NASLite Network Attached Storage

Anyone know why NASLite-2 HDD won't detect an add-on card with a VIA VT6421A chip?

This chip has 1x IDE channel, and 2x SATA 1.0 ports, but NASLite refuses to see it, even though the 6421 chip is listed in the compatible hardware document.

Any ideas?

Motherboard has VIA chipset, including VIA-based on-board IDE, but I would not have thought that as the motherboard chipset is also VIA, that this will be an issue.

Any ideas or suggestions?

ADDITIONAL: Just tried putting a Silicon Image 680-based IDE controller card in there, and NASLite-2 picks that up no problem, and with a drive connected to the 680 card, NASLite-2 sees the drive, and I could format and export it if I wanted(but I don't). I will resort to using this 680 card if I have to, but I would like to know why NASLite-2 won't talk to the VIA 6421 card...

If the card has a BIOS on it, try flashing it with the latest firmware and see if that works. If not then look for a card with a different chipset. They can't support every chipset out there or the distro would be a CDROM worth of drivers.

Mike

I understand what you are saying, but this SATA card's chip _IS_ on the list of compatible hardware, so in theory, it should work as it is listed as a compatible device and should therefore work.

Hardware Reference Guide, page 11, right column, down the bottom under VIA Technologies - VT6421.

My card uses this chip, so it should be working.

Just because the chip is supported in NL does NOT mean that the company that integrated it on the card stuck to the reference design of either/or the hardware or the firmware. Likely, they made changes to the BIOS that broke the drivers. This happens more than you may think, return the card and move on to the next.

Mike

Interesting...


I just assumed it would work as it is on the list...
Oh well - you learn something every day(specifically your comment about the card's BIOS breaking the driver - was not aware that could even happen, as I would have assumed that the card's BIOS was device-operation specific, but not card-to-host ID specific or dependant - food for thought...)

I will look for another card.

No, on second thought - I won't.
The IDE card I used as a test DOES get detected, and a drive on it IS available to NASLite-2, so I will just use that card and be done with it. It means I might not be able to build the 4TB I was planning, as 500GB IDE drives seem to have dropped in favour of many capacities now going to SATA(which is why I wanted to use the VIA card as it was going to give me 2x SATA ports! )