HOW TO switch from IDE to AHCI mode without having to reinstall Win XP (GUIDE)

[OldMSguy]

Thanks for the reply Jack.

I do have the ICH10R southbridge, and I followed your guide.

I can't get the AICH to work, and it has nothing to do with your solution, I have another problem.
If I can get past this new problem, I am sure your solution will solve the rest.

There is something not working right with the BIOS and/or CMOS settings.

Anyways, I changed the onboard SATA setting from IDE to AICH, and only had one 60gig SATA drive, attached to port 1 of the
onboard SATA. The JMicron SATA is set to IDE, any other setting, and the machine cannot see my CD/DVD drives on the IDE
Channel. I have tried various combinations of settings involving 1.)boot sequence 2.) onboard SATA, and 3.) the JMicron SATA.

The system sees the 60gig drive at boot, but at the time that it goes to the boot menu, I get this message:

"Reboot and select a proper boot device or insert bootl media in the selected device."

If I reboot, and go back into the CMOS, and change back to IDE for the onboard SATA, Windows XP (SP3 and fully updated, with the registry changes
and driver copy in place, per your guide) boots right up. By the way I'm using "iata82_enu.exe", from the Intel website.

I checked the reviews for the board at Newegg, where I bought it, and it seems that the ver 1.3 BIOS might be problematic.
I have read about that in other forums. I will probably flash back to 1.2 (there were no reviews when I bought the board)

I realize that my problem has nothing to do with directly with this thread, or my initial problem.

However, if anyone following this thread has had a similar issue, or can point me to a source for a detailed explanation of the
AMI BIOS CMOS settings, I might be able to get past this stumbling block.

Once again Jack, thanks for your help, and for staying on top of this thread.
I am sure you have been a great help to a lot of puzzled and frustrated system builders.

 

[jlodvo]

is thier a guide for p45 platinum and windows xp 64bit?

 

[jlodvo]

i tried the ich10r reg file now it works but i have something wierd, before i always count the bar flashing left to right when windows starts with then windows logo, my p45 ide mode before was max 4 bars flashing then it loads to windows now when i did this achi mode i get upto 10 flash, its kinda long anyone know why?

and i have doen the achi to ide reg b4 in my other p35 system it has a max of 3.5 flash either in ide mode or in achi

im just wondering why it takes more then twice now to finish the flashing (running bar from left to right) so it basically longer for me now to boot

 

[jlodvo]

here a little quick test i tried using the windows boot timer

achi mode 52 seconds
ide mode 47.640 seconds

so for me i get faster boot time with ide mode dont know why

 

[DJRamses]

perhaps i have a other way:


Now go to your Device Manager. Klick on your IDE/ATAPI Controller. Right click on intel(R) XXXXX Bus Master Ide Controller. Klick on Driver update. Let Windows not search!
Klick on Search Driver manually from  a list!... Klick on Drive... search. Go to the place where you the IAstore.inf have placed.
klick OK. Remove the Check at "kompatible Hardware".Now in the List right, chose the right driver. On my (X48C Platinium) it was Intel(R) ICH9R/DO/DH SATA AHCI Controller.
Klick all ok. Ignore possibly warnings incompatible Hardware. Install the Driver. Make a Reboot and jump into Bios.
On integated Peripherals--->On-Chip ATA Devices chose AHCI. Save and exit the Bios and reboot.
Perhaps to make a check that Your Harddrive where the OS is installed, has the first Boot priority.
If necessary re enter Bios and change it.


I have make this way anymore. It works fine.

 

[Jack the Newbie]

:lol_anim:

Damn, that works like a charm.  Works perfectly on a P45 Platinum as well.  Windows XP bootet without problem. 

I wonder why nobody ever thought of that.  Simple and effective.  That once again proves that the simplest solutions are usually the best. 

 

[straddy]

Ok I followed all the instructions carefully and did everything but I still get BSoD on boot.
Here's what I did:
I created the reg file (I have ICH8 and used the first set of code for ICH8). Double clicked reg file to install to registry.
I extracted the latest iata86_enu.exe, saved iaStor.sys in system32/drivers/
BIOS change from ATA to AHCI.
Boot, BSoD.

