XP installation issue with AHCI Solved

Question

Hello,

I've got a laptop based on the Intel FL90 platform. I can't install Windows XP on it in SATA mode.
Here's what happens:

- I enable AHCI mode in the BIOS,
- I start the XP Home SP2 installation,
- at the start, I press F6 to specify specific drivers,
- XP detects Intel drivers on my USB floppy drive,
- I select those for my chipset (ICH8M),
- I continue the installation, but XP doesn't get far; it can't find a hard drive controller to continue the installation!

The drivers come from Intel's site.
I've tried with a USB floppy drive from another brand.
I attempted to integrate the drivers directly into XP with Nlite, same result.

In short, I’m stuck badly! I find it a pity not to be able to fully leverage my SATA hard drive’s capabilities, so I’m turning to the wisdom of internet users to find a solution!

Thanks in advance!

jourun · Accepted Answer

Enabling AHCI in the BIOS causes Blue Screen of Death with STOP 0x7B on Windows XP installations where AHCI/RAID chipset drivers are not installed. Switching to AHCI requires installing new drivers before changing BIOS settings.

When attempting to install Microsoft Windows XP or earlier on a system with AHCI enabled, the installation fails with the error message "the installation cannot detect a hard drive...". This problem can be worked around by using a floppy disk containing the appropriate drivers or by slipstreaming to integrate the drivers into the Windows XP installation CD. This integration can be done very easily with the freeware NLite.

Enabling AHCI in the BIOS on a system where Windows Vista is already installed causes a blue screen of death if the SATA hard drive was used in IDE mode during Vista installation. Before enabling AHCI in the BIOS, users should first follow the instructions here: Microsoft Knowledge Base article 922976.

Enabling AHCI or using a system with AHCI enabled will cause an error at the EPHD (Encryption Plus Hard Drive, from PC Guardian) level when attempting to Awake from Sleep on Windows operating systems (such as Windows XP). The main consequence of this issue is that it cannot be resolved without a full reinstallation of the operating system.

Enabling AHCI in the BIOS on systems using Windows XP or Windows Vista will cause SATA optical drive disappearance. A fix is already available for Windows Vista. SATA optical drives are not available after booting a computer under Windows Vista
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The keyboard-to-chair interface is often the cause of problems

dabigben · Answer

Xp with service pack 2 includes the SATA drivers   if you have IDE, try unplugging it and if the install works, plug it back in afterward, that's all I can tell you

jourun · Answer

Hello

You are facing a well-known XP bug. This is sometimes tedious with certain SATA controllers. The solution is to integrate the SATA drivers into the XP installation CD. Here is a link to a site that will tell you how to do this:

https://sedo.com/search/details/?partnerid=324561&language=fr&domain=aieaie.com&origin=sales_lander_10&utm_medium=Parking&utm_campaign=offerpage

--

The keyboard-chair interface is often the cause of the problems.

docsteph · Answer

Do not enable AHCI in the BIOS, then install XP, then install the AHCI driver that you should have on the motherboard CD, then modify the BIOS to enable AHCI mode.

Gunrry · Answer

For dabigben: I don’t have an IDE disk (it's a laptop),

For Jourun: I did it with Nlite, same problem as with the diskette drive,

For Docsteph: I just did the procedure, but when I enable AHCI mode in the BIOS after XP installation, I get a nice blue screen on startup!

Would a BIOS update change anything?

Gunrry · Answer

The drivers all come from Intel:
- for the floppy version, it's the latest version of "Intel Matrix Storage Manager,"
- on my laptop’s accompanying CD, it’s an Intel executable (Chipset Device Software).

My laptop is a "no-name" brand, purchased last year on the web...

Gunrry · Answer

Here’s what Everest shows: - motherboard Compal IFL90  For the chipset, it’s the GM965...

Gunrry · Answer

For the chipset, it's the version I installed (8.3.0.1013).

I only see that to retrieve in the "driver" directory...

What else can I do now?

Upgrade the BIOS? (I'm on 1.07)

For the floppy version I don't see anything.

When I made the XP CD with Nlite, those were the drivers from the floppy that I added, but maybe those weren't what I was supposed to put?

Gunrry · Answer

Do I need to boot from a USB key? I don’t think I have the option in the BIOS...

Gunrry · Answer

Well, I can’t flash my BIOS via the USB key... I can boot from it, but nothing happens. A blinking prompt appears and that’s it...

Gunrry · Answer

Well, I’ve just found (and succeeded!) a method to enable AHCI under XP after installing it!
Here’s the magic link:
https://tt-hardware.com/?option=com_content&view=article&id=11513

It works perfectly!

Thanks to everyone for your contributions, and especially to docsteph! ^^

(I’m going to dive into flashing the BIOS now!...)

@+

dabigben · Answer

It seems strange to me since it’s an XP SP3, but try loading the SATA drivers for your motherboard (on the driver CD). They may be specific, and the ones from the Windows CD might not work. At the start of the XP installation it loads a lot of drivers, and you can tell it to load a driver by pressing F6 at some point, it says so. finally, I see that, it’s possible that generic XP drivers don’t work on your SATA bus.

tamataroa · Answer

How can I load drivers on my XP CD???

tamataroa · Answer

Okay, I’ll follow that, but already one problem: when I go to install the drivers I downloaded, they don’t appear when I try to select them in nlite.

afghan67 · Answer

I can’t install Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit!!!

During the installation, when I press INSTALL NOW, another window opens and now it’s in Chinese I don’t understand: NO DEVICE DRIVERS WERE FOUND MAKE SURE THAT THE INSTALLATION MEDIA CONTAINS THE CORRECT DRIVERS AND THEN CLICK OK

I don’t know what to do I’m stuck!

docsteph · Answer

no support for hacking.

XP installation issue with AHCI

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