I'm definitely not a Linux expert so please bear with this post if it isn't complete enough.

I can't get a particular optical drive to be recognised on Mandriva 2007 (2.6.17-5) although it works perfectly under XP in this configuration.

It is a Samsung (TSST) CD-RW/DVD Combo UDMA2 IDE drive connected via an Abit Serillel II PATA/SATA bridge (Sil3611) to a SIL 3114 controller. It is the only device on that controller and is on the second of four ports (the controller only likes to have either a HDD or nothing on the first port for some reason and its BIOS freezes during boot if the optical is placed there.)

The SIL3114 seems to be recognised OK but not the drive. I've extracted some records from dmesg which suggest (to me) that there is a timeout issue. Is there any way I can get over this? My skill level is not up to recompiling Kernels but I can edit files like /etc/modprobe.conf or add options to lilo.

sata_sil 0000:05:0a.0: version 0.9
sata_sil 0000:05:0a.0: Applying R_ERR on DMA activate FIS errata fix
ata5: SATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0xF8E0C080 ctl 0xF8E0C08A bmdma 0xF8E0C000 irq 21
ata6: SATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0xF8E0C0C0 ctl 0xF8E0C0CA bmdma 0xF8E0C008 irq 21
ata7: SATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0xF8E0C280 ctl 0xF8E0C28A bmdma 0xF8E0C200 irq 21
ata8: SATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0xF8E0C2C0 ctl 0xF8E0C2CA bmdma 0xF8E0C208 irq 21
ata5: SATA link down (SStatus 0)
scsi4 : sata_sil
ata6: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113)
ata6: dev 0 cfg 49:0b00 82:0000 83:0000 84:0000 85:0000 86:0000 87:0000 88:0007
ata6: dev 0 ATAPI, max UDMA/33
ata6: dev 0 configured for UDMA/33
scsi5 : sata_sil
ata7: SATA link down (SStatus 0)
scsi6 : sata_sil
ata8: SATA link down (SStatus 0)
scsi7 : sata_sil
ata6: command 0xa0 timeout, stat 0xf8 host_stat 0x60
ata6: translated ATA stat/err 0xf8/00 to SCSI SK/ASC/ASCQ 0xb/47/00

I haven't included entries for sata 1-4 because they refer to a Nvidia controller with 4 HDDs and there are no issues with that. Likewise for the conventional IDE controllers.

Many thanks if anyone can help with this.

try to discover it around give more info tous, we need to try more and more to understand this quite obvious prob : THE DRIVER IS BAD

Thanks, but which Driver? Is it sata_sil or libata or even sd_mod? The grep trace indicates libata is v 1.20 and sata_sil is v0.9

I don't understand how these drivers get loaded - it seems there are some in the initial RAM image, then some that are fixed in the Kernel and then others which may be dynamically loaded. The last type may be changeable with modprobe. I've tried a few things with modprobe and /etc/modprobe.conf - for example setting options libata atapi_enabled=1 . But that makes no difference and I suspect it's coming too late. But if you specify it as a lilo option libata.atapi_enabled=1 it is flagged up as an error in dmesg as if it is being specified too early.

I will try to provide whatever further info is required but I don't know what would be helpful!

i donot know what to tell you, I "intend" to leave it (the answer) but then I think about promoting Nietzsche Chaos in every soul (you are like every body, you react like other , you want to be "good" even if nothing is good or bad, )

I know there's people stronger than me phisically, i know there's weaker one , I do not beat the weak because I fear the strong or the "many" will stand at the weak side because of "the way their emotion command them" (if I see icecream I have desire to eat, If my father see me beating my sister or leaving school, he beat me)

about your problenm: I think that you should solve problem by keep it simple:
driver problem + linux function in a "so many simple thing make a complicated one" way + there's many daemon that load unnecessaryly in startup because you do not know how to shut it to save memory