Integration of Intel's SATA AHCI and RAID drivers

[Fernando 1]

I have a question about the modified CD. After the new Installation CD is modified to include:

1) the SATA Drivers

2) SP2

3) some other drivers, which are too new for the XP SP1 CD to contain

4) my personalized features/components of Windows...,

is that finished CD still good on other computers with any non-SATA driver requirements?

Normally yes, it depends on the exact hardware configuration.

During nLite useage, why do we sometimes use "PnP" Drivers, and other times use "Textmode" Drivers? Aren't ALL[/size] devices now-a-days PnP?

No, only the "normal" device drivers (for graphics or Ethernet adapters, chipset devices, printers, scanners etc) are/should be PnP drivers. Textmode drivers are necessary for the detection of so-called "Mass Storage Device Controllers" (special S-ATA or RAID Controllers, where the hdd's are connected). Contrary to Vista the older OS Windows XP doesn't have in-box drivers, which are able to detect your Intel ICH7R or ICH7M S-ATA AHCI Controller. That is the reason, why you have to integrate or load the special Intel textmode drivers.

when, during the XP Installation process, are "Textmode" drivers installed, and when are "PnP" drivers installed?

The textmode drivers are needed for the detection of the hard disk drives and their partitions at the beginning of the installation process (just after loading the first files during the TEXTMODE phase), whereas all other (PnP) drivers are not needed until the hardware detection part of the OS installation (after the first reboot = during the GUIMODE part of the install).

How do we, as End-Users modifying Installation CD's, make the determination of which type of drivers are required?

Textmode drivers for all pre-Vista Operating Windows Systems have a file named TXTSETUP.OEM, whereas PnP drivers just have one or more INF files (files with the extension ".INF").

[guinea]

Sorry 'bout the funny characters in my 1st post on this site (or any site!). I'm even having trouble gettin' back to my own post!

In response to your 4th answer -- QUOTE: Textmode drivers for all pre-Vista Operating Windows Systems have a file named TXTSETUP.OEM, whereas PnP drivers just have one or more INF files (files with the extension ".INF" UNQUOTE -- I guess my original question needs elaborating. When a driver package is downloaded from the Web, as with the Intel 945 Express Chipset, an installation utility can "install" the drivers, if the drive is under the umbrella of a working OS. But one can ALSO download the floppy drive to use during the OS installation process by pressing F6. And the 3rd (unmentioned) is the installation of the drivers with inf files. In the case where a new drive is installed on a computer, and only one drive is present, one must install with either a floppy drive (the floppy drive image which was downloaded) or by slipstreaming (the TxtSetup.oem file from the Floppy drive, and its associated files). [Correct me if wrong.] Lets assume that all worked fine, and XP is now installed successfully. When the system now boots, in normal day-to-day activity, how is the drive recognized? Does it need the same txtSetup.oem file to do the whole process again? Or are there lower-level files which conduct the communication to the SATA Host Controller?

And again... how do we, as end users, know which route to choose, when integrating drivers into an Installation CD? When given a choice of slipstremaing INF files and associated SYS files, or slipstreaming txtsetup.oem files, INF files win, HANDS DOWN! (use nLite). But how do I know that an INF file is going to do the job? How do I know that I DON'T need to dig further into the Web, to find a Floppy Drive image with txtsetup.oem. Does your response to my question 3 mean that ALL SATA Mass Storage Controllers might need txtsetup.oem / floppy, but never INF files during OS installation? And txtsetup.oem files are never (never is such a harsh word) required for sound boards/nics/scanners/ and the like? If so, I'm finally starting to understand.

thanks again.

[Fernando 1]

Lets assume that all worked fine, and XP is now installed successfully. When the system now boots, in normal day-to-day activity, how is the drive recognized? Does it need the same txtSetup.oem file to do the whole process again?

No, the TXTSETUP.OEM file is only needed for the installation process of the Operating System. Once the OS is up, it has all needed drivers (= SYS files) integrated and present within the WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS folder.

And again... how do we, as end users, know which route to choose, when integrating drivers into an Installation CD? When given a choice of slipstremaing INF files and associated SYS files, or slipstreaming txtsetup.oem files, INF files win, HANDS DOWN! (use nLite). But how do I know that an INF file is going to do the job? How do I know that I DON'T need to dig further into the Web, to find a Floppy Drive image with txtsetup.oem. Does your response to my question 3 mean that ALL SATA Mass Storage Controllers might need txtsetup.oem / floppy, but never INF files during OS installation?

