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Dell Insprion 620/Vostro 260 NO Bios Setting for AHCI
Interestingly I could not even update the bios without the INTEL Management Drivers.
Checking in the Device manager the machine is using the ATA drivers not the AHCI drivers
AND the INTEL RST drivers will not install.
Why is that?
[:'(]
I did try updating to Bios version A04 but this made no difference.
4 Solutions
Accepted Solutions
Doh!
Never even thought of that.
Dell Inspiron 620
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
Dell Inspiron 620s
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
However
System Setup
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
is wrong because it says:
System Configuration
- Onboard Audio Controller — Enabled or Disabled (Enabled by default)
- Onboard LAN Controller — Enabled or Disabled (Enabled by default)
- Onboard LAN Boot ROM — Enabled or Disabled (Disabled by default)
- SATA Mode — AHCI; RAID (AHCI by default)
- This Explains why its in ATA Mode and it cannot be changed.
- USB Controller — Enabled or Disabled (Enabled by default)
- USB Storage Boot Function — Enabled or Disabled (Enabled by default)
- Onboard Card Reader — Enabled or Disabled (Enabled by default)
- Onboard Serial Port — Enabled or Disabled (Enabled by default)
- Serial Port IO Address/IRQ — 3F8h/IRQ4; 2F8h/IRQ3; 3E8h/IRQ4; 2E8h/IRQ3 (3F8h/IRQ4 by default)
Intel(R) H61 Express Chipset Family LPC Interface Controller - 1C5C
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C5C&SUBSYS_04ED1028&REV_05
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C5C&SUBSYS_04ED1028
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C5C&CC_060100
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C5C&CC_0601
OK, I accomplished what I needed to do. Here's what I did, and what I've found:
I managed to downgrade my bios version to MS-A04 while patching it at the same time for AHCI. I also found that this did NOT cure my flaky boot issues. Upon further investigation, I found that any of my USB devices that were “storage-capable” (Zune-HD, USB external WD drive) were causing the pc to stall at boot-up, even though USB devices were listed far down the boot order. I ended up disabling any/all USB boot devices in the bios boot order since I’m not booting from USB and can easily toggle it on in the bios if I actually needed to. I did NOT disable “Legacy USB”. That would have been disastrous. Ok, maybe not disastrous, but since there’s no PS/2 ports on this computer, I wouldn’t have any keyboard available during bootup. I would have had to clear the CMOS just to get into the bios! Anyway, that issue’s solved. With no USB devices in the boot order, the pc boots fine to Windows from a cold start.
Now, as for the flashing process, here's what I did:
1. Got a copy of AMIBCP from this link via bios-mods.com: http://www.sendspace.com/file/owfsdf (it's an .rar compressed file, so get a copy of 7-Zip or something similiar to uncompress it. What I did was uncompress the RAR and then the enclosed secondary ZIP file contained therein, and saved the extracted AMIBCP files to a folder. I then made a desktop shortcut to AMIBCP.exe. More on that later.
2. You’re going to need to FIRST change a Windows registry setting to enable AHCI, or else you could end up with an “Inaccessible Boot Device” error if you try to boot with AHCI enabled in the BIOS.
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
- In the pane on the right side, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
- In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
3. Downloaded the MS-A04 bios for the Inspiron 620. Since this was a lower version than the MS-A08 I already had installed, I had to use a special file "switch" to get it to run. If I were to just click on the MS-A04.exe file by itself, I would have gotten an error message that the bios version was the same or lower than my current version, and hence, it wouldn't run. So, the "fix" is to click Start/Run in Windows, clear the Run box if necessary of any text that's already there, and then drag the file MS-04.exe (or whatever previous version you need to run) into the Run window. Position your cursor at the end of the MS-A04.exe file name with your mouse, add a space with the keyboard, and then type in (without the quotes) "/forceit”. So, the file name in the Run box should say something like:
C:\Users\username\folder\MS-A04.exe /forceit
Of course, "username" and "folder" are whatever your name and folder path are. I'm assuming C: as your Windows drive.
