Emachines c2280, is it dead?

[johnlvs2run]

The motherboard is a new Biostar TF8200.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138113

The motherboard has the seagate harddrive information in the Bios.

My Linux distros are all new, PCLinuxOS 2008 MiniMe, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop, and DesktopBSD 1.6.
My copy of Gparted is from 2006, so that would be understandable but the others are all new.

 

[johnlvs2run]

I wouldn't think that 2 partitions on the drive would be a terrible inconvenience, would it?

You've lost me. Two partitions? The drive is not working at all.

 

[axion1224]

Just to throw it out there, my mother recently got rid of an eMachine. mobo fried. or maybe it was the PSU failure spoken of early? Not extremely relevant, but just letting you know you aren't alone.

 

[captaincranky]

Two Separate Issues, Two Separate Answers......

You've lost me. Two partitions? The drive is not working at all.

First, I hadn't heard of a brand of drive brand of drive that wouldn't work with Linux. So, that's a new one.

Second, I suggested that it could be a SATA driver issue that was rendering the drive invisible.

You could put the drive in another computer as a volume drive and format it that way. Anybody?
You might also be able to install Ubuntu's "wubi" installer on another computer and install Ubuntu to the drive in that machine. Hey, anything is worth a shot. Window's with SP3 is supposed to allow you to complete the installation without activating the product. So there does exist the possibility of borrowing a copy of XP and then just overwriting it. the worst thing that could happen there is, Windows would stop working. With GRUB set to boot Linux first by default, then the question becomes, "who cares".

Third, since you were complaining about only being able to have a 127GB drive showing in Linux, I thought I'd mention that there would only be 2 partitions required to utilize the whole drive capacity.

I assumed it would be understood that you'd need to have the drive working in the first place. Assumptions can be troublesome true enough, but I didn't think that that was too much of a stretch. Was it?

I still suspect BIOS issues related to the collusion of M$ with hardware manufacturers. IMHO they didn't buy Novelle to aid cross platform compatibility, they did it to prevent it. But, I'm a habitual M$ basher, and it doesn't help with the problem.

 

[johnlvs2run]

A friend found this pci=nomsi boot parameter that might be a remedy.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/199573

 

[johnlvs2run]

boot parameters

Update: Ubuntu is installed!
Hopefully now all will be well with the hard drive.
Here's a helpful link with clear illustrations of the steps.
http://www.ubuntu1501.com/2007/01/installing-ubuntu-on-your-dell-1501.html

Thanks much to CaptainCranky, Raybay and others for your helpfulness.

 

[captaincranky]

Oy.......

So your problem was the SATA recognition issue, the boot order was wrong in BIOS, or both?

Anyway, your two links were a good find. I'm glad you're up and running, and I'm sure your new hard drive will be just fine.

 

[johnlvs2run]

step by step

So your problem was the SATA recognition issue, the boot order was wrong in BIOS, or both?

Anyway, your two links were a good find.

Thanks. The boot order was fine. Apparently Linux doesn't recognize Sata or the Sata controller, and Seagate is set up for Windows. I changed the Bios from Sata Mode to Achi, then a line below that Ahci DID for Linux -> Enabled. After that, adding pci=nomsi to the kernal and Ubuntu could load.

I still don't know if the CD of motherboard drivers have loaded, or if I need to get different drivers for Linux. The instructions say the CD drivers are to be loaded to Windows. My email is working finally, but I'm not yet able to see any videos. Any further comments much appreciated.

Oh and the case came today. It's a basic case but looks great.

P.S. Thanks, I'm glad too. Woohoo! Glad I don't need to mess with returning the drive.

 

[captaincranky]

Oh and the case came today. It's a basic case but looks great.

I thought you were going to use the Emachine coffin, er I mean...., case.

AHCI (or "achoo" as I like to call it), is the native SATA mode for a single HDD. What's interesting here is you can't run ACHI in XP, it only works in Vista.
In XP the board must mimic IDE mode for a single drive, or you must install a SATA driver for RAID.

There are drivers included in Linux, just as there are in Windows. I wouldn't worry too much for the time being, wait to see what goes right, before you worry about what could be wrong. The most important driver is the chipset identification software, so you might check the board's website to see if exists for Linux. I wouldn't try to load any Windows drivers.

 

[johnlvs2run]

I was going to use the Emachines case, but the micro Biostar motherboard was out of stock so I got this one instead, thinking it was also micro but it wasn't. This turned out okay as I set everything up on the mb box, which is cool. The Rosewill case came today and is much nicer than expected.

Thanks for the info on AHCI and the drivers.

AHCI (or "achoo" as I like to call it), is the native SATA mode for a single HDD. What's interesting here is you can't run ACHI in XP, it only works in Vista.
In XP the board must mimic IDE mode for a single drive, or you must install a SATA driver for RAID.

Does that mean I won't be able to run two hard drives, or dual boot with XP?

The most important driver is the chipset identification software, so you might check the board's website to see if exists for Linux. I wouldn't try to load any Windows drivers.

Okay good, I was wondering how to load them.
I did go to the Biostar site, and there is no mention of Linux. Maybe I can email and ask them tomorrow.

I've downloaded flash, and still not able to see any youtube videos.

 

[captaincranky]

I was going to use the Emachines case, but the micro Biostar motherboard was out of stock so I got this one instead, thinking it was also micro but it wasn't. This turned out okay as I set everything up on the mb box, which is cool. The Rosewill case came today and is much nicer than expected.

Some of Rosewill's stuff gets good reviews and it's priced right. I have one of their case fans, a nice little kit, blue, pretty.

Thanks for the info on AHCI and the drivers.

You're quite welcome.

Does that mean I won't be able to run two hard drives, or dual boot with XP?

