Trouble with SATA/eSATA with Intel ICH9

[Schizoid]

I have an Asus PSK-SE motherboard with P35 chipset and ICH9 southbridge.

Can some one confirm that I have the correct kernel drivers installed?

I am using CONFIG_ATA_PIIX "Intel ESB, ICH, PIIX3, PIIX4 PATA/SATA support" and I have CONFIG_SATA_AHCI turned on. I tried disabling CONFIG_ATA_PIIX (since apparently some controllers don't need these legacy drivers), but that resulted in a kernel panic because there were not any /dev/sdX devices created.

The description for CONFIG_ATA_PIIX says it is for ICH6, 7, and 8. It does not mention ICH9.

In my bios:

SATA Configuration
Configuration options: [Disabled] [Compatible] [Enhanced]
Configure SATA as [IDE]
Sets the configuration for the Serial ATA connectors supported by the
Southbridge chip. Configuration options: [IDE]

I have it set to Enhanced (I've tried compatibility mode and it seems to make no differnce) and that second option has only one. . .option: IDE.


So am I doing this right? One stumbling block I have just hit is that the motherboard esata connector does not seem to illicit a response when something is plugged into it. dmesg | tail returns nothing when I plug an external drive into it, even if I have a drive plugged in and on before I turn the PC on.


From reading the description of the CONFIG_ATA_SFF kernel option, it seems like I should be able to disable that option (and CONFIG_ATA_PIIX with it) and just rely on CONFIG_ATA_AHCI. But sadly, this just results in an unbootable system. No drives are found, unless they would have a name other than /dev/sdX?

[pappy_mcfae]

First thing I'd suggest is not doing the shotgun troubleshooting method, such as you suggest. While doing such things can lead to great learning experiences, it can also lead to dead computers, frustration, etc.

Second thing; post the results of lspci -n at this site. That will tell you exactly which devices/drivers you have/need. Guesswork is best NOT practiced with the kernel.

Third thing; download one of my kernel seeds, and look at the SCSI settings. In order for the libata drivers to work, you must have the proper SCSI options set. My seeds have those basic settings already configured. All you need to do is stick in your proper devices, and you will have a functional machine.

Fourth thing; if you wish, you can send the results of lspci -n and cat /proc/cpuinfo along with your /etc/fstab file and your .config (see note in my sig), and I will set you up with a fast running kernel.

Blessed be!
Pappy
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