My Asus m/b has an Intel chipset that includes two fancy SATA controllers that support the AHCI spec.

When I have that enabled and boot from the MHDD CD ROM I don't get any drives listed.

I assume this is because there is no AHCI driver on the CD.

The question is a 2-parter:
(a) Can I add one?
(b) is it worth it? Or, worse, does the AHCI interface make drive diagnostics harder?

Thanks in advance.

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Thanks in Advance!
Rich.

This is expected - you can search the forum for previous discussions. Also, from your other thread here:

unresponsive-drive-any-suggestions-t21336.html

it seems you have now configured the SATA controller as required.


I don't know where you plan to get a suitable driver. IMHO the easiest option is just to set the SATA controller for IDE / compatibility mode.

@Vulcan: Live Long and Prosper, unless your handle refers to the process....

I posted the original while MHDD was running and did not know an easy way to get my m/b model. But have since rebooted so i can put it on record as an Asus model P8H67-M/PRO.

This board includes the Intel H67 Express Chipset. And inside of that there is a Series 6 Express SATA controller. Actually, I think there is two, or one with two physical parts. It seems to be two separate hardware entities when I change the BIOS settings between "IDE" and "AHCI" modes.

Under Windows XP Pro SP3 for the AHCI mode I am using Intel's driver "iaStore.sys" version 10.1.0.1008. It may be important to some to know that this is NOT the latest driver off of Intel's website - that driver proved tp be unstable. This is the driver listed on Asus's support website for this m/b. It appears that later versions have a compatibility issue with something. Granted, the BIOS rev is 1002 and there is a 1008 version available, but when I tired to upgrade to it, I got an error that it was not an "EFI" BIOS and I have not figured out how to "fix" that.

So, I seem to have a suitable driver. However, I don't know if this AHCI mode is worth the bother. I have not seen Win XP handle a swap of the drives yet - I had to re-boot Windows anyway. Intels's "Rapid Storage Technology" status utility sees the drive go and a new drive appear. But Windows File Explorer does not seem to understand what has happened. I thought there might be an "eject" mechanism, like USB - if there is its well hidden!

Yes, I did switch back to IDE mode to play with this crippled drive. I have since gone back to AHCI and booted into Windows in the hopes of getting MHDD to work with AHCI.

Or, to find out AHCI is a bad idea and I should stay in IDE mode.

I shalst search for the previous posts you mentioned.

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Thanks in Advance!
Rich.

For some reason my reply is being held for moderator approval?

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Thanks in Advance!
Rich.

That happens with all new members when they include a link or image (perhaps other situations too). The post will appear in due course, after that approval...

@rcooke:

Your earlier reply (held in moderation) has now appeared above, so I'll reply.


For use with MHDD, which is what I think you're suggesting based on your previous comments, then no it's not suitable. Look at the MHDD manual and see how it communicates with the drives. MHDD does not use Windows drivers. That was why I mentioned above, that I wondered where you thought you were going to get a suitable AHCI driver.


I can't imagine any way in which you will be successful with that plan. You may find this old thread useful to reset your expectations to something more realistic

mhdd-doesn-support-ahci-t11465.html

@Master Vulcan:
Thanks. I don't see why that post was held.....

Yes, I forgot ( ) that MHDD goes straight to the hardware.

I read that old thread. TommyBaw needs to re-examine his/her needs and goals. I can't imagine a cost-justificaion for what he proposed to do! Worse, I don't see a practical reason for doing it.

I have come to the same conclusion as Zorb: If its ON just take the 20 seconds to turn it OFF for testing/recovery. Or take the drive to another machine. I think anybody that does this more than twice decides to setup a dedicated work bench with a test machine. I would not want to start doing open-heart surgery on a clients drive in front of them anyway. Even if its your own employees. Give them a replacement so they can get back to work. Take the old drive away so you can work on it in peace and quiet.

Whether or not AHCI provides any value to drives under Windows is still an open matter.

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Thanks in Advance!
Rich.

RTFM?

http://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02- ... howitworks


... and it's one that we don't care about here. Windows support is off-topic on this forum. I have seen this discussed ad nauseum on other Windows-related forums in the past (when I cared a bit more about Windows ).

Having said that, I can think of 2 pieces of disk-related functionality which need AHCI support under Windows. If someone wants to use those features, then they need to be using AHCI. If they don't require those, then (unless there is other functionality that I haven't remembered off the top of my head) perhaps AHCI may offer no measurable benefit to them.

If you care about this question, I suggest you may want to find a more suitable forum.