Windows is notorious for wiping out any operating system that is in place, so it's always recommended to install it first. I think if you're going to try something like this I'd go with trying Ubuntu's "wubi" installer. Although, were you to do it this way, you would squander all your pioneering effort in getting Linux installed without it. Then the drive mode question might rear it's pointy little head unless you were installing Vista.
I'm not sure, it's above my pay grade, it makes my head hurt, and it seems like you should have a spare computer to try it on first.

I did go to the Biostar site, and there is no mention of Linux. Maybe I can email and ask them tomorrow.

Many Linux drivers are device specific. In certain instances you would have to go to the device manufacturers site to find what you need.
I'm an Intel person, so I don't know if the "chipset identification utility", is an Intel specific phenomenon. Every Intel chipset should have it (or one) installed, even in other makers boards. Specifics regarding your existing chipset are unknown to me.

I've downloaded flash, and still not able to see any youtube videos.

I think you tube is Quicktime. Or, I think I just said something stupid, it's a toss up.
I believe Firefox.com has add-ons for dealing with Utube, you might try rooting around there also.

 

[johnlvs2run]

I have windows on an older hard disk and will keep it on that, though right now it has an autologoff virus that apparently moved, deleted and/or renamed the userinit.exe so that I'm not able to log on. I need to somehow get into regedit but am not sure how to do that from elsewhere. Hopefully Ubuntu will be helpful.

Currently I'm still having major issues with drivers and hardware on the Biostar. I enabled the Nvidia driver in Ubuntu, rebooted and there were colored lines all over the screen. After doing a complete reinstall, I tried it a different way and the screen ended up black. So I'm sitting in the liveCD again trying to figure out what to do to get into the harddrive or else redo the install. Also I think there's no audio.

On the good side, the pci=nomsi has been working for others. I'm going to try turning Sata back on in the Bios and see if pci=nomsi works on it's own, in the case that might help with some of the issues. At this point I don't know how to resolve the driver issues or whatever else is happening but will keep looking into them.

 

[captaincranky]

Currently I'm still having major issues with drivers and hardware on the Biostar. I enabled the Nvidia driver in Ubuntu, rebooted and there were colored lines all over the screen. After doing a complete reinstall, I tried it a different way and the screen ended up black. So I'm sitting in the liveCD again trying to figure out what to do to get into the harddrive or else redo the install. Also I think there's no audio. .

Here you lost me, or rather I've had a different experience. Ubuntu has always worked (more or less) with the Intel onboard graphics/driver on my mobo. Ubuntu 8.04 picks up my monitor at full res from a live run ( a 24" 1920 X 1200), 7.10 wouldn't do this, it would give smaller sizes like 1280 X 1024.

On the good side, the pci=nomsi has been working for others. I'm going to try turning Sata back on in the Bios and see if pci=nomsi works on it's own, in the case that might help with some of the issues. At this point I don't know how to resolve the driver issues or whatever else is happening but will keep looking into them.

Again a tad confused. ACHI is SATA. SATA SATA is RAID and would need RAID drivers.

Try reading your mobo specs and if you have say, realtek audio, then hit their site in your driver hunt. You should probably spend some time at "ubuntu.iscrewedup.org", (you know what I mean, their forums), I pretty sure you're not the first person to run into some of these things. Hope you get up and running OK. You might try our OS forums for the Windows issue, this assumes you have a COA and whatnot on your XP.

 

[johnlvs2run]

Yeah I would expect the motherboard to just work. Here is what Biostar says on their site:

Generally, motherboard vender only provides the driver for Windows operating system. The driver of Linux operating system is provided by the chipset manufacturer. The Linux Operating System Is become more and more popular nowadays, so, many of the chipset manufacturer are starting to provide the Linux operating system driver.

Yet they provide all the drivers for Windows - and NO contact info for the chipset makers.

Modes in the Bios are Sata, Raid, and Achi.

What is a COA?

 

[captaincranky]

Yeah I would expect the motherboard to just work. Here is what Biostar says on their site:

Biostar didn't make your chipset. I'm aware that you know that, but it bears repeating. It might not even be technically legal for them to provide drivers, because it would require them to reverse engineer, decompile if you will, the entire chipset's inner workins'. Combined with with cost of doing so, which might be prohibitive. It would be,for all intents and purposes doing the same work twice.

Yet they provide all the drivers for Windows - and NO contact info for the chipset makers.

Well, I'm with you, it upsets me to no end. Microsoft is ,for all intents and purposes a monopoly, so the hardware manufacturers pander to them accordingly. Microsoft keeps getting sued, fined, and then appealing so they can put off paying the fines. Meanwhile they're making more money and buying more politicians. The irony is, that in many instances, the government probably needs M$ software to prosecute M$.
At any rate, ATI and Nvidia should be locateable, and your options here are limited. I sympathize and agree with you, but that's all I can do.

Modes in the Bios are Sata, Raid, and Achi..

I have all Intel chipsets, and their nomenclature is what I stated previously. I still think that ACHI is the mode for SATA with a single HDD. I'm unclear as to why you want to experiment. I think ACHI would allow you to add HDDs as volumes (storage), and if you want to be fancy use the RAID. RAID 0 for striping (speed), or RAID 1 for data mirroring, (security). You still need another HDD before you can even worry about that.

What is a COA?

"Certificate of Authenticity". XP (and Vista) will stop working when they sense major hardware changes, and require reactivation. Then there's WGA, (Windows Genuine Advantage) which will be installed when you try to (re)activate or update. If your copy of Windows is OEM from another machine, it's likely that that M$ will consider that copy dead and choose not to reactivate it. There seem to be other solutions, but I'm not familiar with them, and it wouldn't be permitted to discuss it at this website.