When you want to get an OS installed onto a hdd, which is connected to an unknown Mass Storage Device Controller (no suitable driver present within the OS installation media, neither natively nor slipstreamed), you need to preload the textmode driver within the first (=TEXTMODE) part of the installation. During this step only the driver itself (the SYS file) and the associated TXTSETUP.OEM file (giving the needed informations about the Controller and how to "speak" with him) are needed. But during the GUIMODE part of the installation, when the hardware devices are detected and "installed", the OS Setup needs at least additionally one INF file to get the Mass Storage Controller proper installed.

So at least the installation of Mass Storage Controllers and its driver is running within 2 steps (first needs the TXTSETUP.OEM, second needs an INF file), whereas all other devices are installed in just 1 step (during the GUIMODE part) and only need an INF file to get proper installed.

ALL S-ATA MassStorage Controllers need a TXTSETUP.OEM file during the installation. And txtsetup.oem files are never (never is such a harsh word) required for sound boards/nics/scanners/ and the like? If so, I'm finally starting to understand.

You obviously did understand it the correct way. Edited April 28, 2008 by Fernando 1

[watchingdt]

did what u described and shuved everything up in the cd(all the drives) just to make sure, al all i got was a black screen after the press any key to start the setup... after 4 cd tries i got it to load in windows(using the mkisofs system at iso creation stage... great). it still gives me the black screen on dos, and doesnt solve anything.

its curious how there are many people with this problem around teh forum, but no real post on it...

any direction on this would be fine, i did exactly what u described and ONLY that, no nothing extra in the way.

then i reboot, enable ahci and it loads the cd... pres key, etc.... the blakc screen! weird...

also i know that everything in the pc is fine, actually the reason why ii want sata-mode on is because i can use it on gentoo(linux) so, instead of turning it off when i need to use windows, ti would be good if i could run windows with the sata enabled...

thank for ANY response this really is becoming a dead end for me.

edit: im using v1.4.5 beta 2 btw...

Edited May 5, 2008 by watchingdt

[Fernando 1]

did what u described and shuved everything up in the cd(all the drives) just to make sure, al all i got was a black screen after the press any key to start the setup... after 4 cd tries i got it to load in windows(using the mkisofs system at iso creation stage... great). it still gives me the black screen on dos, and doesnt solve anything.

its curious how there are many people with this problem around teh forum, but no real post on it...

any direction on this would be fine, i did exactly what u described and ONLY that, no nothing extra in the way.

then i reboot, enable ahci and it loads the cd... pres key, etc.... the blakc screen! weird...

I doubt, that your problem has anything to do with the integration of the Intel S-ATA AHCI driver.

As all other users you will be able to get the OS installed with enabled AHCI mode Intel S-ATA Controllers.

Questions:

1. Which mainboard do you use?

2. Are you sure, that your S-ATA hdd is connected to an Intel S-ATA port?

3. Is your optical drive (CD/DVD-ROM) ok? Are you able to boot off the original (not nLited) OS CD?

If yes, try to load the Intel textmode driver by F6/floppy.

If you succeed this way, you should create a new nLited CD, where you did only integrate the Intel textmode driver and nothing else.

[watchingdt]

im not sure u get it, it boots fine, asks me to press any key, then says loading blabla(no blue screen yet) then all i see is a black screen with nothing written on it for ever...

also, im on a laptop(compal fl90) and yes all ym hardware is fine.

im gonna try the solution with just text mode drivers, and its obviously something with the cd since it didnt work at all, then i switched the way the iso was recorded and now it loads in windows, now lets see if with textmode only it loads in dos.

[Fernando 1]

im not sure u get it, it boots fine, asks me to press any key, then says loading blabla(no blue screen yet) then all i see is a black screen with nothing written on it for ever...

If you don't even come to the point where your hdd is detected (or not), you obviously have a problem with your nLited CD.

You can verify it, if you try to boot off the original XP CD.

[JuggaloNick27]

Hi, I am having problems with this exact thing. I have an HP PAvillion a6077c TV PC andI have been trying this over and over and when it pulls up the destination to install XP it shows two drives (C and D), but it says they are both 130gb when really they are 190 and 170....last time I tried installing on the D I had to use recovery discs to bring my computer back up. Any advice?

