Description of problem: I can't proper boot from a solid state disk connected to the SATA port on mainboard MSI 9830 (aka IM-945GSE-A). Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): kernel-2.6.27.15-170.2.24.fc10.i686 How reproducible: Every boot Steps to Reproduce: 1. connect solid state disk to SATA port 2. boot Actual results: Waiting for driver initialization. ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen ata1.00: cmd c8/00:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 0 dma 4096 in res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout) ata1.00: status: { DRDY } ata1: soft resetting link ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100 ata1: EH complete sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 62586880 512-byte hardware sectors (32044 MB) 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 DP O or FUA ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen ata1.00: cmd c8/00:35:40:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 0 dma 27136 in res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout) ata1.00: status: { DRDY } ata1: soft resetting link ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100 ata1: EH complete sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 62586880 512-byte hardware sectors (32044 MB) 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 DP O or FUA Creating root device. Mounting root filesystem. Expected results: Proper boot like happen if using the additional USB connector Additional info: USB boot (solid state disk is also shown here): scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access OCZ SOLI D_SSD Dev PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] 62586880 512-byte hardware sectors (32044 MB) sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] 62586880 512-byte hardware sectors (32044 MB) sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through sda: sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4 < sda5 sda6 > sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0 # lspci 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03) 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03) 00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02) 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02) 00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02) 00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02) 00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02) 00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 02) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02) 01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection 02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection I tried to boot a newer kernel (>2.6.27), but I only found one RPM on rawhide (kernel-2.6.29-0.137.rc5.git4.fc11.i586), unfortunately, boot crashes here.
Probably related: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=417621
Finally I found, that a BIOS setting is the reason for this behavior. At item "IDE configuration" is a subitem "ATA/IDE Configuration". In case of "Compatible", this timeouts occur. If set to "Enhanced", all is working fine. Looks like the BIOS ultimatly sets the chipset into a state, which is not adjusted by the Linux kernel module afterwards to a better state.