Installing Windows XP on a D830 with an AHCI controller

Question

Is it at all possible to install Windows XP on a Latitude D830 with the SATA controller set to 'AHCI' in the BIOS?   I've tried to load the drivers (R154200.exe downloaded from the Dell Support web site) using F6 but Windows Setup crashes each time.  When I load the diskette with the drivers, Windows Setup warns me that it already has a driver for 'Intel 82801 HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Mobile ICH8M-E/M' and asks me if I really want to use the version that is on the diskette.  Well, if I choose the version I downloaded from Dell (diskette), Windows Setup crashes with a '0x0000007b' (ioStor.sys) shortly after.  If I let Windows Setup use its own version, the hard drive is not recognized at all (and therefore, there's no place to install Windows to).   I also tried loading newer drivers I downloaded directly from the Intel web site, to no avail.    Any help is appreciated.

Vieira · Answer

I have a Dell-branded Windows XP Pro SP2 Reinstallation CD.

ejn63 · Answer

What version of Windows XP is on your CD?

Vieira · Answer

Okay, I still don't have an answer to my question (if it's possible to install Windows with AHCI enabled by loading the drivers with F6 at the beginning of setup). But I found a workaround that worked for me. The key is to disable AHCI/flash cache in order to proceed with the Windows installation. This way, Windows will detect the ATA drive normally. Once Windows is installed and configured, follow the instructions found here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=247570

Here are the changes I had to make to the instructions above so to work with my system:

1) The first Registry key should be "pci#ven_8086&dev_2821&cc_0106"

2) The Value of "0" in the last Registry key should be "PCI\\VEN_8086&DEV_2821&SUBSYS_B0051458&REV_02\\3&13c0b0c5&0&FA"

3) I used the latest drivers from Intel instead of the ones provided by Dell (http://downloadcenter.intel.com/download.aspx?url=/16012/eng/iata82_enu.exe&agr=N&ProductID=2101&DwnldId=16012&strOSs=All&OSFullName=All+Operating+Systems&lang=eng)

The Registry file should look like this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase\pci#ven_8086&dev_2821&cc_0106]
"Service"="iaStor"
"ClassGUID"="{4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStor]
"Type"=dword:00000001
"Start"=dword:00000000
"Group"="SCSI miniport"
"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
"ImagePath"="system32\\drivers\\iaStor.sys"
"tag"=dword:00000019
"DisplayName"="Intel AHCI Controller"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStor\Parameters]
"queuePriorityEnable"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStor\Enum]
"0"="PCI\\VEN_8086&DEV_2821&SUBSYS_B0051458&REV_02\\3&13c0b0c5&0&FA"
"Count"=dword:00000001
"NextInstance"=dword:00000001

Just don't forget to run the Matrix Storage Manager install file once you boot up with AHCI.

I hope this helpse someone else out there.

Storage, Drives & Media

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