Peppermint won't recognize my SSD disk on a SiS (SATA) RAID Controller

[some1]

Hi, I'm trying to install Peppermint 8 on a computer based on this old mainboard http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDetail.aspx?T=Motherboard&U=en-us0000162

Peppermint installer does not recognize there is any drive present, probably due to missing drivers. However I was able to install WinXP on it with integrated SIS RAID Driver.

Foxconn website does not list any Linux drivers. Is there some way to make Peppermint work with this mainboard + SSD drive?

Thank you

[AndyInMokum]

Hi some1, how's it going?  Welcome to the Peppermint Forum.  That's an ultra cool handle you have - love it  .  Does Peppermint 8 boot up to a Live Session from the USBkey you made?  If it does, could you let us have some detailed information about your machine?

Assuming you're booted into a Live Session.  Please open a terminal window with the following keystrokes:

Ctrl+Alt+t

Enter (Copy & Paste) the following command into the terminal window.   Post, (Copy & Paste) the output back to the forum:

Code: [Select]

inxi -Fz

When we receive this information, we can make a deeper analysis to what's causing the issue  .

Note: When posting terminal outputs, could you please remember to encapsulate them with the Insert, Code # function.  For extra long outputs, please use the Spoiler, Sp function.  If you're using either the Chromium Browser or Google Chrome, don't combine these functions.  Only use one or the other per output  .  These functions preserve the original format of the output.  This makes it easier for future visitors to relate to their own issues.  These functions are found in the forum editor, above the,  Embarrassed and  the Cry emoticon respectively.  You can click on the Preview button to see how it'll look in the forum - many thanks  .

[PCNetSpec]

Unlikely to  be a driver issue, SSD's don't require any drivers.

It could be because it was set as a member of a raid array, or that you have the BIOS set incorrectly.

is the SATA mode set to AHCI in the BIOS ?

Have you tried seeing if GParted recognises the drive in a live session ?

Is this to be a dual boot setup with XP (that was installed in raid mode) ?

[EDIT]

Nearly forgot .. welcome to the forum

[Sgthawker]

I would agree with PCnetSpec that it is due to the RAID setup. In your BIOS your SATA mode is likely set to RAID, if you switch it to AHCI it should work.

This is a great community, hope you enjoy it here! 

[some1]

Thanks all for the welcome

After giving it another thought, I agree with PCNetSpec that it probably isn't an SSD driver issue, but it still probably is a SATA RAID Controller driver issue.

Thing is, I could not find an AHCI option in BIOS. All more or less relevant screen pics below.



On the third picture is SATA mode setting which can be changed from RAID to IDE (not AHCI). However I still wasn't able to see my drive after changing it to IDE.

Here is GParted and system information AndyInMokum requested. (Sorry for not posting it as text, this was far more convenient for me at the moment).



And finally some screens from a Windows XP system already installed on the drive.



(I don't plan to make a dual boot setup)


Thank you for taking a look

[some1]

Let me add something I was able to find regarding the SiS 180 RAID Controller.

https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Hardware,_driver_status#SiS_180-182
http://zgp.org/mirrors/linuxmafia-faq/Hardware/sata.html#sis
and https://web.archive.org/web/20100330201237/https://www.sis.com/support/support_faqs_16.htm

There are some drivers listed on the current official SiS website too.


sis_sata_20060508.zip

Code: [Select]

Readme
==================================================================================================
Copyright(c) Silicon Integrated System Corps. All right reserved.
Last update on May 8, 2006
==================================================================================================
Support for SiS 180/181/182/1180/1182/1184 SATA Controller Driver.

1. Unzip the archive.
2. CD to the unzipped folder
3. Type "make" to compile SiS SATA driver.
4. Type "make install" to deploy the driver.
5. Type "modprobe sata_sis" to load the driver.
6. Type "rmmod sata_sis" to unload the driver.

[AndyInMokum]

Hi some1, how's it going ?  I need to advise you, we are no longer accepting terminal screenshots or hosted images as feedback, unless there is no other option.  They're difficult to read, the content can't be accessed using the forum's Search feature and they're not copy and pastable.   Also too many times the image is removed from the hosting site.  This renders the whole thread useless for future inquiries.  It makes the thread a complete waste of time for the devs helping out  . 

