Why can't my computer can't detect my external hard drive?

Ubuntu wont detect my 750 GB barracuda SATA hard drive?

• hello i was wondering if anyone could help. i have 750 gb SATA seagate barracuda Hard drive that i am trying to install UBUNTU 10.04 onto. when i run through the installation off of a live cd it goes through the process but stops at step four where it asks for a hard drive. instead of showing a drive, its just a blank box with nothing to choose. i was running windows seven on the hard drive before so i know its good. also, i have sucessfully installed ubuntu onto an IDE 80gb hard drive with no problems, but it still does not detect the SATA drive. i cant figure out what the problem is, ive updated my bios, updated the HD firmware, im not sure what else to do. the specs of my computer are: Asus A8V-x MoBo AMD athlon 64 X2 processor GEforce 6800 Graphics Card 1gb RAM

• Answer:

  http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=837835 and http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-desktop-74/installer-doesnt-see-my-sata-hdd-722259/ Howto: "Solution: 1) When at the install menu (has several options : Install, Check CD for defects, Test memory, etc...). I was installing so I that is what I was choosing. Press F6 twice to get to extra kernel boot options select "nolapic" and "noapic" then ESC. From pressing F6 you should see the kernel boot line delete "--" and add "pci=nomsi" hit enter. Go through the install prompt and install normally (hopefully you will get no "can't find drive" errors). 2) After the install your system should reboot, you should see the grub boot countdown, press ESC to get into the grub loader. Select the proper boot option (normally the first) and hit 'e'. Select the line that says "kernel" and hit 'e' again. Remove "splash" from the boot option and add "pci=nomsi nolapic noapic" and hit enter, you'll be taken to the previous screen. Press 'b' to boot. 3) Hopefully Ubuntu should boot normally. After it does open a console version and use the following command Code: sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst You will be prompted for your password, enter it and go to the very bottom of the the editor to the lines Code: title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-server uuid 1eeed980-8f03-4647-8115-94224929bca9... kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-server... initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-server... Note: Title will differ depending on your version For the line that begins with "kernel" go to the end, remove "splash" and again add "pci=nomsi nolapic noapic" to the line. Hit Ctrl+X to exit, you will be prompted to save, say yes and you're done. Reboot to test, hopefully you boot up just fine. " http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=6525236&postcount=18