Basic IDE Controller Card - to wait, or not to wait....

[Shane Hathaway]

Jeff Schroeder wrote:
> Kenneth wrote:
> 
>> The local CompUSA has a cheap card which I can pick up tonight, but I
>> am not sure it would be compatible with Linux.
> 
> Because the IDE card should really only be providing a BIOS link to your 
> hard drives, I don't think you need to worry about compatibility with 
> Linux or any other OS.  As long as the card provides whatever 
> hardware-level magic the BIOS requires to tell the kernel about the 
> drive, you should be fine.

I don't believe that's true.  Although GRUB uses BIOS to load the 
kernel, Linux doesn't use BIOS to actually talk to the drives.  There 
needs to be a Linux driver for the card.

However, there's a good chance the card uses a common chipset, so I bet 
some driver in Linux 2.6 supports the card.  The main risk is that you 
might lose 15% of your purchase price and a couple of hours.  That's not 
a bad risk.

Shane