ata_piix does not get loaded from initrd

I updated Ubuntu from feisty to gutsy (kernel 2.6.20 -> 2.6.22) on my Dell Precision 360 computer.

The new kernel's initrd does not load the required ata_piix module for the first IDE hard drive.
It drops into a shell complaining about a missing root filesystem.

I am able to modprobe ata_piix within this shell and all IDE drives are recognized.

I have put ata_piix into /etc/initramfs-tools/modules and ran update-initramfs for this kernel. The line containing ata_piix is in /conf/modules of the initrd but still the module does not get loaded.

There's also an additional Promise IDE controller in this box where the module (pata_pdc2027x) gets loaded.

root@defiant:~# lspci -nvv
00:00.0 0600: 8086:2578 (rev 02)
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Region 0: Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
        Capabilities: [e4] Vendor Specific Information
        Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 3.0
                Status: RQ=32 Iso- ArqSz=2 Cal=2 SBA+ ITACoh- GART64- HTrans- 64bit- FW+ AGP3+ Rate=x4,x8
                Command: RQ=1 ArqSz=0 Cal=2 SBA+ AGP- GART64- 64bit- FW- Rate=<none>

00:01.0 0604: 8086:2579 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 64
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=64
        Memory behind bridge: fd000000-feafffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: d8000000-efffffff
        Secondary status: 66MHz+ FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ <SERR- <PERR-
        BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- NoISA- VGA+ MAbort- >Reset- FastB2B-

00:1d.0 0c03: 8086:24d2 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 18
        Region 4: I/O ports at ff80 [size=32]

00:1d.1 0c03: 8086:24d4 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 19
        Region 4: I/O ports at ff60 [size=32]

00:1d.2 0c03: 8086:24d7 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin C routed to IRQ 16
        Region 4: I/O ports at ff40 [size=32]

00:1d.3 0c03: 8086:24de (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 18
        Region 4: I/O ports at ff20 [size=32]

00:1d.7 0c03: 8086:24dd (rev 02) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin D routed to IRQ 17
        Region 0: Memory at ffa80800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
        Capabilities: [58] Debug port

00:1e.0 0604: 8086:244e (rev c2) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=32
        I/O behind bridge: 0000d000-0000dfff
        Memory behind bridge: fce00000-fcffffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: f0000000-f00fffff
        Secondary status: 66MHz- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ <SERR- <PERR-
        BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR+ NoISA- VGA- MAbort- >Reset- FastB2B-

00:1f.0 0601: 8086:24d0 (rev 02)
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle+ MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0

00:1f.1 0101: 8086:24db (rev 02) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 16
        Region 0: I/O ports at 01f0 [size=8]
        Region 1: I/O ports at 03f4 [size=1]
        Region 2: I/O ports at 0170 [size=8]
        Region 3: I/O ports at 0374 [size=1]
        Region 4: I/O ports at ffa0 [size=16]
        Region 5: Memory at febffc00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]

00:1f.2 0101: 8086:24d1 (rev 02) (prog-if 8f [Master SecP SecO PriP PriO])
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 16
        Region 0: I/O ports at fe00 [size=8]
        Region 1: I/O ports at fe10 [size=4]
        Region 2: I/O ports at fe20 [size=8]
        Region 3: I/O ports at fe30 [size=4]
        Region 4: I/O ports at fea0 [size=16]

00:1f.3 0c05: 8086:24d3 (rev 02)
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 10
        Region 4: I/O ports at eda0 [size=32]

00:1f.5 0401: 8086:24d5 (rev 02)
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 21
        Region 0: I/O ports at ee00 [size=256]
        Region 1: I/O ports at edc0 [size=64]
        Region 2: Memory at febffa00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
        Region 3: Memory at febff900 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

01:00.0 0300: 10de:0326 (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
        Subsystem: 10b0:0403
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 64 (1250ns min, 250ns max)
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
        Region 0: Memory at fd000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        Region 1: Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        Expansion ROM at fea00000 [disabled] [size=128K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
        Capabilities: [44] AGP version 3.0
                Status: RQ=32 Iso- ArqSz=0 Cal=3 SBA+ ITACoh- GART64- HTrans- 64bit- FW+ AGP3+ Rate=x4,x8
                Command: RQ=1 ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA- AGP- GART64- 64bit- FW- Rate=<none>

02:01.0 0180: 105a:4d68 (rev 02) (prog-if 85)
        Subsystem: 105a:4d68
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=slow >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 64 (1000ns min, 4500ns max), Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 20
        Region 0: I/O ports at df20 [size=8]
        Region 1: I/O ports at df18 [size=4]
        Region 2: I/O ports at df28 [size=8]
        Region 3: I/O ports at df1c [size=4]
        Region 4: I/O ports at df30 [size=16]
        Region 5: Memory at fcedc000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
        Expansion ROM at f0004000 [disabled] [size=16K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 1
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1+ D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

02:02.0 0400: 109e:036e (rev 11)
        Subsystem: 0070:13eb
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 64 (4000ns min, 10000ns max)
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 21
        Region 0: Memory at f0001000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=4K]
        Capabilities: [44] Vital Product Data
        Capabilities: [4c] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

02:02.1 0480: 109e:0878 (rev 11)
        Subsystem: 0070:13eb
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 64 (1000ns min, 63750ns max)
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 21
        Region 0: Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=4K]
        Capabilities: [44] Vital Product Data
        Capabilities: [4c] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

02:0c.0 0200: 8086:100e (rev 02)
        Subsystem: 1028:0156
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV+ VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 64 (63750ns min), Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 16
        Region 0: Memory at fcee0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
        Region 2: I/O ports at df40 [size=64]
        Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=1 PME-
        Capabilities: [e4] PCI-X non-bridge device
                Command: DPERE- ERO+ RBC=512 OST=1
                Status: Dev=00:00.0 64bit- 133MHz- SCD- USC- DC=simple DMMRBC=2048 DMOST=1 DMCRS=16 RSCEM- 266MHz- 533MHz-
        Capabilities: [f0] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
                Address: 0000000000000000 Data: 0000