Non-detection of SATA drive plus Display and NIC Issues

Hi SchoolDaGeek, Anybody found the solution to your problem yet? I think I am facing the same issue here, this looping error near the SATA Link up. Does anyone know the possible causes of this error and how to solve it? Thank you!

The 3.0 version should solve your problems on newer hardware... Not too long now! Cheers, Q

Noob looking for help! I have had the same problem with SATA on a newer Toshiba Turion x2 Laptop with Vista Home (Summer '08). I had to manually clear some space with the 2.1 AMD 64 install disk, 16gb root, 6gb SWAP, 16.5gb HOME, and allowed the installer to put GRUB 1.5 on it, but then the first boot into 64 Studio I got an error that kept 'looping' like 30x before it made the next stage, detected some other hardware, and then went back into the loop. I don't know how to stop the screen long enough to write the error down and don't know where to look for the .log file that I could repost here, but suffice it to say that it appeared as though the SATA was initializing for 1.5GB/sec, but then had an 'error 3' and said the controller was set for IDE 100mb/sec. It loops again for like 30x and then finally gets into the 64 Desktop, etc. disk works, etc. but I am trying to eliminate this boot up problem. Then when I checked to see if Vista would boot, the Windows boot up detected a hard disk error, something to do with the MBR I think, and then after the fix it boots into Vista normally since, but the 64 Studio 2.1 install always goes through this error routine before making the desktop. 1. I would like to solve the weird looping error in the 64 Studio boot process. 2. I would like to reconfigure GRUB to take Vista as the default choice if left unattended at boot. 3. I would like to learn how to get the Atheros card to work and save the configuration. 4. I am also having soundcard problems that even the basic settings will not let the ZXSynth example work 'out of the box'. I have looked at alot of tutorials on these subjects but am wondering if the Lenny install mentioned here would be a better place to start to knock out the SATA and Atheros problems to start with, and then I could upgrade to the alpha 3.0 release to see if that solves the sound card problem. Also I would like some input if anyone has used the new qjackctl 2.0 release that is out, which I plan to upgrade to as well. I would love to 'compile' my own distro for the stock laptop but am way too new to Linux to do this. I also have a HPzv5405us laptop with an AMD64 and the 2.1 AMD 64 install that is having a sound card problem as well, but I have an external Audigy 2 NX USB soundcard that probably will solve that problem and it is 24 bit as well... Thinking of purchasing support but wanted to get some responses first to see if I could manage something on my own.

Add the 64 Studio testing, and lenny backports repositories, and then install 64 Studio package. deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free deb http://apt.64studio.com/backports/ lenny-backports main deb http://apt.64studio.com/64studio/testing/ 64studio main It should pull in a whole lot of packages... There is a few threads on here dealing with installation of 64studio on Debian Standard. That should be a good guide. Thanks for the installer report. Cheers, Q

Thanks for your suggestions. I tried the lenny beta2 release and had the same SATA disk non-detection issues. I then tried the latest amd64 from the daily built images. The SATA drive was detected and the install went smoothly, apart from from automatic DHCP configuration of the onboard Realtek 8211BL gigabit LAN. I reverted to the older 10/100 PCI card that was also detected during the install and it was configured immediately. Interestingly, after first boot I can connect the cat5 cable to either port and they both work. I searched the 64Studio site for the upgrade instructions you mention but could only find instructions for upgrading from a previous version of 64 Studio. I would be very grateful for any pointers to this information or a brief howto.

The 64 Studio 2.# installer kernel is showing it's age now. Currently users like yourself is at the mercy of the debian developers, as we cannot start creating the images for the 3.0 versions before they release lenny as stable. If you feel brave though you could download the minimal install lenny cd from the debian site, install it, and then do an upgrade to 64 Studio by following the upgrade instructions on this site. Alternatively you could wait a bit if you do not feel confident enough to hack at your linux install...

Thanks for your response. Firstly I should mention that I accidentally dropped a character from the motherboard model number. It should read MSI K9N2GM-FIH I actually had updated the BIOS to the latest version: 3.2 of 18-08-08. The description of the changes reads:- - Add SATA RAID item in the BIOS. - Support CD boot function in AHCI mode. No combination of the BIOS's available SATA or IDE options will get the installer to recognise the SATA disk

You will need the nvidia installer form their site to get the graphics going. Are you certain there is not a BIOS upgrade available for your motherboard? My system did not even want to take 64 Studio because of a bios bug, but it is now a model system...