Member Avatar for harrypotter

Recently i took a pc with Pentium D 830 3.0 GHz processor
Intel 945 gntl mother board, 120 GB samsung SATA drive and 512 mb ddr II ram..

When i tried to install linux :

(i have tried to install many versions like red hat 9, elx, suse, fedora core 2 and 3 also)

it tells that no hard disk found...... cannot continue installation.......

How to solve this problem and install linux and use sata drive in linux without reduction in system performance...?????


Please help........

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by John A

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Summary and focused fixes for ’s thread (Pentium D + Intel 945 + SATA): older installers often miss modern SATA controllers, and the Intel 945 family has a history of X server quirks. The root causes and practical steps are below — short, actionable, and based on kernel/X.org behaviour rather than guesswork. (Ties back to ’s FC4 suggestion and his update advice.)

Why older installers didn’t see the disk, and quick workarounds

  • Linux’ modern SATA support is provided by libATA/AHCI in the kernel; very old kernels/distributions (RH9 / early FC versions) lacked that support or had immature drivers, so the installer simply never saw the drive. See the libATA documentation.
  • Two practical options: (A) set the motherboard SATA mode to “Compatible” / “IDE” in BIOS so an older installer can see the disk, or (B) use an installer with a 2.6+ kernel (Fedora Core 4 and later) that includes libATA/AHCI drivers. Both approaches have tradeoffs (compatibility vs features). (docs.kernel.org)

Diagnose the X server failure on Intel 945

  • The Intel 945-series (GMA 900/950) is supported by the xf86-video-intel driver, but there were many X.org/driver regressions historically; updating X or using the proper driver usually fixes startup failures. Check the X log and kernel messages to see whether the kernel driver (i915) loaded and whether X failed to load the intel driver. (x.org)

Minimal commands and a small checklist

  • Gather hardware/driver info and errors:
lspci -nnk | grep -A3 -i vga
dmesg | egrep -i 'i915|sata|ahci|ata'
grep -E "WW|EE" /var/log/Xorg.0.log || tail -n 200 /var/log/Xorg.0.log
  • If X complains about missing or incompatible drivers: install the Intel X driver package for the distribution (package name varies; e.g. xf86-video-intel / xorg-x11-drv-intel), or try the generic modesetting driver / VESA as a fallback. Also try a newer live CD to confirm the problem is driver/version-related. For guidance on reading X logs and debugging, consult X.org troubleshooting notes. (wiki.archlinux.org)

Final notes

  • If comfortable, update the board BIOS (sometimes fixes chipset quirks) and back up data first. Keep the RAM/GUI expectations realistic: 512 MB is tight for a full desktop, so a lightweight desktop or text install + later driver fixes is a sensible path.

Recommended Answers

All 11 Replies

Member Avatar for jbennet

DO NOT install RH9 onto a SATA disk. Its just too old. Get a copy Of Fedora Core 4 - free to download or RHEL if you can afford it. They work no probs.

Member Avatar for jbennet

The reason you need the newer system is that most oklder kernels and still some newer ones do not have SATA support compiled into them by default. Usually a good installer will choose the correct one for you or if its something like gentoo, you can choose the 2.6.x-SATA Image when you install.

Member Avatar for harrypotter

I have tried to install fedora core 3 into my system. but even this shows a message that no drive found for instalation!!!!!

What's that "2.6.x-SATA Image" you have mentioned?

Will fedora core 4 surely works. can i download or buy that. Please tell if u r sure. Because i bought fedora core 3 and it's a mere waste as it's not installing in my system

will it depend on the mother board? mine is intel 945 gntl express chipset.

Please give me some solution..........

Member Avatar for jbennet

I was saying that some systems, Like the Gentoo 2006 graphical livecd installer will have an option to choose a 2.6.x (replace x with current version) -SATA kernel image.

Other systems should automatically detect that you require a sata kernel but seemingly this is not the case.

Is the disk part of a RAID configuration and does it actually work?

If not, try and get a free copy of FC4 and see whether it will install.
Some systems just arent meant to run linux...................

Member Avatar for jbennet

Ah wait, some googling tells em that certain motherbboards, mostly Nforce and VIA as well as some processors liek the AMD64 have issues with sata on FC3. Have a look at the forums and faqs with reference to your motherboard and HDD and see what comes up

Member Avatar for harrypotter

Haa, i have borrowed FC4 from my friend and installed. It has successfully installed on SATA. But the X server is not starting....

at the time of installation also the X server didn't start and GUI didn't come so i have installed in text mode.

Even after completing instalation also the X server is not starting and the screen blinks for about 2 to 3 times and says could not start X server for now... every time....


What to do?
Please help..........

Member Avatar for jbennet

What does the eroor say?

Are you by any chance using a Trident graphics chip or similar?
FC4 has issuses with some chips so use Yum to get the newest X upadates.

Member Avatar for harrypotter

mine is intel 945 express chipset.. and also x server is also not working while installing

Member Avatar for jbennet

Yeah, a few minites of googling tells me there are issues with certain motherboards including yours.....

Try:
yum -y update
It will update tour X server to the newest version so it should work.

Member Avatar for BISHNU(GOD)

Recently i took a pc with Pentium D 830 3.0 GHz processor
Intel 945 gntl mother board, 120 GB samsung SATA drive and 512 mb ddr II ram..

When i tried to install linux :

(i have tried to install many versions like red hat 9, elx, suse, fedora core 2 and 3 also)

it tells that no hard disk found...... cannot continue installation.......

How to solve this problem and install linux and use sata drive in linux without reduction in system performance...?????


Please help........

Red hat linux in obsolete now, pls try cent os (an update version of linux)

Member Avatar for John A

>Red hat linux in obsolete now
So is the post you're replying to.

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