Hello everyone,

I'm on the verge of ordering parts to build a new Linux PC. This should be quite straightforward but I’m having a spot of bother with hard drives: -

I wish to use a S-ATA hard drive as this is the latest technology available, but I keep reading that S-ATA drives need driver software to operate "correctly"

This is confusing as I'm not sure how the OS can get the driver off the hard drive that it needs the driver to read!

I'm planning on using a Giga-byte GA-K8NF-ultra9 motherboard, this uses the nVidia nForce4 Ultra chipset. Giga-byte only seem to supply S-ATA drivers for Win2k and XP.

I want to use SuSE Linux 10. The nVidia web site states that the S-ATA driver is included "in Kernal" with SuSE10. However they also say that "in Kernel" may mean that the kernel might need to be recompiled!

Also - lots of information on the web states that Linux works with S-ATA drives when they are operating in “legacy”, or "PATA emulation" mode. The manual for my intended motherboard doesn't mention this. Do these modes just mean non-RAID? I intend NOT to use RAID, just a single drive.

So, what I really want to know is, If I buy the above motherboard, AMD64 processor, S-ATA hard drive etc etc, and try to install SuSE linux 10, will I end up pulling what's left of my hair out? Or will Yast sort it all out for me?

A nice clear answer would be very much appreciated. If that’s not possible then a long convoluted one will do.

Thanks for your time

That's right but most modern linux distros include the sata drivers. I also have nForce4 chipset on my motherboard. I've installed ubuntu, arch linux and slackware and they had no problems identifying my sata chipset and drive.

This may be simple answer...may be someone else can explain you in greater detail.

Tux,