Linux and ATA100

Wondering if anyone has any input on this. I have an ASUS A7V mainboard with 2 ATA100 and 2 IDE connectors. I have 2 HDs hooked up, via 1-80 pin cable to the primary ATA100 connector with jumpers on cable select, and 2 CD devices on the IDE connectors with seperate cables. This setup works fine for Windows, but Linux doesn't seem to like it as I cannot mount my HDs. My questions are: Will updating my BIOS, Promise drivers, or VIA drivers do anything for Linux to work? and If my system works OK with Windows the way it is, should I do these things and how often? Thanx in advance for any info.