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Having problems installing Linux on a SATA drive?

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xtknight

Elite Member
I'm not sure how widespread this problem is but I notice many users get a freeze at sata_nv like I did when installing Mandriva/other Linuxes. I've found a very easy solution: go in to your BIOS, and disable APIC. Then install normally (no kernel arguments (like nolapic noapic acpi=off) needed). Just thought I'd let everybody know. It seems like a lot of people must have nForce 4 + SATA on these forums especially with all the gamers.

This was my problematic config:
A8N-SLI Deluxe (nForce 4 SLI)
2x250GB SATA hard drives on nF4 SATA controller ports 1&2

The options I changed:
-Enabled NVRAID even though I'm not using it
-Enabled Silicon Image controller even though I'm not using it
-Disabled APIC

That's what made it work for me. I'm not sure if the NVRAID and Sil3114 enabling had anything to do with it. APIC is probably what did it (also for another user on a German forum).
 
Hey xtknight - Thanks for the heads up! 😀

Once I get some time I'm going to dual boot my primary desktop with Linux & XP Pro. I've got a A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard and WD Raptor SATA drive.

FWIW, I was able to install Fedora Core 4 on a HP Proliant ML-110 here at work. I don't know the chipset but the drive was SATA and I didn't have to do anything special. However, Fedora Core 3 would not load on the same box.
 
I have had no issues with my dfi lanparty Ultra-D (nforce4 ultra). Ubuntu and gentoo work with no issues. I have 2 sata 300 gig drives.
 
I have a 3ware RAID card that supports the SATA interface, and it works just fine. Then again, 3ware's adapters are widely supported in Linux, unlike nVidia motherboard devices.
 
Originally posted by: sourceninja
I have had no issues with my dfi lanparty Ultra-D (nforce4 ultra). Ubuntu and gentoo work with no issues. I have 2 sata 300 gig drives.
Click to expand...

That means developers don't need documentation? Want to send an email to the OpenBSD guys and let them know?
 
I have installed SUSE 10 64 and Fedora Core 4 64 fine on the same PC without any problems as well, but it appears other distros aren't as robust, or they use a different kernel. I'm not sure if the Mandriva one was older or newer than the SUSE/Fedora one. And of course they could be compiled with different parameters, etc. I don't know the specifics of why sata_nv hangs on some installs and not others. Maybe the other Linuxes were smart and just used the libata driver they were supposed to use.
 
There is still another problem actually. The mouse does not work at all during whole installation, even with APIC disabled. So I just installed mine with the keyboard only. My mouse was USB and I think the usbehci drivers had problems with the nForce4 chipset. In any case, I'm typing on Mandriva 2006 right now on my nForce 4 board. 😉

Anyone know what APIC actually does? Something to do with power management? How's it different from ACPI? The German dude on the other forum said to re-enable it afterwards. I'm going to see if that'll work now.
 
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