what does SATA AHCI Mode do in simple words?

[colore]

hello

what does SATA AHCI Mode do in simple words?

thanks

[submix8c]

SATA sets SATA mode vs EIDE/PATA ("old" HDD interface") Mode Edited February 25, 2011 by submix8c

[allen2]

Full explanation there: http://expertester.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/ahci-vs-ide-%E2%80%93-benchmark-advantage/

[colore]

thanks

since AHCI mode is a performance advantage I will definatelly try it

however I need to install SATA drivers during WinXP installation, right?

where do I find these drivers in order to encorporated them into my nLite installation?

are they universal, or specific for a disk model ?

thanks

[jaclaz]

Specific to the CONTROLLER (not on the disk model).

Also, performance advantages depend on hardware.

If you have "old" hardware it is likely you won't have any.

JFYI:

jaclaz

[colore]

specific to the controller means specific to the motherboard, right?

so intergrating these SATA drives into my nLite installation, will result in a non-universal XP iso (that won't run in all systems)

that's very inconvenient, probably I will switch to Win7 that has native AHCI support

[jaclaz]

specific to the controller means specific to the motherboard, right?

so intergrating these SATA drives into my nLite installation, will result in a non-universal XP iso (that won't run in all systems)

that's very inconvenient, probably I will switch to Win7 that has native AHCI support

Sure , guess WHY the drivespack were developed?

http://driverpacks.net/

jaclaz

[pointertovoid]

Adding to the installation disk a driver specific to one controller doesn't prevent installing on an other controller. You just have the advantage for the drivers you have added.

As there are very few drivers that cover most of common controllers (say, 3 drivers cover 90% of all mobos) you can integrate these 3 drivers.

I don't integrate drivers into my Win installation disks, as I can live with F6 diskettes. There are so many combinations (Bios config "compatibility", Sata, Ahci, Raid - then driver version - then Ahci, Raid during install - bugged disks - etc) that can go wrong! I prefer to keep flexibility here.

Yes, Ahci brings experimentally an awful lot and must be used.

[colore]

I wanted to ask, is it necessary to install any drivers, or since both my motherboard and hard disk, support AHCI, I just enable it in the BIOS?

thanks

[allen2]

Depending on your hardware the drivers might already be there but you might need to change some settings in order to boot properly.

[colore]

Depending on your hardware the drivers might already be there but you might need to change some settings in order to boot properly.

how do I find if the drivers are there and if settings are needed?

[allen2]

You need to check if the driver is correctly referenced in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase\PCI#VEN_8086&DEV_3B2F and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\IaStor for iastor = intel ahci driver ) and installed (you have to know how to read an .inf file and if all files are there). The mounted devices (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices) might also create problem and you might need to remove some (or all values there) and repair you install if you're using vista or windows 7.

Or you could use a tool that will do it for you like driverinjection gui (if your os is supported).

[jaclaz]

colore, you seem to miss the basics on how drivers in XP are installed.

Basically XP when installed/booted makes a quick check of the hardware.

Every hardware (including the SATA Disk Controller) is identified by a device ID.

Then XP looks among the drivers available to see if it can finds a driver for that specific device ID it has detected.

If such driver is found, the corresponding driver is installed, no other device driver (for different device ID's) is ever installed.

jaclaz

[colore]

colore, you seem to miss the basics on how drivers in XP are installed.

Basically XP when installed/booted makes a quick check of the hardware.

Every hardware (including the SATA Disk Controller) is identified by a device ID.

Then XP looks among the drivers available to see if it can finds a driver for that specific device ID it has detected.

If such driver is found, the corresponding driver is installed, no other device driver (for different device ID's) is ever installed.

jaclaz

so you imply that it is already installed? because in the past, I tried to enable AHCI and I couldn't boot

[jaclaz]

so you imply that it is already installed? because in the past, I tried to enable AHCI and I couldn't boot

No.

I am implying (actually plainly saying ) that

Then XP looks among the drivers available to see if it can finds a driver for that specific device ID it has detected.

If such driver is found, the corresponding driver is installed, no other device driver (for different device ID's) is ever installed.

When you change in the BIOS from "IDE emulation" to "AHCI" you effectively change the device ID.

So, IF the driver is already there, it will be installed.

BUT this won't happen on an already installed XP, only during Setup.

BUT, you can "force" the new driver by "injecting" it, besides driver injection GUI , already mentioned by allen2, you can use this "manual" technique:

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=444831

jaclaz