Hi,

I have a Dell Optiplex machine on which I was trying to install Suse 8.2 Linux. It turns out that the computer has a serial ATA drive that Suse cannot see and is not supported.

In order to get around this problem, I decided to go with a different hard drive so that the Suse install will be smooth.
I have a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 (Ultra Series 60 GB, 8 MB cache, ATA/133). I have not yet installed this hard drive.

Should I be able to do a standard Suse 8.2 installation after I connect this drive? If not, what is the limiting factor? I was told I just need to avoid SATA and life will be easy here.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

-Jeff

Hi Jeff,

The Diamond Maxtor drive should work just fine.

In respect of your old drive SuSE 8.2 should be able to recognise it. Most of the problems I have seen have been due to old BIOS releases so check that you have an up-to-date version from the Dell site.

Also I understand that the newer kernel relases (since 2.4.19 which ships with SuSE 8.2) handles ATA drives better so, if you want to play before using your new drive, try updating the kernel.

Best of luck!