[jcliburn@osprey ~]$ cat sata_via_vt8237a.patch 
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/sata_via.c b/drivers/scsi/sata_via.c
index 03baec2..d939fc8 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/sata_via.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/sata_via.c
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ static u32 svia_scr_read (struct ata_por
 static void svia_scr_write (struct ata_port *ap, unsigned int sc_reg, u32 val);
 
 static const struct pci_device_id svia_pci_tbl[] = {
+       { 0x1106, 0x0591, PCI_ANY_ID, PCI_ANY_ID, 0, 0, vt6420 },
        { 0x1106, 0x3149, PCI_ANY_ID, PCI_ANY_ID, 0, 0, vt6420 },
        { 0x1106, 0x3249, PCI_ANY_ID, PCI_ANY_ID, 0, 0, vt6421 },

Thanks man.
I was already using that patch but didn't know if it was the right one.

It wasn't working because I was not getting the right .config for the i586 arch used in the installer, but now I got it right and managed to install everything following your notes.

Thank you for you help.

Best regards,
Thiago Witt

Hi,
its been a long time since the last post. Has anybody tried m2v with the latest kernels (>2.6.17)? I haven't found anything clear in the Internet, except this: http://www.linux-tested.com/results/asus_m2v.html
Browser search for "m2v" shows, that it is supported by RedHat.

Yes, I use an M2V with the latest kernels. Works fine except for the Marvell 88SE6121 2-port SATA controller, which isn't yet supported in Linux. The other SATA controller on the board -- a 2-port Via VT8237A controller -- *IS* supported, and that's what I boot from and use. (I have only one disk drive in the system -- a SATA drive connected to the 8237A controller.)

The onboard Attansic L1 NIC is also supported by the kernel now (as of 2.6.20), although it hasn't been backported in the kernel tree to 2.6.19, and won't be. You can get a standalone, out-of-tree version of the L1 driver for 2.6.19 at sourceforge.

Im using a Asrock SATA2-Glan Board with the K8T890 chipset and have an annoying lockup problem. Apart from that everything else works. I have sata drives on both controllers running without a problem (or as far as i know without a problem).

My issue is the computer seems to randomnly lock up once a day, usually after 12 hrs or so. I still havent worked out what is causing it. I've started from a livecd and checked through the logs a number of times, but nothing out of the ordinary is coming up in them to explain the reason for the freezing. My next options are to swap out the psu and graphics card and see if either of those fix it.

I have/had a similiar system doing this same thing (i.e. locking up after about 12 hours or so on a daily basis).

After spending a lot of time trying to solve this, here is what I would recommend you try:

1) If your BIOS has options for memory timings and/or memory command length settings, reset the BIOS to factory defaults and see if failures go down. My personal problem was that I had accidentally enabled incorrect RAM timings by setting my RAM speed to "FASTEST" (yes this was the actual value of the setting in the BIOS). I moved value back to "NORMAL" and saw some improvements.

2) Run a memory tester on your system such as MemTest86. You can find this program in many Linux Boot CD's, including Ubuntu's. Let this run for a while, if you get no errors then it is a good sign, but not 100%. On my system, my memory tests passed all the time, but I still had lockups.

3) Open your PC up and check your memory Voltage requirements on each DIMM. Then verify the voltage setting in your BIOS. Another part of my problem was that I had miss-matched memories (1 at 1.5V and one at 1.6V). My BIOS was set to 2.5V and I never had a problem for years. After about 5 years, the system started locking up. I increased memory voltage to 2.6V. Even though one stick is now above rated voltage, my system became much more stable. I have only had one lockup in the last 2 months when before it was once a day.

4) Last but not least, I read that Linux can misbehave if you have multiple devices sharing the same IRQ values. If your BIOS allows you, try disabling all devices that need IRQ value that you don't use. For device that you do use, try forcing the BIOS to pick unique IRQ values for each device.