The Adaptec Serial ATA RAID 2410SA is a 4-port native Serial ATA I/O processor-based RAID controller that supports Adaptec's advanced feature set, including Optimized Disk Utilization, Online Capacity Expansion and RAID Level Migration. The Adaptec 2410SA supports SATA 2 features including enclosure management and backplanes. Adaptec Storage Manager™ - provides centralized management for Adaptec host-based RAID controllers. The Adaptec 2410SA supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 10, and JBOD configurations and features 64 MB of fixed ECC SDRAM cache memory. Full OS support includes Windows® Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, NetWare 6.5, RedHat Linux and SuSE Linux, SCO UnixWare® and Caldera Open UNIX®.
SATA Operation The Dell Precision includes an option in the BIOS to change the SATA operation, or SATA mode. SATA devices can run in ATA, AHCI or RAID mode. ATA mode lacks the features of AHCI, but is compatible with older operating systems. AHCI works with modern operating systems, like Windows Vista and Windows 7, and has extra features ATA lacks.
RAID mode can run on Windows XP and Windows 2000 if the proper drivers are loaded at setup, and enables users to set up a multi-drive configuration to improve disk performance. AHCI AHCI isn't compatible with Windows XP or older editions of Windows. SATA devices perform better when configured as AHCI, rather than ATA; AHCI reduces the time it takes to save and open files on the hard drive via the native command queuing (NCQ) feature, which optimizes multiple read/write commands. AHCI also allows hot plugging, a feature which enables users to swap out hard drives while the Dell Precision is still on. ATA ATA mode should be used when running older operating systems on a SATA hard drive. The SATA device emulates ATA - also known as Parallel ATA (PATA) or integrated drive electronics (IDE) - technology.
If Ubuntu is all you have, you would want grub in the master boot record of whichever drive is set to first boot priority in the BIOS. Are both your drives recognized in the BIOS? I don't know which number version Feisty Fawn is but if it is earlier than 9.10, it would have Grub Legacy, later would be Grub2. Guide to installing Ubuntu 10.04 on the PS3. Many people installing Ubuntu 10.04 on there PS3 have been encountering mounting problems where after a successful installation of Ubuntu, the system boots up only to detect no drives with linux installed. Hence this guide is to help those that are stuck on installing this.
SATA was developed in 2003, after ATA devices had been in common use for about a decade. Therefore, while ATA devices have the most compatibility with all operating systems, it doesn't have the same performance or features as AHCI, a newer technology. BIOS Options You can change the SATA operation in the Dell Precision BIOS.
Press 'F2' on the Dell logo screen, then expand 'Drives.' Click 'SATA Operation.' Select 'AHCI,' 'ATA' or 'RAID' from the options.
Some Precisions might not have the option for RAID, while others will have options such as 'RAID Autodetect/AHCI' or 'RAID Autodetect/ATA.' Click 'Apply.' Press 'F10' to save and quit.