# 8.1 ATA_CAM system



## Sylgeist (Jul 27, 2010)

I'm slightly confused by the man pages for the new ATA_CAM kernel option. Does this provide the same function as the AHCI module in 8.0? Do I need to have both of them enabled/loaded now?


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## SirDice (Jul 27, 2010)

No. AHCI is specifically for AHCI (and compatible) controllers. It will present a cam (SCSI) interface to the system to access drives. 
The ATA_CAM option adds the cam interface to the traditional ATA (IDE) controllers.
They provide similar functionality (make drives accessible via cam) but they are not the same.


If I understood correctly they're moving everything over to cam, so no more ata devices. At least from the system's point of view.


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## Sylgeist (Jul 27, 2010)

Ah ok, so both options are necessary if you want to cover SATA and IDE based devices. 
Thanks for the clarification!


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## phoenix (Aug 6, 2010)

Depends on what you want to do.

See this post for more info.


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