driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Issues related to hardware problems
mikmak8902
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Joined: 2010/02/16 21:18:46

driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by mikmak8902 » 2010/02/17 15:18:45

I am attempting to load CentOS 5 on an Acer 6900 desktop and I'm not even getting out of the starting gate. I am familiar with using linux but not the install procedure which is why I am beginning to dive into this. However, when I bring the system up off the Linux boot disk and go to install it's not even giving me the option of the controller so I can begin installing the os from the dvd-rom. This is what acer lists as the controller for the 6900:

ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

I cannot find this driver for linux anywhere. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!

pschaff
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driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux dri

Post by pschaff » 2010/02/17 16:20:39

Welcome to the CentOS fora.

Where exactly in the installation process is the problem and what errors or messages are you seeing?

Are you using CentOS 5.4? There were problems with SATA DVD drives in earlier releases that were fixed in 5.4. Some SATA drives or controllers still seem to be problematic.

mikmak8902
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Re: driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by mikmak8902 » 2010/02/17 18:11:15

Thanks for the reply. I'm not getting an error whatsoever. It simply gets to the point where it is asking for the device to load the os from and offers controllers to select from. None of them work and this particular controller is not listed, so I began searching for the driver for that specific controller on the net. Intel's site only has a linux driver for their graphics controller. So basically, I'm stuck at the point of simply trying to pull the files from the DVD ROM to begin the installation of CentOS 5.3. Should I try downloading CentOS 5.4? I was just using 5.3 as this is the version we are using at my job and was attempting to utilize exactly what we use on our servers.

pschaff
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Re: driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by pschaff » 2010/02/17 18:20:49

Both you and your job should be using the latest version with all security and bug-fix patches. We cannot support obsolete releases, and using them leaves one vulnerable to bugs and security holes that have already been fixed. [url=http://www.redhat.com/rhel/]TUV[/url] (and thus CentOS) is very conservative about only putting out necessary updates. I strongly suspect that your particular issue is one that has been fixed.

mikmak8902
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Re: driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by mikmak8902 » 2010/02/18 14:06:58

Thank you for the help. I will try CentOS 5.4 and see if that corrects the issue.

mikmak8902
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Re: driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by mikmak8902 » 2010/02/20 15:13:53

OK ... I grabbed CentOS 5.4 and booted off the dvd. Now the install is hanging on "loading ata_piix driver". I am searching these forums and the net for a solution but figured I would post here in the meantime. I do see that this was a known issue awhile back and one of the solutions offered was to get on the current version of centos.

pschaff
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Re: driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by pschaff » 2010/02/20 15:26:01

Not sure what you've turned up as you did not share, but my [url=http://www.google.com/search?q="loading ata_piix driver" site%3Acentos.org&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=H1W&tbo=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=rltm:1&ei=s_1_S4GcNYqOswPs3v3tAw&sa=X&oi=tool&resnum=1&ct=tlink&ved=0CBkQpwU]google[/url] finds a promising thread or two:
https://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=flat&order=ASC&topic_id=8257&forum=37
http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=24193&forum=37

mikmak8902
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Re: driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by mikmak8902 » 2010/02/20 15:31:11

LOL ... I hadn't shared yet because it was about 15 min ago. Here is what I found and thank you very much for the reply.

Solution: Press F4 before starting the installation at the screen the disc loads first so that you can add kernel options, and add 'irqpoll' as a option by typing it in as one of the arguments. The install will flash to the "loading ata_piix driver" message then continue. Thanks.

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Re: driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by pschaff » 2010/02/20 15:35:44

That's what you "turned up" :-) - as also suggested in the first post in my second link above

Thanks for posting your solution for the sake of future searchers. This seems to be a sufficiently frequent issue to merit adding to the [url=http://wiki.centos.org/Manuals/ReleaseNotes/CentOS5.4]CentOS 5.4 Release Notes[/url] - should turn up there shortly.

If you would be so good as to file a [url=http://bugs.centos.org/main_page.php]CentOS bug report[/url] it would be much appreciated.

mikmak8902
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Re: driver for ich8 serial ata storage controller 2820 linux driver

Post by mikmak8902 » 2010/02/20 16:02:24

HAHA ... yes, I was actually coming back into the thread to post my findings when I saw your post. Thank you for the help and here is the bug report.

http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=4207

Oh, and also, back to the original subject of the thread ... it appears using CentOS 5.4 has solved the issue of the install not finding the ich8 driver for my controller. Thanks again for all your help.

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