ICH10R SATA AHCI Controller - XP driver install

Regrettably, there is no way to disable AHCI on this machine.  Since Dell does not support Windows XP on the XPS 9100 you will need to obtain the drivers from Intel.  The basic driver needed for installation is here:  X58 Chipset SATA Driver.  Since you don't have a floppy on this computer, and Windows XP won't look for the file anywhere else, you will need to learn how to slipstream the file into a Windows XP installation CD.  There are a number of sites, but this is one of the popular ones:  www.nliteos.com.

You will need to follow the installation with the chipset driver before you do anything else.  Intel has one here:  X58 Chipset Driver.  Once you have the drivers loaded you will need this to complete the installation:  Intel Rapid Storage Technology Application.

You will have a number of problems making this work other than worrying about the SATA drivers.  You will need Win XP drivers for your video card, the network adapter, and if you want, sound.  The sound driver is likely to be the most difficult because it is usually specialized for the main board.  If you have an add-on sound card it may make things a bit easier in that department.

Not to mention there are things such as the Intel Turbo Boost Technology that is completely unsupported for XP.  I don't think there is anything "regrettable" about the fact that AHCI cannot be turned off ... it is about time that we move completely away from IDE/ATA and XP.  Another two years or so, and it may be practically impossible to install XP on a new computer :)

theflash;

I respect your opinion, and I don't deny there are many good things about advancing technology, but sometimes the new technology doesn't support applications that an owner needs for his business.  It then becomes an economic concern as not all small businesses can support upgrading the hardware and their applications at the same time.  My employer converted to Vista only about a year ago and is probably still contemplating Windows 7.  Naturally if people wish to have support for their ADP they will need to make the jump eventually, but it would be nice if there were a gentle way to do it.

While I completely agree with you and understand the reasons for needing to do so - we still have servers on 2003 because the software is too expensive to upgrade to be compatible with 2008 - I also think the advancement of technology suffers when they try too hard to make things backward-compatible. I'm not in any way criticizing the asker for his purchase or needs, but just making the point that if it were simply a compatibility issue, maybe a model with the latest/greatest technology is not the best way to go - especially if the downgrade is the result of a business decision ... lower-end or refurb/used might offer a significant improvement in performance over an older model while still providing hardware that is completely compatible with an outdated OS. As the 9100 is a home system, I might assume it is to keep from having to purchase new software (cannot blame him there) but we see all the time a reluctance to move to something new (or simply away from XP, as people are comfortable using it). Microsoft has many useful options (more than ever) for running incompatible software in Windows 7, so the majority of the time, the move back to XP represents a personal preference and/or discomfort in moving forward. XP will never be back and OS's will continue to move foward - I don't think there is a better time to acclimatize than now.

(We've both been around the forums for a while - I respect the work you do here and the knowledge you share. Don't take this as any more than a friendly discussion :) I have also helped countless people install unsupported OS's, including XP, so I'm not opposed to helping those who either need or just want to install XP ... I just don't think "moving on", like ATA/Compatibility Mode missing from the BIOS, is "regrettable". Setting it to compatibility is not the best choice for installing XP either - using the correct driver (as you have advised) is ideal.)

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1) Download the latest version of the Intel Matrix Storage Manager from support.dell.com

2) 2. Run the installer with the -a switch to extract the files. This will NOT install the software, just extract the files. Follow the prompts as if you were installing the software. The above should extract the files to \Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager. There are two folders, \Drivers and \Drivers64 for 32-bit and 64-bit OS's, respectively.

