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zenworks911

13 Posts

121195

June 20th, 2007 12:00

Latitude D630 Windows XP Installation

Has anyone figured out how to install Windows XP on a D630 in AHCI mode rather than SATA mode?  The 1st time it prompts for the driver (F6 method) it detects the Hard Drive ok, but then just a few minutes after formatting the hard drive setup prompts for  the "Intel Matrix Storage manager driver" again... only this time the laptop refuses to recognize the floppy drive (connected via USB cable).  I even tried hot swapping the DVD-ROM with the Floppy in the options bay as a last resort.
 
Does anyone know how to get this to work.  I have heard people say just install Windows in SATA mode and then switch to AHCI mode, but I would like to know if I am missing something.
 
Thanks,
 
ZENWORKS911

toiletvictoriou

3 Posts

September 6th, 2007 00:00

Yeah, despite the tone of my post, I'm fairly technically inclined. bro_tayo's post mentions installing drivers right off the bat.. I didn't know if that matrix driver was supposed to be installed w/ the F6 prompt or what.
 
I can definitely make the proper changes in the BIOS. Currently, it's in AHCI mode.
 
Do I leave that the way it is, boot off of the CD, and F6 it to install the 82801HEM/HBM ICH8M Driver For SATA drivers mentioned earlier?
 
Because I'm formatting, bro_tayo's advice doesn't apply to me, right?

mombodog

12.7K Posts

September 6th, 2007 00:00

It is your choice to leave the bios alone or not, if you make the changes, you can skip the F6 part.
 
These are your F6 drivers
 
 
"Because I'm formatting, bro_tayo's advice doesn't apply to me, right?"
 
He gave advice twice. His first advice does not apply to installing XP, rather after installing XP, the second can be ignored if you are not making changes in the bios.
 
The reason most make the bios change is to ease the installation of XP on a Sata system.
 
If you do not have a floppy drive bay installed on the D630 you will have to make the bios change or slipstream the drivers into the XPsp2 CD.
 



Message Edited by mombodog on 09-05-2007 08:20 PM

toiletvictoriou

3 Posts

September 6th, 2007 01:00

Ok, I see... I have to install drivers in order to do AHCI. I switched it to ATA and disabled the flash cache and XP setup was able to see the harddrive.
 
Now, I guess it goes back to the earlier post: Is there a performance loss w/ ATA?

mombodog

12.7K Posts

September 6th, 2007 01:00

ATA can mean SATA or PATA (ide)
 
What you lose is AHCI functionality as follows.
 
1. NCQ (if the hard drive supports it and you install the Matrix Application (not driver) in Windows and turn NCQ on)  There are various articles on NCQ and the benefits on a desktop, some say there are benefits, some say none. Originally designed for Server environments. Hard drive makers just used this to sell hard drives in the retail stores. You don't hear much about it anymore, there is a reason.
 
2. SATA hard drive hot swapping support, who is going to use this on a desktop? Very few, again, for server environments with Raid 5 arrays.
 
I have used both (AHCI and non-AHCI) on a desktop, I see no actual difference in performance myself, I'm sure the benchmarks show an advantage, but what is the point if you don't actually experience the difference?
 
Good article on NCQ for what it is worth. A little bit on the positive side when talking about using on Desktops.
 
 
A factual rant on SATA I vs SATA II,  way too much hype in the hard drive market.


Message Edited by mombodog on 09-05-2007 09:42 PM

Jamgoa

2 Posts

January 20th, 2022 15:00

Since the link above (IBM) is not working, try this method which helped me and many others:

https://support.thinkcritical.com/kb/articles/switch-windows-10-from-raid-ide-to-ahci

There is in fact a way to switch operation from either IDE / RAID to AHCI within Windows 10 without having to reinstall.  Here are the steps:

  1. Click the Start Button and type cmd
  2. Right-click the result and select Run as administrator
  3. Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal (ALT: bcdedit /set safeboot minimal)
  4. Restart the computer and enter BIOS Setup
  5. Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI from either IDE or RAID
  6. Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.
  7. Right-click the Windows Start Menu once more. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).
  8. Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot (ALT: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot)
  9. Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.
  10.               Comments:
  11.        YEE! WORKED! Many thanks to This article and Tom Williams ->TIME&$&LIFE SAVER!!!!!

    For me & Dell Latitude D630, I also ran these commands:

    bcdedit /set safeboot minimal

    (then I rebooted and switched to AHCI)

    bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot

    THANK YOU for writing such clear and accurate instructions!

    Result: Boot time is about -30% (and I guess all other) in AHCI mode for WD3200BEKT 7200rpm

    Peace...

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