The E510 uses SATA hard drives. Are you using the Windows installation disk that was shipped with the computer? If not, you may be having this trouble because the installation disk you are using does not have the AHCI drivers. You should be able to reconfigure to allow you to install by going to setup and changing the SATA drive controller mode to RAID Autodetect/ATA, or something similar to that. If you aren't using RAID the AHCI interface does not provide a noticeable enhancement. If you really wish to stick to AHCI you will need an internal floppy drive and a floppy disk with the RAID drivers. You then use the F6 prompt during Windows setup to load the drivers for installation.
Ok thanks I will be trying that. Btw I know this is a very noob question, well since Im really a noob at Dell desktops, whats E510? Is that the mobo? Wil this be the only way to solve this? coz I don't have a floppy disk drive.. can I use a usb drive instead of a floppy drive? Sorry for the noob questions...:smileysad:
PS. yeah Im not using the installer that came with the computer coz I cant find it.
The DM051 is the model code for the E510. If you try to look for the DM051 on the support page you might find it a bit difficult to locate.
The Windows setup program is quite picky about what it considers to be a floppy drive. An internal drive is the only type I'm certain will be found. A list of USB drives supported by setup exists, but regrettably I no longer have it. I suspect that computers that use a USB port for the A drive will have less trouble than those that do not. I don't have a DM051 to check out, so you will need to see if your bios has a setting in the diskette drive section for USB. If it does, you may be able to use a USB floppy to load the drivers.
As I stated earlier, however, the easiest solution to your problem may be to go to setup; F2 at the Dell screen right after the computer is powered on. The setup page will have an item or two related to the SATA controller. Since I've never seen the setup page of this computer I can only relate to others that I have seen. My E520 came shipped with the controller set to RAID ON, Dell's way of saying that the AHCI interface is being used and the drive(s) are being managed by the RAID bios. I have another setting that is RAID Autodetect/ATA. This puts the controller in IDE emulation mode which would allow your installation CD to detect the hard drive and make use of it. AHCI is mostly known for the ability to que the commands for more efficient, faster, operation. Those of us with single drives will not notice a difference between AHCI and IDE emulation mode, so unless you are in it for the learning experience, I don't know why you would go to all the trouble.
Don't worry about the "noob" questions; all of us began there, and speaking for myself, there is still a lot to learn.
Ok I kind of understand now! I hope it works since I'm really frustrated when I couldn't click on the GUI part of the installation hehe. Thank so much for your replies! Kudos Jack! Kepp you posted when it works! :smileyvery-happy:
:smileysad: I checked the settings of the HD and it was already set in Auto.. So whats happening is that I can install the essential files in the HD but when the GUI setup begins the mouse and keyboard stop working...:smileysad:
Heres what I see in the blue screen part of the setup (The part where you choose what disk youre gonna install Windows):
-: Partition1 [Fat] 47MB( 39MB Free)
C: Partition2 [NTFS] 71477MB(7053MB Free)
Unpartitioned space 8MB
I: Partition3 [FAT32] 4754MB( 849MB Free)
Unpartitioned space 8MB
So I chose C: since it has the biggest size, so the setup starts, copies all the files, restarts then goes to the GUI. When the setup promts me to click Next to continue setup, I try clicking it with the mouse but I can't coz theres no mouse pointer I tried using the keyboard but still no good. So I'm back to square one again...:smileysad:
Still thinking about this, but one question I didn't ask yet; does the Windows XP installation CD have service pack 2 incorporated in it? Reason for question is that the video for the computer is on the PCI-Express bus and you need an installation CD with service pack 2 to get the drivers for that bus.
I've seen some problems if you attempt to begin installation with a format; best results are usually gotten by deleting the partition that occupies the space you wish to use for installation and recreating it before you format. The problem you are reporting, however, gives the impression that you are lacking a driver. I don't really think deleting everything and creating a single partition will give positive results, but I could be surprised.
How did you obtain a disk with Service Pack 3? Have you used it before so that you know that it's a good disk?
My cousin gave it to me when he upgraded to Vista. Well I finally installed Windows XP but not with the CD. I used the info here http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm. I just followed whats written there and got to install the OS which the computer came with, Windows XP Media Center. :smileymad: Well I guess Media Center is ok for the meantime until you or me find out how to install an aftermarket OS.
Yeah the installer works.. he used it before he gave it to me. Yeah I still wanted a WinPro instead of a Media Center. I see the speed difference between the two.
You are very welcome. I suspect something is not quite right with your Windows XP installation disk. Unless it came from Dell it is almost certainly a "slipstream" of the Service Pack 3 files with an earlier version of Windows XP, that is why I asked if it has worked before.
