It kind of sounds like you don't have SATA support in your kernel. The fact that the kernel cannot mount your root partition makes me almost certain that the kernel is incapable of handling SATA drives. I'm no Red Hat expert, but you might have to choose a special option in the installation process to install a kernel that does have support for SATA.
John A
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try using the irqpoll option while booting
might help. i use it as for some wierd reason a SATA controller on a server of mine wont work without it
jbennet
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