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Created February 8, 2026 16:06
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Sil3114 compatibility under Linux (untested)
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sil3114-linux.md

Silicon Image SiI 3114 Linux

Silicon Image SiI3114 is a PCI-based Serial ATA (SATA) controller that supports up to four SATA drives and can operate in either non-RAID "SATALink" or RAID-capable "SATARaid" modes, depending on firmware.

Kernel Support

  • The SiI3114 is supported in modern Linux kernels via the sata_sil driver (for kernel versions 2.6.19 and later).
  • Ensure your kernel has the following configuration enabled:
    • CONFIG_ATA
    • CONFIG_SATA_SIL
  • Most mainstream Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Arch, etc.) include this driver in their standard kernels, so no additional driver installation is typically required.

Driver Availability

  • Official Linux drivers are available from the Linux kernel source tree and are included in most distributions.
  • A binary driver package for Linux (e.g., SiI3114-Serial-ATA-32-bit-Linux-RAID-Driver) was previously provided by Silicon Image, but it was limited to older distributions like Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 and SUSE, and not compatible with modern systems.
  • The Linux ATA development site (https://www.kernel.org) hosts pre-compiled kernels with SiI3x12/3114 support.

Troubleshooting

  • If SATA drives are not detected:
    • Check dmesg | grep -i sata or lspci -v to verify the controller is recognized.
    • Ensure the kernel module sata_sil is loaded (modprobe sata_sil).
    • Avoid using outdated or custom drivers from third-party sites.
  • RAID functionality (e.g., RAID-0) requires proper configuration via mdadm and raidtab, and the kernel must support CONFIG_MD_RAID0.

Firmware & Compatibility

  • The SiI3114 can be flashed to enable RAID mode using tools like SiFlashTool (DOS-based), but this is rarely needed on modern systems.
  • Some users report memory usage issues (e.g., 10 KB of low memory) when using the card under DOS or older OSes.

✅ Bottom line: On modern Linux systems, SiI3114 is fully supported out-of-the-box with no additional driver installation. Use standard kernel modules and avoid legacy binary drivers.

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