Edited May 9, 2008 by JuggaloNick27

[Fernando 1]

Hi, I am having problems with this exact thing. I have an HP PAvillion a6077c TV PC andI have been trying this over and over and when it pulls up the destination to install XP it shows two drives (C and D), but it says they are both 130gb when really they are 190 and 170....last time I tried installing on the D I had to use recovery discs to bring my computer back up. Any advice?

Maybe the XP Setup just "sees" 130 GB, but will be able to use the whole space.

It should not be a problem to get XP installed onto your computer. Look here.

[JuggaloNick27]

I have tried installing onto the shown drives that are 130 and all it does is mess everything up. I have to use recovery discs to get back to where I am. As far as the site you gave me...I found that before I ever came to this site. I am stuck and I am not sure why. It seems others with my system have done it, but I just cant seem to get it.

[Fernando 1]

I have tried installing onto the shown drives that are 130 and all it does is mess everything up. I have to use recovery discs to get back to where I am. As far as the site you gave me...I found that before I ever came to this site. I am stuck and I am not sure why. It seems others with my system have done it, but I just cant seem to get it.

Everyone with a suitable Intel S-ATA Controller is able to get XP installed. You must have done something wrong.

If you don't want to have any stress, you should just go into the BIOS and set the S-ATA Controllers, where yor hdd is connected, to "IDE mode".

Then you will be able to get XP installed without loading/integrating any separate textmode drivers.

If you want to continue to get XP installed by using the AHCI features of your on-board S-ATA Controllers, you should try it again from scratch: Backup your datas and format your hdd with NTFS system.

Furthermore you should give some more informations about your hardware, for example the number and sorts of hdd's.

[StuartLiu]

Hello. I'm using Asus P4B-M motherboard with initio (INIC-162x SATA) controllers.

I integrated XP sp3, original SP2, Text mode drivers using nLite version 1.4.5

Everything looked fined. I can enter the windows installation, I can detect my SATA drive, and the installation process had already copied files to my disk, and ask me to reboot.

The strange things happened here: After reboot, windows screen appeared (with that status bar), but after about 10 seconds, blue screen appeared and showed error code 0x0000007b. I search the net and find that this error may be due to wrong SATA drivers. My question is how this could happened since my computer already recognized the drive? or should I include both PNP and TXT mode driver?

Many thanks!

[Fernando 1]

Hello. I'm using Asus P4B-M motherboard with initio (INIC-162x SATA) controllers.

If your S-ATA drives are connected to these controllers, you have to integrate the INIC-162x S-ATA drivers.

I integrated XP sp3, original SP2, Text mode drivers using nLite version 1.4.5

You certainly mean, that you have integrated SP3 into an XP SP2 CD, don't you? It wouldn't make any sense to integrate SP2 and SP3.

The strange things happened here: After reboot, windows screen appeared (with that status bar), but after about 10 seconds, blue screen appeared and showed error code 0x0000007b. I search the net and find that this error may be due to wrong SATA drivers. My question is how this could happened since my computer already recognized the drive? or should I include both PNP and TXT mode driver?

No, you only should integrate the correct S-ATA drivers (from the Controller manufacturer, where your hdd's are connected) as TEXTMODE drivers.

[zowel]

Hi

I didn't see this guide and just ran through the process myself. It seems to be working okay, but now I have a question:

From the guide, Part (2) : Step (4)

When you come up to the task "Drivers", hit the "Insert" button, use the "Single driver" option and point to the content of the driver package you have downloaded and extracted at first step. Click onto one of the shown INF files (it doesn't matter which one).

Judging by the fact that it says it doesn't matter which INF file is clicked on when via the "Single driver" option, I'm guessing it also doesn't matter if one clicked on "Mulitiple driver folder" option instead rather than "single dirver"?

After I had extracted the drivers and found there were two INF files, I guessed that the folder option was more appropriate. On the next screen, just selected the two relevant controllers from the list of 10 or so.

Seems to have worked, so is the proper way to select "single" next time?

[Chrysalis]

Nice guide even tho its an old post I will raise some points.

Intel controller in raid mode does not need a raid array and intel actually reccomend this for single drive configs as well as raid since its the same as ahci except it will support future raid use without an OS reinstall.

I added my intel drivers on my new sp3 cd and I notice nlite is telling me I should disable the use of OEM Preinstall $OEM$ folder which I have always been using fine in the past and I dont remember nlite having this warning before, is there a known real problem by integrating text drivers at the same time as using OEM preinstall? --edit-- I misunderstood it says not to use it when using f6 method, I wonder if thats the problem the other poster had then.

Edited May 18, 2008 by Chrysalis