I've tried the ICH9 code with no luck.

Note that I have Windows XP on partition E:\, Vista boots on C:\ and is marked as the boot partition. I boot to XP via bootloader.

 

[Jack the Newbie]

What board do you have? What BIOS Version?

 

[straddy]

Hey, I figured it out.

Jack, your guide is missing a CRITICAL STEP, please update the first page with the following.

Once the intel drivers are extracted you have to do this:

Go to This Computer-> Properties -> Hardware -> Device manager.
Under IDE ATA/ATAPI-Controllers, right-click the first INTEL(R) Controller, and update the driver.
Manually install the driver!! Make sure in every step you choose yourself what drivers to install!!
Browse to the folder where you extracted the intel drivers and install the matching chipset driver.

I think this works for a broader range of boards than simply copying iaStor.sys to drivers.

Thanks!

Btw, I'm on an intel GM965 express chipset. Dell bios A06 Boots into Mac OS X Leopard with AHCI lol

 

[Jack the Newbie]

Jack, your guide is missing a CRITICAL STEP, please update the first page with the following.

Actually, it is not.  The step you described is actually part of a different procedure.  This one:

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=106575.msg899229#msg899229

 

[straddy]

Ah ok. I missed it though, which means other readers would probably miss it too. I think the method should be mentioned in the first post for newbies like me.

 

[Jack the Newbie]

I will include a link to that method as soon as I find the time. 

[BTW:  The registry patch method only works if the registry code contains the proper Vendor ID of the Controller.  ICH8R and ICH9R use different vendor IDs than ICH8.  That could be the reason why you still got BSODs.]

 

[steve04]

Ok I have tried everything and this does not work.  I made the registry file (ICH10R) and ran it but I have no idea where this iaStor.sys is.  I searched my whole computer (and my XP cd) and it is on neither.  I also went to http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_results.aspx?strTypes=all&ProductID=2101&OSFullName=Windows*+XP+Professional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go! and downloaded those drivers.  When I install them it says my system does not meet the minimum requirements.  I also did a search for IATA621_CD.EXE and when I ran it , it also says I don't meet the requirements.  My specs are as follows...

Intel Core2Duo E8400 @ 3.0 GHZ
Asus P5Q Pro Mobo
GEForce 9600 GT Video Card
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Maxtor 500 GB SATA II drive


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jack the Newbie]

Please read my first post again and pay more attention to the part labeled "Second Step".  It explains how to extract the file you need without running the installer in the regular sense.

Asus P5Q Pro Mobo

Note that this is an MSI Forum that is concerned with MSI Products (not Asus products).  Please consult the Asus forum instead as you have an Asus mainboard.  That is what the Asus forum is there for.  Any further post regarding problems with procedures on your Asus board will be removed without notice; either by me or by another moderator.  Sorry.

 

[Jack the Newbie]

@Wernox, this is an MSI-Forum concerned with MSI Products.  We do not offer support and help for non-MSI  Products.  That is why I removed your post.

But to answer your question very quickly as it is an easy one:  The Intel ICH6 Chipsatz does not support AHCI to begin with, so there is no point in trying to make it operate in AHCI mode.

--------------

You have a PM!

 

[Radical_53]

Thanks alot, absolutely great guide. It wasn't enough that I had to re-activate Windows by phone because I forgot to set time and date at the first boot, I also forgot to set the ICH to AHCI. Now it works as supposed again, great help!

 

[RonNielson]

When the update method described in DJ Ramses post #104 is used, is it still necessary to do the Reg update?  I am not clear about this.

 

[Jack the Newbie]

Just try without and see what happens.  That is the best way to find out.

 

[RonNielson]

Let me re-phrase the question - When YOU did this and it worked just fine, did YOU to the REG update? Is the REG update a part of the normal driver installation process that will happen automatically? 

No need to create a problem if I don't need to.

 

[Jack the Newbie]

No, i did not have to.  If it does not work in your case, try with the reg file.  If you have further questions, please be so kind an provide more info about your system (Board/Southbridge and operating system are the most important things that you should mention in this case).