Driver for Abit nf7-s sata raid 0 stripped set

[Asd---]

I'm tryng to install a Linux distribution for the first time, on a pc whit windows xp installed, but the live cd of Gentoo 1.4 and Knoppix live 3.3 don't detect my hard disks: two Maxtor serial ata. I think that' s becouse the mother board uses them to form a raid 0 stripped set. I searched for a driver which could solve the problem but I didn't found it, maybe because I never searced anything similar in internet.
Somebody could suggest me where can I find or at least where should I search?


I need it to install gentoo whitout losing all the data on my hard disks.
What can I do if I can't find anything like this? should I buy a new hard disk only for Linux and renounce to use the data on my hard disks whit Linux?

[hw-tph]

There are two drivers in the Linux kernel for the Silicon Image 3112a controller on the NF7-S: The siimage ATA driver, which is no longer updated, and the libata driver, which uses SCSI-like access to the controller.

First off I recommend you get a newer install CD. I have used the 2004.1 CD several times and it works fine, including networking (when the firewire ethernet module is removed) using the forcedeth driver for the onboard network controller.

Second, the sil3112a controller is *not* a true RAID controller, but it does software RAID on the chip itself using Medley software. You can dual boot using RAID as configured on the controller using this piece of software, but I have yet to try it. Most likely you will need to first install Gentoo on a separate hard drive and then transfer the installation to the RAID set.

The easiest and most straightforward solution is using Linux software RAID. This will not work in dual boot with Windows, but it works equally well to the Medley RAID, or perhaps better.


Håkan