AHCI support (notebook)

[Quattro Pete]

I bought a Toshiba Satellite notebook. It came with Vista. I installed XP Pro over it. One issue I am having is AHCI/SATA controller driver. I haven't been able the find any specific drivers on Toshiba's support page, and the Intel chipset driver does not seem to be taking care of the issue. As soon as I enable AHCI in BIOS, the computer crashes when it tries to load Windows. So I leave the HDD setting in BIOS on "Compatibility mode", but I'm not sure if by doing this, I am slowing down my hard drive performance.

Any suggestions?

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/product/pdf_files/detailed_specs/satellite_M305-S4910.pdf

 

[uc50ic4more]

Compatibility mode will slow down the drive considerably. I think you may be able to find the driver here, though:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softw...product=1817059

I know that the URL points to the Compaq/ HP site, but I cannot imagine there being such an animal as a "Toshiba" or "HP" driver. I am confident they'd be universal.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Thanks, but the installer file you linked above is asking me to insert a floppy which I do not have.

Besides, I think this is just to assit during the initial XP installation. I am already past that point. My XP is up and running. Any other suggestions?

 

[OVERKILL]

1. Compatible (IDE) mode does NOT slow down the drive considerably. It DOES slow it down, but it is hardly epic.

2. You need to slipstream a CD with the Intel Matrix Storage Manager install disk drivers (text mode) included on it.

3. Download nlite, rip your XP CD, slipstream the text-mode drivers from the Matrix Storage manager boot disk, burn ISO, and re-install XP.

There is a registry key you can delete to make it work without the re-install, but I cannot recall it off the top of my head unfortunately, sorry

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
1. Compatible (IDE) mode does NOT slow down the drive considerably. It DOES slow it down, but it is hardly epic.


I had to run a drive in compatibility mode a few times in a recording studio. The difference between playing back 30 tracks of 24 bit/ 96KHz audio through big wall mounted speakers and seeing the ankle area of your pant legs move when the kick drum hits; and hearing spitting and f-a-r-ting and stopping and starting while the hard drive hiccups and trips on its you-know-what while your clients look at you like you're some kinda hicktard *is* epic!

You insensitive clod.

(Kidding - I'll bet for everyday use the difference in speed and caching probably isn't tremendous at all; I probably overstated the severity of the performance detriment with the word "considerably"..)

 

[OVERKILL]

May have been the drive or controller, most of them are not affected that much. Essentially, it is just forcing the SATA controller to perform IDE emulation. AHCI just by nature is faster, but emulation, if performed correctly, is not much slower.

Was the board you were using Intel-based?

 

[Quattro Pete]

I was afraid slipstreaming and reinstall was what I had to do. I was hoping XP would pick up the driver from a USB drive during initial install, alas it only wanted a floppy drive which I do not have.

Now, how do I make sure I've got the right Matrix Storage Driver?

I found this:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_r...s=44&submit=Go!

but how do I know if it includes the text-mode drivers?

Also, my chipset is Mobile GM45 Express, but when I search for it, Intel only gives me an embedded OEM driver option which I am not allowed to download, so I found the one above by searching for "4500mhd" which is my integrated graphics card symbol. Still not sure if that is the right one...

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I was afraid slipstreaming and reinstall was what I had to do. I was hoping XP would pick up the driver from a USB drive during initial install, alas it only wanted a floppy drive which I do not have.

Now, how do I make sure I've got the right Matrix Storage Driver?

I found this:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_r...s=44&submit=Go!

but how do I know if it includes the text-mode drivers?

Also, my chipset is Mobile GM45 Express, but when I search for it, Intel only gives me an embedded OEM driver option which I am not allowed to download, so I found the one above by searching for "4500mhd" which is my integrated graphics card symbol. Still not sure if that is the right one...


This one is the one you need for text-mode drivers:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_D...sional&lang=eng

 

[Quattro Pete]

Thanks. So do I just unzip these files and use nlite to slipstream to my XP rip?

 

[OVERKILL]

Yessir.

 

[Quattro Pete]

There is about 10 different AHCI drivers there in this pack. How do I know which one to slipstream? Does it hurt to slipstream them all?

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
There is about 10 different AHCI drivers there in this pack. How do I know which one to slipstream? Does it hurt to slipstream them all?


Do 'em all.