# Hard Disk not detected at SATA2 Controller



## Nokobon (May 26, 2009)

Hello,
I decided to istall PCBSD7.1 on my desktop computer.
It's an AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 4000+ with 2Gb RAM and an 1Tb
Samsung HD103UJ hard disk on an Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 Mainboard.

The problem I got is, that PCBSD doesn't recognize the Hard Disk which is attached to the SATA2 controller of my mainboard altought it's correctly detected in the BIOS.
So I attached it to one of the simple SATA controllers and it worked.
I could install PCBSD.
That's strange as other OS's (Windows, openSUSE) have no problems with the HD at SATA2.

Is that a common problem of FreeBSD?
Any suggestions what I could do to get the hard disk working with SATA2 *and* PCBSD?

Thanks,
Nokobon

_EDIT:_ I forgot to mention, that this problem also occurs when trying to install standard FreeBSD. So it`s not PCBSD specific.


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## vivek (May 26, 2009)

Can you provide information about your controller name and motherboard name?


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## Nokobon (May 26, 2009)

vivek said:
			
		

> Can you provide information about your controller name and motherboard name?



In my first post I already mentioned that my motherboard is:
Asrock 939Dual-SATA2
Or what do you mean?
Where do I get the controller's name from?


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## BuSerD (May 26, 2009)

Sorry that you had a bad experience but that can happen if you fail to research the compatibility of your hardware using the release notes. I have found the specs for your mother board and a report that shows the sata controller working. They may have changed the chipset but this is not the fault of the OS, rather the manufacturer. Good luck


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## Nokobon (May 26, 2009)

Thank you very much for that useful information.
If I had known that there are such reports for specific hardware, I would have searched for it earlier.

When starting PCBSD I also recognized that audio doesn`t work by default.
I don't use the onboard ethernet chip, so I don't care if it isn't supported.
But without audio support and with my Hard Disk slown down to SATA1
it doesn't make much sense to install PCBSD/FreeBSD on this machine.
Maybe I have to use Linux on my Desktop until I got FreeBSD-supported hardware...

Or any ideas what else I could try?...Let me know


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## BuSerD (May 26, 2009)

Nokobon,

You do have the option of adding a sound card if you have an available slot for it. $20 max. And i don't think you'd notice the diff between sata1 and sata2 on your desktop. Unless you know of reason why you would you should not worry about that either. If that's not a concession you are willing to make mobos are pretty cheap at the consumer level.  You can reuse your ram, drives and cards if you pick the right mobo.


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## Nokobon (May 27, 2009)

Well, changing the motherboard is no option for me I think.
It's a great one and rare today. The advantage is, that there is an AGP *and* a PCI-Express slot.
So I can still use my Radeon9800Pro-AGP graphics card but althought I am able to upgrade to a PCI graphics card when I want to.

Though adding a sound card is the only option left.
I am clueless about soundcards since I never used anything else than onboard audio devices.
Is there any card you would recommend?

I looked for some cards in an online shop and I think I have to spent at least 35â‚¬ (about 50$). That aren't peanuts for a student like me


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## BuSerD (May 27, 2009)

Go back to the release notes for final confirmation but i recall picking up a CMedia card for like $12 from my local Frys. Check the websites of your local retailers then compare what they have to hardware list.


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## Nokobon (May 27, 2009)

Okay, thanks very much for your advice.
Found some really inexpensive CMedia cards on ebay.
Maybe I am going to get one of those...
Do you think they are suitable for a 5.1 Surround-System?
I have no idea what's the difference between sound cards for 10â‚¬ and those for 200â‚¬.


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