3) Copy the file IaStor.sys from the Drivers folder to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\

4) copy the following registry file to your desktop (copy and paste into notepad) and save as ahci.reg


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase\pci#ven_8086&dev_2922&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_2922&SUBSYS_B0051458&REV_02\\3&13c0b0c5&0&FA"
"Count"=dword:00000001
"NextInstance"=dword:00000001

5) Double check you've copied the IaStor.sys file as part of step 3. Now do the following:

Run the ahci.reg file to add the entries into the registry
Reboot the computer and enter the BIOS - DO NOT allow it to start Windows yet.
Change the setting for the on board Intel controller to AHCI, save and exit BIOS
Boot into Windows

6) When Windows loads it will detect a new hard disk - cancel the wizard for installing the new hardware and run the Intel driver installer you downloaded in step 1. Reboot the system again and you're good to go.

xandraius;

Yes, that's a neat trick, but it only works when you have Windows XP installed already with the SATA controller in IDE compatible mode.  This machine has no such mode, so he will need to slipstream the drivers into an installation disk as I pointed out.

By the way; you can frequently get the drivers installed using the Windows device manager feature to update the driver.  It requires less typing or pasting.

Thank you VERY much to JackShack and to all of the other responses for this issue.

I have a question regarding JackShack's response:

*****************************
Since you don't have a floppy on this computer, and Windows XP won't look for the file anywhere else, you will need to learn how to slipstream the file into a Windows XP installation CD.
*****************************

I am about to purchase a used usb floppy drive.  Will that be recognized by the windows install process as a location for drivers?

Thanks

The best I can do on this is direct you here:  A connected USB floppy does not work when you press F6.  As you will note, Microsoft programmed Win XP setup to detect certain floppy models.  If you can find one of them, you may be able to use the F6 procedure.

I am needing some more help with this issue.

I have done the following:

I have a 4GB flash drive.  I have used the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool to format this flash drive and make it bootable.  At this point the flash drive is empty.

I have downloaded the X58 Chipset SATA Driver from the Intel web site (iaStor.inf, iaAHCI.inf) and extracted the files to the f6flpy-x86 folder.

I have copied the I386 directory from a Windows XP install CD on to the flash drive. 

I have run the nLite utility. I selected 'Drivers' from the Integrate category.  I have done both 'Single driver' and 'Multiple driver folder' as selections when prompted to insert the driver.

I use the flash drive to boot the Studio XPS 9100 PC.

I go to the \I386 directory and run 'WINNT'.

The SETUP routine begins copying files and, after a period of time, the following error message comes up:

******************
Setup was unable to create the following directory on the target drive.

C:\$WIN_NT$.~LS\I386\I386\NLDRV\001
******************

This problem occurs only after the nLite modification to the SETUP. 

Can anyone help me get past this issue?


Thanks.

A couple of suggestions:  This problem can occur if the target drive is write-locked, so check to see that the drive to which you are installing Win XP is the correct target.  Also, I've heard that nLite was having a bit of trouble for a while performing a proper slip stream of Windows XP while running on a Vista platform.  I would go back to the nLite site and see if you can find anything in their trouble shooting files that might help.

I'm a bit puzzled; I have assumed you are trying to add Windows XP as a second operating system to function in a dual-boot scenario.  The error message you have given in your post suggests that the installation is being performed to the C: drive.  Is that truly what you want to do?  I would think you would want to preserve your Windows 7 installation.

My unit came with Windows 7 installed but I wanted to have XP as a dual boot option.  In the process of trying to install XP, I managed to accidentally delete the Windows 7 partition.  At this point, the internal hard drive is effectively blank.

I have been using the flash drive instead of a CD because it is not necessary to go through the hassle of re-burning another CD for each change. 

In my list of step that I have taken, I did specify that I formatted the flash drive and copied the files to it.  Therefore, it cannot be write-protected.

Next, when you boot from the flash drive, it is assigned the drive letter of 'C'.

I am running nLite on a second PC that is running Windows XP.

I am very frustrated at this point because there is a HUGE amount of posts out on the net that discuss this very issue and many people have had the same issue that I have had. 

At this point, I have been trying to use the unattended option from the following link, without success:
http://communities.intel.com/message/9523

I was about to look at the RIS option. 

Since I am not able to get the nLite method to work, can you get me an alternative that will?

Thanks.