Click OK. The bios update screen will pop up waiting for you to commit to updating it. Don't click the "Update" option at this point. Just leave it sitting on-screen, as this is the time you'll be patching your bios for AHCI. To do that, go back to the Run folder, clear the box of the MS-A04.exe text if it’s there, and just type in (without quotes) "&TEMP&" and click OK. Your Temp folder will open. Scroll down the folder list until you see the MS-A04 folder. Double-click on that folder to open it up. What I did was drag the .bin file (MS-A04.bin) -- and dropped it on top of my AMIBCP.EXE shortcut on my desktop. This opens the bios editor. You can, of course, use the File/Open option on the AMIBCP.exe program, but it will take you an extra step, since .bin files are not looked for by default. You’d have to select “All Files” from the File/Open box to then “see” your MS-A04.bin file as an option to open. So, why not just drag the file onto the shortcut? No muss, no fuss.
Now, I just looked for the settings that user Litwell so kindly took screenshots of on page 2 of this thread. You'll be making 5 changes he's highlighted in yellow. Save the file back to the MS-A04 folder. Now, all the while the actual bios flash window is still on-screen waiting for you to commit to flash it. Now, click the “Update” button, and it will flash your patched bios.
4. Of course, a reboot is needed after flashing, and that’s the time you’ll want to go into the PC's bios/setup and set your drives for AHCI vs. IDE, now that you have that option. You’ll see you have a SATA options menu item. Save your changes in the bios. Boot into Windows. Shortly after booting, you’ll be prompted to reboot for changes to take effect. I actually took an extra step and found Intel’s AHCI Controller, since this is an Intel chipset on the Dell Inspiron 620. I got that here: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20110&keyword=%22AHCI+SATA+Driver%22&... I installed it, and rebooted. My device manager now shows my drives as SCSI drives – which they essentially are with AHCI. These drivers come with an “Intel Rapid Storage Technology” Control Panel applet, which tells you the status of the drives, speeds, etc. Mine is reporting 3 gigs/sec transfer rate, write caching enabled, etc. There’s also an option to toggle on an LED light for the port to show you which one the drive is connected to. I haven’t done anything with that.
Bottom line: Since my boot problems were not the result of the MS-A08 bios update, I can always patch that and reflash to that one. I read the changes for that update, though, and it says this: “Fix system will have some fan noise with some particular situations.”. Well, this is about the quietest pc I’ve ever had, so unless this is referring to the DVD drive spin up noise, I’ll pass for now.
Here's what my Device Manager looks like after:
- Updating registry to enable MSAHCI (see info above)
- Flashing Bios down to MS-A04 from A08 while patching MS-A04 for AHCI (see info above)
- Enabling AHCI in bios post flashing (see info above)
- Booting into Windows after flashing/rebooting when prompted to enable AHCI in Windows (see info above)
- Installing Intel Rapid Storage AHCI Controller/Drivers -- Note "SCSI" now (see link above)
Here's what the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Control Panel applet shows now:
The manual shows AHCI enabled by default. "SATA Mode — AHCI; RAID (AHCI by default)"
Ok I found it listed Under system configuration in the manual. This option DOES NOT EXIST in an actual Inspiron 620 F2 CMOS MENU.
WHY? [:'(]
The bios is FORCED TO ATAPI By Default AND Has no RAID OR AHCI modes under ADVANCED, SYSTEM CONFIGURATION.
The Drivers in device manager are the ATAPI aka non AHCI drivers.
My SSD Firmware LIVE Linux Update CD also says the drives are in ATA not AHCI mode. (This means its BIOS not Registry or Driver)
Microsoft AHCI.SYS is not loading or installing nor is the INTEL RST driver.
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports the following Intel® chipsets. But Refuses to Auto or Manual Install on a 620.
Desktop chipsets:
- Intel® 7 Series Chipsets
- Intel® 6 Series Chipsets
- Intel® 5 Series Chipsets
- Intel® 4 Series Chipsets
- Intel® 3 Series Express Chipset family
- Intel® 965 Express Chipset family
- Intel® 975X Express Chipset
- Intel® 955X Express Chipset
- Intel® 945 Express Chipset family
It will not install on the 620 because the BIOS is set for ATAPI not AHCI.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-620/pd
insp620620s
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There is a PCI-E card that you can boot from. Apricorn Velocity Solo Storage controller.
Microcenter
SKU 587550
Mfr Part #:VEL-SOLO
UPC: 708326913027
The Velocity Solo is an industry standard PCIe 2.0 card designed to add a 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) via a SATA III connection.
NOTE: Solid State Drive sold separately.
Apricorn Velocity Solo Solid State Drive (SSD) Upgrade Kit for Desktop Computers