Yes -- the thread has aged some -- but just went through the BIOS IDE "emulation" to AHCI conversion, for both a single HDD (not RAID) and CD/DVD(DL)-RW, with Win-XP Pro x64 that had been installed for over a year. No muss, no fuss, no O/S reinstalls, just a few
complete power-downs and reboots with the case open . . . and NO system registry hacks.
The basic problem by just switching from IDE to AHCI, even if the drivers have been "installed" is they're sitting "latent" . . . available, but not actively in use by the O/S which means they're not entered in the system registry to be loaded when the machine boots (which results in BSOD). This was the purpose of the registry "hack" posted earlier in the thread . . . which isn't required for this method.
My mobo is an MSI K9A2 Platinum (AM2+) with 790FX/SB600, plus a Promise T3 SATA/RAID. Has four SATA ports inboard controlled by the SB600, and two inboard SATA ports plus two outboard eSATA ports controlled by the Promise T3. This method works for those that installed WinXP x86 or x64 (and presumably Vista x86 or x64) with the mobo BIOS for the SB600 SATA ports in "IDE" mode
if there is a second SATA controller (e.g. the Promise T3 on my motherboard). Not all motherboards have a second SATA controller, but if it's an SB600 with more than four SATA ports, it must have a second onboard SATA controller (SB600 supports up to four SATA). Also assuming the machine is booting to a single HDD, not a RAID configuration.
Basic conversion concept:
* enabling the secondary controller, installing the AHCI drivers for it and ensuring they are properly recognized by the O/S
* moving the SATA drive(s) (HDD and CD/DVD if it's SATA) to secondary controller
* changing SB600 from IDE emulation to AHCI, installing the AHCI drivers for it and ensuring they are properly recognized by the O/S
* moving the SATA drive(s) back to the SB600 SATA ports.
Have the drivers for both the SB600 SATA (AHCI/RAID) and the secondary SATA both available before starting this. I downloaded the latest ones from the motherboard mfr site to my HDD before starting the conversion.
1. Reboot and access machine BIOS during POST
Enable secondary SATA controller (in my case it was the Promise T3 RAID) and save BIOS settings. If there are options to it, set it to AHCI, not RAID (usually not . . . normally it's either enabled or disabled).
2. Reboot Windoze; likely you will see an additional BIOS RAID configuration setup option offered during POST; just leave it alone and don't do anything with it. When Windoze finishes booting it will find "new hardware" and very likely won't be able to install any drivers for it automagically. You will probably have to manually install them.
3. If it's an "exe" driver installer, simply quit the Windoze "cannot find the drivers" dialog and run the driver installer program. If it's a "text" installer with "inf" . . . point the Windoze driver installer to where the "inf" file is located for your version of the operating system (e.g. WinXP or Vista, and the x86 or x64 drivers). There should not be any error messages (e.g. these ain't the right drivers) if you've pointed to the correct "inf" file. Ensure it has found the secondary SATA/RAID controller properly (you may have to reboot). It should show up as a SCSI drive controller with no drives connected (not an IDE device).
4. Shut down the computer and (this is important) completely remove all power by disconnecting the power cord. You can tell if all power is completely off to the motherboard as there won't be any LEDs lit on it (if there are, power is not completely disconnected).
5. Pop open the case and move the drive SATA cables to the SATA ports for the secondary controller (these are usually a different color, or are in a slightly different location on the motherboard; in my case they are a different color). Be certain to also move the CD/DVD drive if it's a SATA drive.
6. Reconnect power cord and power up computer. It should reboot with no problems. Do this before proceeding to ensure the machine boots properly.
7. Reboot again, access the BIOS during POST and change the SB600 from IDE to AHCI (not RAID). Save the BIOS and reboot again.
8. Repeat steps 2-6 for the SB600 AHCI drivers, switching the drive SATA cables back to the SB600 ports (in step 5). Machine should reboot properly with the SATA drive now being used in AHCI mode by the SB600.
9. Optional: Reboot again, access BIOS and disable the secondary SATA controller (I don't use it, the additional RAID BIOS setup option at the beginning of POST bugged me, and it's one less set of unnecessary drivers being loaded)
The best part of this method is it's entirely reversible if something doesn't work right (i.e. some drivers don't install correctly). No registry hacking required. For those that have mobos with secondary SATA controllers, this is the easiest way to do the conversion after the O/S is installed, and it's also the way to do it if there's no floppy drive for the "F6" driver install during a WinXP installation. I was done in a half-hour.
-- John
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04/22/2008 12:35 PM
