Hi,
I tried to install Redhat 9/elx/suse/madrake 9 linux on my system P4 with seagate 80GB HDD SATA, but it says no hard disk installed. In the bios I can see the HDD is detected properly. And also that in one partition i have windows XP about 30GB, while the remaning part in unformatted.

Can any one help in this regard, how to install any linux ditribution on the baracuda 80Gb HDD!!!

thanks
sujit

Can you give us some more information ? What motherboard do you have and what SATA controller is on it ?

The problem is that the kernels that come with those distributions don't yet have support for SATA. Support is present in the new 2.6.0 kernel and can be added to 2.4 kernels by using Jeff Garzik's libata patch. You will need a way to create a kernel that has SATA support installed, and use that to boot your system.

Here is a link that may help you get the general idea. I'm working on a site with help for this sort of thing but I'm not there yet
http://people.zeelandnet.nl/pa3gcu/sata.htm

The basic idea is : add another hdd (normal ATA), install linux there, patch and recompile 2.4 kernel or compile 2.6 kernel. Then create a live cd or a floppy boot disk. Install your system from there. Alternatively, use another pc to create the live cd.