Glad to hear its working, though, even if it isn't quite the way you wanted to do it.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 12th, 2008 14:00
The E510 uses SATA hard drives. Are you using the Windows installation disk that was shipped with the computer? If not, you may be having this trouble because the installation disk you are using does not have the AHCI drivers. You should be able to reconfigure to allow you to install by going to setup and changing the SATA drive controller mode to RAID Autodetect/ATA, or something similar to that. If you aren't using RAID the AHCI interface does not provide a noticeable enhancement. If you really wish to stick to AHCI you will need an internal floppy drive and a floppy disk with the RAID drivers. You then use the F6 prompt during Windows setup to load the drivers for installation.
Xenile
7 Posts
0
September 12th, 2008 15:00
Ok thanks I will be trying that. Btw I know this is a very noob question, well since Im really a noob at Dell desktops, whats E510? Is that the mobo? Wil this be the only way to solve this? coz I don't have a floppy disk drive.. can I use a usb drive instead of a floppy drive? Sorry for the noob questions...:smileysad:
PS. yeah Im not using the installer that came with the computer coz I cant find it.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 12th, 2008 17:00
The DM051 is the model code for the E510. If you try to look for the DM051 on the support page you might find it a bit difficult to locate.
The Windows setup program is quite picky about what it considers to be a floppy drive. An internal drive is the only type I'm certain will be found. A list of USB drives supported by setup exists, but regrettably I no longer have it. I suspect that computers that use a USB port for the A drive will have less trouble than those that do not. I don't have a DM051 to check out, so you will need to see if your bios has a setting in the diskette drive section for USB. If it does, you may be able to use a USB floppy to load the drivers.
As I stated earlier, however, the easiest solution to your problem may be to go to setup; F2 at the Dell screen right after the computer is powered on. The setup page will have an item or two related to the SATA controller. Since I've never seen the setup page of this computer I can only relate to others that I have seen. My E520 came shipped with the controller set to RAID ON, Dell's way of saying that the AHCI interface is being used and the drive(s) are being managed by the RAID bios. I have another setting that is RAID Autodetect/ATA. This puts the controller in IDE emulation mode which would allow your installation CD to detect the hard drive and make use of it. AHCI is mostly known for the ability to que the commands for more efficient, faster, operation. Those of us with single drives will not notice a difference between AHCI and IDE emulation mode, so unless you are in it for the learning experience, I don't know why you would go to all the trouble.
Don't worry about the "noob" questions; all of us began there, and speaking for myself, there is still a lot to learn.
Xenile
7 Posts
0
September 12th, 2008 20:00
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 12th, 2008 23:00
You're welcome. I look forward to hearing that everything is working.
Xenile
7 Posts
0
September 14th, 2008 04:00
:smileysad: I checked the settings of the HD and it was already set in Auto.. So whats happening is that I can install the essential files in the HD but when the GUI setup begins the mouse and keyboard stop working...:smileysad:
Heres what I see in the blue screen part of the setup (The part where you choose what disk youre gonna install Windows):
-: Partition1 [Fat] 47MB( 39MB Free)
C: Partition2 [NTFS] 71477MB(7053MB Free)
Unpartitioned space 8MB
I: Partition3 [FAT32] 4754MB( 849MB Free)
Unpartitioned space 8MB
So I chose C: since it has the biggest size, so the setup starts, copies all the files, restarts then goes to the GUI. When the setup promts me to click Next to continue setup, I try clicking it with the mouse but I can't coz theres no mouse pointer I tried using the keyboard but still no good. So I'm back to square one again...:smileysad:
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 14th, 2008 05:00
Still thinking about this, but one question I didn't ask yet; does the Windows XP installation CD have service pack 2 incorporated in it? Reason for question is that the video for the computer is on the PCI-Express bus and you need an installation CD with service pack 2 to get the drivers for that bus.
Xenile
7 Posts
0
September 14th, 2008 06:00
I'm using Windows XP with SP3..
Will it help if I delete all partitions as I stated above? Will the partitions be merged into one big partition?
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 14th, 2008 21:00
I've seen some problems if you attempt to begin installation with a format; best results are usually gotten by deleting the partition that occupies the space you wish to use for installation and recreating it before you format. The problem you are reporting, however, gives the impression that you are lacking a driver. I don't really think deleting everything and creating a single partition will give positive results, but I could be surprised.
How did you obtain a disk with Service Pack 3? Have you used it before so that you know that it's a good disk?
Xenile
7 Posts
0
September 15th, 2008 00:00
My cousin gave it to me when he upgraded to Vista. Well I finally installed Windows XP but not with the CD. I used the info here http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm. I just followed whats written there and got to install the OS which the computer came with, Windows XP Media Center. :smileymad: Well I guess Media Center is ok for the meantime until you or me find out how to install an aftermarket OS.
Thanks so much for your time and help!
Xenile
7 Posts
0
September 15th, 2008 16:00
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
September 15th, 2008 16:00
You are very welcome. I suspect something is not quite right with your Windows XP installation disk. Unless it came from Dell it is almost certainly a "slipstream" of the Service Pack 3 files with an earlier version of Windows XP, that is why I asked if it has worked before.
Glad to hear its working, though, even if it isn't quite the way you wanted to do it.