[Gllug] Gentoo & Booting from SATA disk

[Nick Warrington]

Thanks for the prompt reply Andrew,
 
> It won't.
> libata makes sata disks look like scsi.
> So you should be getting /dev/sda1.

Makes sense, which is preferable to use?

> 
> Also. (and this is important)...
> How is the module loaded at boot time? If you have no initrd 
> file, then
> there is no way for the kernel to mount the partition on the 
> disk in order
> to load the kernel module needed to see the disk with the 
> partition on it,
> to mount it.


The genkernel command in gentoo builds a kernel and initrd file. I assume
that its the initrd file I'm browsing around when I get a shell half way
through the kernel booting, so I think I can assume that Grub has provided
the initrd file for the kernel, without the kernel having to mount anything.


> It sounds to me like the standard "Eeek, i can't boot!" 
> "That's because you
> need the module in an initial ram disk at boot time" problem.
> 
> > Perhaps I should try and compile in the ide_disk module. I 
> did look. The
> > only options that seemed plausable was the 
> CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDISK option.
> > Compiling it in didn't seem to make a difference.
> 
> ide-disk (and all other relevant ide things for your 
> motherboard) should
> ideally be compiled into the kernel really, as should sata if you know
> you're going to be using sata, and any other modules needed 
> at boot time.
> The initrd method is valid, but it's mainly used in 
> distributions when they
> don't know exactly what hardware and filesystem 
> configurations people will
> use. Gentoo is obviously a bit different from other distros 
> because it's a
> roll your own type thing.
> 

I'd love to compile in the options if I new which ones they were.

> If libata is available (2.6 kernel? or patched 2.4?) then 
> libata is the way
> to go with it. Remember though. SATA+libata=scsi disk as far 
> as the kernel's
> concerned.

2.6.9 kernel although I those clever gentoo chaps claim to have bitched
around with it for stability reasons on the Amd64. Why is libata the way to
go? Why not ide-disk. Is it slower/obsolete?

> 
> > Not sure where to go from here?
> > Also can anyone shed any light on the different SATA 
> modules and what
> > they're all for?
> 
> Type lspci. This lists everything on your pci bus, and should 
> give you a
> hint as to the SATA/IDE chipset. If it shows intel for 
> example, you won't be
> needing promise, sis, nvidia or via.

I'm pretty sure the entire chipset is via, but I will try this when I get
home. 

Thanks for the help.

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