Why cant linux detect my hard drive?
 

I recently built a computer running Windows XP on 2 WD raptors set up in a RAID array. I tried adding another IDE hard drive to put linux on, but none of the distros I have tried using can find any of the drives. Mandrake 10.2 has nothing, same with FDC, Redhat and Suse 9.2. Could this be caused by improper BIOS settings? Because Windows boots fine...

Linux's distros generally don't like RAID partitions formated by windows. I had the same problem and I got rid of the RAID.

Since it's a fresh install, don't use RAID at all and the dual boot will work like a charm.

Still, I'd suggest you not to install windows at all. Install FC3, it's an easy distro to work under.

Hope that help.

Good Luck

Does the new drive and the ide controller show up in bios? It could be a cable problem, or the master/slave dual/lone jumper settings being wrong.

Perhaps you could boot up to the rescue mode of the install disk, and look at the output of 'lsmod' and 'lspci' to see if the controller shows up.

I can understand how linux wont like NTFS RAID's, but im installing to a seperate IDE hard disk.

As for the BIOS question, the hard disk does show up, but its using the IDE controller built into the mobo (ASUS p5ad2 premium) and I can't figure out what it exactly is. The drive's jumpers are configured to let its place on the cable decide what type it is, and being at the end of the cable it's a master. Ive also tried diferent cables so I know thats not the problem...

Would I possibly need a driver disk with linux drivers for the built in IDE controller?

It's possible that you need a special driver installed. There will be floppy images which might have the particular controller driver built in. Read through the installation instructions on the CD. If you had produced a rescue cd with Mandrake's 'mkrescue --iso' command, you could use it to analyze your system and suggest startup options.

Sometimes an option like 'ide=nodma' or 'noapic' will allow you to get the installation done.

Here is a site on additional boot options: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...-bootopts.html

You might want to provide us with the motherboard. Also if you boot up into the rescue mode (use the 'rescue' option on the first install disk) and use the 'lspci' command, that could provide information on the controller that your computer uses.

PS. I was running XP on my Matrix desktop using the raid controller, but when I read about how Microsoft was behind the SCO lawsuit, I got mad and removed it!

Im currently using the ASUS P5AD2 Premium, just bought it and its working well for everything except this.

Ill try the commands u gave me and see if they work. thanks