[Ilugc] Linux installation on Asus K8S motherboard

[Prem Kurian Philip]

Has anyone here had any success with installing Linux on a machine with
Asus K8S-MX motherboard and a SATA hard disk?

My configuration is:

Asus K8S-MX motherboard (SIS 965L Southbridge)
AMD 64 2800
256 MB DDR 400
Seagate Barracuda 80 GB SATA HDD

I have tried to install multiple versions of Linux - Mandrake 10.1, Gentoo
2005.3 without any success as the HDD is not found during installation. I
understand that Mepis does not recognize the SATA HDD either.

I have installed Windows XP Pro SP2 on this machine without any problems.

I have been through the documentation available on the net - as of kernel
2.6.11, SIS 965L is not yet supported. However, I am not sure that is the
same case for Kernel 2.6.11-7 (the newest).

By the way, Solaris 10 too failed to install.

I am wondering if FreeBSD is a good option since I have located SIS 965
mentioned in the driver files for FreeBSD.

Would appreciate any tips.

Thanks and regards,
Prem Kurian Philip
Songbird Technologies