set to AHCI mode results in a non-booting system.
Next, I shall try installing with BIOS set to IDE mode.

In my searches with Google I ran across two or three postings which I
made back in September 2011 regarding this same problem.  The machine
has been sitting idle since then, and I had forgotten precisely the
things which I tried back then.  And back then, I was ignorant
regarding the AHCI/IDE issue.



> People are liable to ask what you did at the GRUB install stage.

The 6.0.4 installer asked permission to install GRUB in the MBR, and I
said "yes".  When I partitioned the drive with GParted, I created a
separate boot partition.  My partitioning scheme envisioned the
installation of three systems:

    sda1    primary    ext3   boot
    sda2    extended
    sda5    logical    ext3   stable (squeeze)
    sda6    logical    ext3   testing (wheezy)
    sda7    logical    ext3   ubuntu (10.10)
    sda8    logical    ext3   swap
    sda9    logical    ext3   data1
    sda10   logical    ext3   data2

I planned to maintain GRUB with stable (squeeze), and thus, not to
allow wheezy or ubuntu to install GRUB.  But at the moment, I have not
gotten past the stage of installing squeeze.

Of course, 6.0.4 installs GRUB2.  One or two of the articles which I
ran across say that, on the S205, it is necessary to use GRUB
"legacy".

RLH


Reply to: