What Linux distros will support SATA disks?

What Linux distros will support SATA disks?

I just bought a Dell D-8400 with WD SATA (160 GB) drive. My current selection (Fedora 2, Debian) of Linux distros does not recognize my disk (cannot see it). Do you have any suggestion about a "better" distro or how to proceed? Many thanks.

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

    When you register, my team of editors will also send you resources covering Linux administration and management; integration and interoperability between Linux, Windows and Unix; securing Linux and mixed-platform environments; and migrating to Linux.

    Margie Semilof, Editorial Director

    By submitting your registration information to SearchEnterpriseLinux.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchEnterpriseLinux.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

Many distributions will have a hard time supporting this. The SATA disks are a quite new technology and thus it takes time before the right drivers make it into a distribution. In the new 2.6 kernel there is support for SATA disks.

It is hard to say which solution will meet your needs. SuSE has a 2.6 kernel in their distro as has Debian Unstable. In the near future Linspire will release the new version of their desktop that has SATA support, but for that you need some patience until it is available.

Throughout time support for the disk is common. Furthermore you need to test your distribution very well to ensure that all the hardware of your Dell machine works.

This was first published in November 2004

Back to top