When you get a moment, could you please rerun the requested terminal command?

Code: [Select]

inxi -Fz

Please return the output as text (in a code box), rather than as an image.  It's very easy to copy and paste the outputs into the forum editor.  You can do this by highlighting the area to be copied by holding down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse.  Use the copy function on the right mouse click.  Paste the contents into the forum editor using the paste function on the right mouse click.  To preserve the original format, please make sure you encapsulate the outputs with the, # Insert Code function.  This is located above the  Embarrassed emoticon in the forum editor.  For extra long outputs, you may use the Sp Spoiler function instead.  This is located above the  Cry emoticon in the forum editor.  To post the outputs from text files, you may use the, Insert Quote function.  This is located above the Lips Sealed emoticon in the forum editor.  If it the outputs are from another computer in your network.  Please copy the outputs to a text file.  These can be saved to a thumb drive and then transferred to forum editor.  The appropriate adjustments must to be made before we can proceed with the thread.  Remember we're trying to help you and in doing so, we hope to help others in the future.  Your efforts are much appreciated.   Many thanks for your cooperation and  understanding  .

[some1]

Alright, when I get back to computer in question.

[PCNetSpec]

On the last of your blue pics, if you hit "R" is there a way to remove the disk from the RAID array ?

If so, remove it, then on your third pic, change ATA mode to IDE.

[AndyInMokum]

Alright, when I get back to computer in question.

Cheers, it's really helpful and very much appreciated  .

[some1]

Code: [Select]

peppermint@peppermint ~ $ inxi -Fz
System:    Host: peppermint Kernel: 4.13.0-32-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: N/A
           Distro: Peppermint Eight
Machine:   Mobo: Foxconn model: 661 7MJ Bios: Phoenix v: 6.00 PG date: 03/10/2006
CPU:       Single core Intel Celeron (-UP-) cache: 256 KB speed: 2666 MHz (max)
Graphics:  Card: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter
           Display Server: X.Org 1.19.5 drivers: vesa (unloaded: fbdev)
           Resolution: 1280x1024@0.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 4.0, 128 bits)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.0.2
Audio:     Card-1 USB Audio Device driver: USB-Audio
           Card-2 C-Media driver: USB Audio
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.13.0-32-generic
Network:   Card: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet
           driver: sis900
           IF: enp0s4 state: down mac: <filter>
Partition: ID-1: swap-1 size: 1.03GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/zram0
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 39.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 128 Uptime: 5 min Memory: 289.6/1961.7MB
           Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.35 
 

On the last of your blue pics, if you hit "R" is there a way to remove the disk from the RAID array ?

No, no such option there, only warning about not having enough harddrives to create RAID array.

[PCNetSpec]

is this an SATA SSD connected via an SATA --> IDE adapter ?

Or is it connected via an SATA connector ?

So what options are available under  "SiS Serial ATA Mode" ?


BTW, the sata_sis should already be available out of the box (no need to download and compile it) .. do you get any output from:

Code: [Select]

lsmod | grep sata_sis

if not, does running

Code: [Select]

sudo modprobe sata_sis

then checking in Gparted allow it to see the drive ?

[some1]

is this an SATA SSD connected via an SATA --> IDE adapter ?

Or is it connected via an SATA connector ?

Yes, the SATA connector.

So what options are available under  "SiS Serial ATA Mode" ?

As I mentioned before, it's "RAID" and "IDE".

do you get any output from:

Code: [Select]

lsmod | grep sata_sis

I get,

Code: [Select]

sata_sis        16384   0

Code: [Select]

sudo modprobe sata_sis

then checking in Gparted allow it to see the drive ?

It does not, unfortunately.

[some1]

Hello, some new development..

In the end it might be related to an SSD disk itself. I have connected old SATA drive to it, without changing anything else, and Peppermint recognized it just fine.

It was (non SSD) HITACHI_HTS54251 drive.

[PCNetSpec]

Weird....

Have you tried reformatting it in Windows ?

Maybe it was preformatted with a GPT partition table and that controller doesn't recognise GPT .. just thinking out loud.