--- Declan Moriarty <declan.moriarty@xxxxxx> wrote: > piix_init > scsi0: ata_piix > scsi1: ata_piix > ata1: PATA max udma/33 cmd 0x000101f0 ctl 0x000103f6 bmdma > 0x0001fcd0 > irq 14 > ata2: PATA max udma/33 cmd 0x00010170 ctl 0x00010376 bmdma > 0x0001fcd8 > irq 15 > ATA1.00: ATA-3 HITATCHI_DK226A-32 00T0A0A0 max MWDMA2 > ATA1.00: 6332256 sectors multi 16: LBA > ATA1.00: configured for MWDMA2 > scsi 0:0:0:0 Direct Access ATA Hitatchi_DK226A-3 00T0 PQ: 0 ANSI 5 > sd 0:0:0:0 [sda] 6332256 512-byte hardware sectors (3242MB) > sd 0:0:0:0 [sda] Write Protect is off > sd 0:0:0:0 [sda] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled doesn't > support DPO or FUA > sda: sda1 sda2 sda3 ssda4 > sd 0:0:0:0 [sda] Attached scsi disk > sd 0:0:0:0 [sda] Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0 > (piix_init returned 0 ran for 383 msec. The following ones ran for 0 > msec) > > I'm hoping just for a diagnosis - "X is wrong" I agree that the problem is in userspace. I can think of two diagnoses: 1) The userspace components of the distro you?re using are mis-configured. To eliminate this possibility, boot the computer from Debian installation floppies: http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/unstable/main/installer-i386/current/images/floppy/ See installation instructions below: http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/apas02.html.en#howto-getting-images-floppy At one point during the Debian installation, you?ll be able to press ?Alt-Ctrl-F2? and get a console. From here you can manually mount the various partitions. If you can mount and read the partitions, then everything is fine and you can go ahead and install Debian or another distro. If any step fails, try to capture the output of the ?dmesg? command from the console and email it to the list. 2) If mounting fails, your drives might be formatted with a proprietary Disk Drive Overlay (DDO). You would have to either a) remove the DDO using the same proprietary software that installed it; or b) reformat the disk. Vlad __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-ide" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html