Debian wont detect HD - on promise ata controller channel
 

Here's my situation,
Trying to learn about linux so i thought i'd take my old athlon box sitting in the closet and install debian on it...shouldn't be to hard right? Well 2 days later, still can't even get the harddrives detected...

Here's my system
Asus A7V (origional model) KT133 chipset
1000 tbird
maxtor 27 gig drive
ATI Radeon 8500
SB Live Value
Netgear NIC

Now i know you have to set up with a command at the "#" prompt where linux is looking for you hd's if theyre on a ata channel...So i do a "cat /proc/pci" and it lists the io channels, which i have noted...here's where i'm stuck. From what i've read in the forums etc the next command i should use is "linux ide2=0x8800, 0x8402 ide3=0x8000, 0x7802" with the four i/o addresses being the first four listed from the cat command, the second and third addresses are +2.

The problem is it doesnt work hehe...any ideas? I'm stuck and frustrated at this point.

Thanks
GS

have you tried your kernel start up command:
"linux ide2=0x8800, 0x8402 ide3=0x8000, 0x7802"
without spaces after the comma? Like this:

"linux ide2=0x8800,0x8402 ide3=0x8000,0x7802"

HTH

~rock

tried that, it seems that the command Linux is not valid... it says "linux: not found" after i try this with and without the spaces. I'm using Debian Woody distro, perhaps there is another command? I've tried "text" as well. still no luck

I use knoppix , which is a debian-based distro which runs from a CD, but it can also be installed on a hard disk. It is the easiest GNU/Linux installer I have ever used, and the only one I have ever managed t usccesfully install (*nix newbie here, have failed at installing SuSe and RH7+8).

A guide on how to install knoppix onto your hard drive can be found here. When it is installed, it is basically debian, and I think it is based on the latest woody release.

You can download a knoppix CD or DVD .iso from the knoppix site, or you can buy knoppix discs from the site.