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AHCI on 2012 T310?
Received a new T310 and have opted to install an SSD. A number of documents on Dell's site indicate that T310 supports hardware-based AHCI.
I have latest BIOS installed but my only SATA options are Off / ATA / RAID.
Any guidance is appreciated.
RehBchGuy
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April 24th, 2012 06:00
Tech support agreed that installing the PERC S300 was the solution to enable AHCI. However, after installing the S300, AHCI was not enabled. Support did some further investigation and found out that the system engineers disabled AHCI on the motherboard. I gather that the other 11G systems are configured similarly.
IMO, this is pretty significant issue...PE docs indicate that system supports AHCI & SSDs. Well, SSDs don't function properly without TRIM support and that requires AHCI. Intel confirmed that a single SSD on a RAID controller but not in an array will function as if connected to AHCI. (Intel's next update of the RST drivers will support arrays).
But that workaround does no good as cannot install the RST drivers whether BIOS is set to ATA or RAID. Since I purchased the particular model partially-based on AHCI/SSD support, I'm awaiting an answer from customer care on some type of remediation.
tommo666
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April 5th, 2012 14:00
I think Raid mode enables ahci, you will need the intel matrix storage drivers to make it work.
RehBchGuy
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April 6th, 2012 10:00
Thank you for suggestion. Gave that a try... but causes confusion for install of SBSe.
I have a PERC 6/i installed and short of pulling it, I cannot get SBSe to recognize the SSD as Primary unless SATA setting is in ATA mode.
I disabled the 6/i BIOS but installation still picks it up (as it should I suppose). I can find no reference to changing the primary drive prior to install so I guess pulling is my only option.
After a bit more searching, it seems the T310 does support AHCI but only if a PERC S300 is in place.
Awfully odd that there must be a particular RAID configuration in place to support AHCI. Pity that Dell does not disclose that fact in the technical documents.
tommo666
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April 6th, 2012 13:00
As far as the S series controllers go AHCI would mainly be used to support hot swap and command queueing which are of course the major beneifts of ahci. When the 310 first came out SSD's were probably not considered economic for a mid range server. Enterprise ssd's cost a fortune. Both you and me would happily bung an OCZ or other consumer ssd in one of these and accept the risk but Dell have to provide a tested, stable server that they can support with multiple configurations.
The new 12g range supports ahci in the bios and some 11g like the 110 II and R210 II. Maybe a major update to the bios could provide ahci but i doubt that will happen.
arnoldanderio12
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April 23rd, 2012 23:00
The Intel 3420 provides hardware support for Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI), a newprogramming interface for SATA host controllers. Platforms supporting AHCI may take advantage ofperformance features such as no master/slave designation for SATA devices—each device is treatedas a master—and hardware-assisted native command queuing. AHCI also provides usabilityenhancements such as Hot-Plug. AHCI requires appropriate software support (e.g., an AHCI driver)and for some features, hardware support in the SATA device or additional platform hardware.
pcmeiners
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April 24th, 2012 14:00
Have you seen this registry tweak, never used it, at your own risk...
t800t8.blogspot.com/.../enable-ahci-mode-after-installing.html
RehBchGuy
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April 24th, 2012 15:00
As I understood the explanation, AHCI is disabled on the motherboard. Someone at Dell dropped the ball, because that decision wasn't communicated to tech support nor those responsible for technical manuals.
RehBchGuy
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May 31st, 2012 11:00
Contact your sales rep. If no sales rep, then contact customer care.
If you're within 30 days, they should accept a return on the system.
I was outside 30 days before realizing, so I negotiated a refund.
:emotion-1:
steveurc
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May 31st, 2012 11:00
i am in the same boat. bought an ssd and now sadly finding no ahci option. unreal