On Thu, 1 Feb 2007, Ioannis Vranos wrote:

> Eva Myers wrote:
>> I'm having some trouble installing SL44 on a new machine from World of
>> Computers.  As far as WOC are aware, the only difference between this
>> machine and the one I was asking about in December is that the IDE
>> DVD-RW drive has been replaced by a SATA drive because they were
>> having difficulty getting a different version of Linux to communicate
>> with the IDE drive.
>>
>> However, the installation problems are quite different.  Rather then
>> freezing when I boot from the boot CD without any kernel options, the
>> install process claims that it cannot find any hard drives.  I tried
>> using the all-generic-ide and pci=nommconf options - the hard drive
>> was then detected, but the install process hung while formatting the
>> root filesystem!
>>
>> The relevant hardware details (copied from the quotation) are:
>>
>> Motherboard + processor: Intel D965SSCK Core 2 Duo 6300 2MB cache
>> Hard drive: 160GB - ST3160811AS -  7200rpm Serial ATA
>> DVD drive: Samsung DVD RW (+/-) OEM Dual Layer/16xDVD+R,8xDVD+RW,16xRead-SATA
>>
>> The Seagate website does not seem to have any hard drives with the
>> exact model number above but does have a ST3160812AS-RK - could this
>> be why the computer is behaving differently?  I was hoping they would
>> also have a Linux driver to download but they didn't.
>>
>> Is the change in the DVD drive at all likely to be the cause of the
>> problem, and could someone please explain how to get the installation
>> working?  Sorry for all the stupid questions.
>> Eva.
>
>
> In general, the oldest the hardware, the more possible to be supported by GNU/Linux. Also,
> when getting specific new hardware, it is useful to check whether its web site provides a
> driver for GNU/Linux (I have learned this first hand when I had to buy a new 56 Kbps
> fax/modem for SL 4.4. Had a Zoom but they did not provide a GNU/Linux driver for it, and I
> got a Tornado one that they provide a GNU/Linux driver for it.
>
>
> SATA is a relative new technology, and I do not think there is/will be SL 4.x support for
> it, other than the drivers that SATA controller makers provide themselves. I think that
> the upcoming SL 5 will probably support SATA. I think you may have to wait for 5.

SATA works fine in SL44.  Has worked for a long time now.

I suggest that you look at the 2 systems and look for bios differences.

You could also run memtest86 to make sure you do not have a memory 
problem.

>
> The same I think for Core Duo processor, I am not sure you will get a good multithreading
> with SL 4.x.

Core Duo and Core 2 Duo are both supported in SL44.

>
>
> In the meantime waiting for SL5, you may use the latest Fedora Core, if you are talking
> about home use.
>

-Connie Sieh