[Liverpool] sata 11 drives

[Michael Banks]

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Hi John,

> I have a problem using sata 2 drives, with a Asus A8N-E motherboard.
> Sata 1 work well and there is no problem, until I put in sata 2 drives.
> Then the system  just locks up.

What are the model numbers of the drives? (I'm assuming they're Maxtor
drives, since you mention Maxtor support.)

> I understand that there is a problem with sata 2 drives, and nvidia 3/4
> chipsets.

Maxtor have recently acknowledged this problem, and not before time.
http://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2685

Search Google for "maxtor nforce4" - a lot of people have experienced
problems running certain Maxtor drives with nForce4 controllers. (Note
that the Asus A8N motherboards are mentioned frequently.)

> Although the problem is all directed at Windows.
> I can load Suse 10.1 onto the drives, but on the reboot, the drives just
> lock up.
> I have sent an e-mail to Maxtor, asking for help, but the firmware they
> have sent does not solve the problem.

Which firmware version have Maxtor sent you? Which version came with the
drives? Since applying the new firmware, have you tried reinstalling
SuSE? (If the problem corrupted your existing install, you should start
from scratch.) Are you trying to run software RAID configurations etc.?

> Has anybody come across a similar problem, and if so, how did you
> overcome the problem?

Failing everything else, you might want to try "jumpering" the disks to
run in SATA I (1.5Gb/s) mode, or use an external controller. Perhaps you
can RMA the drives and have Maxtor to send you working replacements.

Hope (at least some of) that helps. If you can provide more information
on the disks and your setup, the solution may become apparent.

- --
Michael James Banks, michaelbanks at dsl.pipex.com (GPG Key ID: EF0C 2001)
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