Vista x64 Drivers

[broknindarkagain]

My system is a Dell Inspiron 531s. AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+, geForce 6150SE, and the nForce 430 chipset. No extras except for the DVD burner....and the audio is the onboard Realtek HD Audio

Orignally my computer came with the x86 version of Vista Home Premium. I wanted to switch over the the x64 version of Home Premium since my system is 64 bit so I contacted Dell to send out the x64 disk. They did so for free (I was surprised.).

On support.dell.com, there are only the 32bit drivers for my system since you can't buy it as a 64bit install. So I went to Nvidias page and downloaded the latest x64 drivers for my graphics and chipset. Windows setup did have default drivers for everything, but it read my graphics card as a geforce 6100 so the wrong drivers were installed.....and the chipset drivers were out of date......so I went ahead and replaced them with Nvidias latest ones.

Now when I go into device manager on the x64 install, there is a random unknown device. The only thing missing thats on the x86 install is under "Storage Controllers" and its called "AKSN1ZQ1 IDE Controller". I find this kinda weird to be there at all since I don't have any IDE ports in the box, everything is SATA including the DVD burner. I do have VM Ware Workstation installed on the x86, is the AKSN1ZQ1 IDE Controller a driver for VMWare? If so, what would be the Unknown device under the x64 install?

I downloaded all the x64 Vista driver packs from driverpacks.net and had device manager search the downloaded folders, but it didn't find any drivers that would work with the "unknown device"...

I guess the Athlon 64 X2 has the "AMD AwayMode", and there is a 32bit package for that on the Dell site (and AMDs site), but I can't find x64 anywhere. Could that be what it is?

I checked dxdiag and it didn't show any problems with anything either....

Dell support is just about pointless, they won't support a 64 bit install on this machine unless I pay for their Dell On Call service (200 bucks)...

Can someone please point me in the right direction? I want to start using x64 full time, but not until my drivers are sorted out.

Edited May 28, 2009 by broknindarkagain

[jrf2027]

Is there an IDE interface on the motherboard of your computer? Even though you don't use any IDE devices, your motherboard may still have the interface for it. And as more and more systems go all-SATA, the OEM boards may save some money by using a no-name IDE interface (for instance, my desktop uses an IDE interface by ITE, which requires special drivers).

Have you tried Windows Update (insert groan here)? Despite its driver reputation, sometimes it has drivers you can't find anywhere else.

If all else fails, if your system works otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[broknindarkagain]

Yeah, I ran all the updates. There was an update for the nforce network controller, but that update keeps failing to install (maybe because I have a newer driver directly from nvidia installed???)....

I just took a second look at the board, there is a place for a single IDE port - but the port its self is not there....just the little connections you would solder the port into.

EDIT:

I forgot to mention that the x86 Home Premium did install it just fine off the Windows CD....but x64 isn't

Edited May 28, 2009 by broknindarkagain

[cluberti]

If you can, go to the properties of the device in device manager, click the Details tab, and select Hardware Ids from the drop-down list. If we can get the PCI and Vendor IDs, we can figure out what it is.

[broknindarkagain]

OK, I'll get it in just a minute. I have to swap the drives since I'm running my x86 drive right now.

[broknindarkagain]

here is the properties on it

GENERAL TAB

Device Type : Other devices

Manufacturer : Unknown

Location : on Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System

Device Status

the drivers for thsi device are not installed(code 28)

to reinstall the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver.

DRIVER TAB

Driver Provider: unknown

driver date : not available

Driver version : not available

driver signer : not digitally signed

DETAILS TAB (abridged version - I've omited some stuff that isn't relivent)

hardware IDs: ACPI\AWY0001

*AWY0001

physical device object name: \device\00000036

Device Instance Path : ACPI\AWY0001\2%DABA3FF&2

AWY0001 remides me of the AMD AwayMode feature that was installed on the x86 install of Vista. I'm able to find a 32 bit of the program, but not 64.....is this the AMD AwayMode that we are talking about? And if it is, will it have any negative impact on my performance or reliability if I don't have it installed? Im able to find the x64 driver for XP and 2003, can I install those under Vista x64 or not?

EDIT :

It is the driver for the AMD AwayMode. I downloaded the driver for the 32bit Vista and it installed fine on 64bit vista (its an install program)...so I guess the install program has 64 bit support and just didn't say anything about it? Either way, the install didn't shoot out any errors and device manager looks normal now....

so i guess the issue is resolved - unless someone tells me that doing what i just did will make my system unstable....

Edited May 29, 2009 by broknindarkagain

[cluberti]

No, it should work fine. I was going to tell you it was the "Away Mode" ACPI driver, but I had to go to the doctor this morning and you'd already figured it out .

[broknindarkagain]

Its been pretty stable so far.....I haven't had any issues with it.

What is AMD AwayMode anyways?

[cluberti]

What is AMD AwayMode anyways?

According to the AMD site:

Rapid on/off functionality, enabled through the BIOS with the “Away Mode” driver supplied by Microsoft, will enable AMD LIVE! experiences at a moment's notice, powering up quickly when needed and hibernating when not in use.

Looks like a power driver supplement.