Hello!
This is my first post. Thank you Fernando for this very helpful forum.
I’m trying to enable AHCI on my Windows 7 64bits system.
My configuration :
- Asus P5K with a P5KR modded bios (build 0703) : with this bios I have AHCI option available in both sata general configuration (first page) and Jmicron controller configuration (by default, AHCI option is not available on this ICH9 motherboard).
- 1 SSD Crucial M500 plugged on the JMicron controller: for my system
- 2 hdd (samsung spinpoint t166 320Go and samsung spinpoint F1640 Go) plugged on sata connectors 3 and 4 : datas hdd
- 1 dvd rom on sata port 1
In the bios, with ide or ahci mode, all the devices are recognized.
My system has been setup in ide mode with Windows 7 64 bits. All the updates have been done.
I’ve not been able to enable ahci for now. I’ve tried differents tuto like this one with differents register modifications (generally iostorV, msahci, pciide start value modified from 3 to 0) but when I change theses values, reboot and enable ahci only for JMicron or for JMicron controller and sata ports, the system is starting…stop on windows logo and reboot (no message, no BSOD)
I’ve also tried :
- to start a new installation and with the custom method choosing your modded ahci driver (v11.2.0.1006) but as it is not signed, I can’t load it.
- double click on the iaahci.inf file to install the driver by I’ve an error message (installation method not supported)
So, I’m wondering what’s the best way to enable ahci ?
Do I have to start a new installation with ahci mode enabled?
Or do I have to install your modded ich9 driver ? but in this case, how can I install it ?
Do I need to modify register keys before reboot ?
thank you for your help
@ neyro:
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!
According to ASUS your mainboard has an ICH9 Southbridge. That would mean, that the Intel SATA Controllers of your board natively do neither support AHCI nor RAID.
Questions:
1. Does your ASUS P5K natively have the BIOS option to enable "AHCI" for the Intel SATA ports?
2. Why did you flash an ASUS P5KR BIOS into your P5K mainboard?
4. Why did you connect your system drive to a JMicron SATA port and not to an Intel one?
Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)
Thank you for your quick response!
1) No
2) to active ahci option in the bios (according to that post )
3) because of the tuto above
According to the linked tutorial the Intel SATA ports may be running in AHCI mode, but not the JMicron ones.
So you have to connect the system drive to one of the Intel SATA ports, if you want to run the OS in AHCI mode.
Ok but according to the Asus P5K manual guide, I should be able to use the JMicron controller in ahci mode .
Normally, if I follow the tuto, step 10 and 11, the hard drive is connected to the JMicron and when windows comes up, it asks for drivers. In my case, Windows has never passed the logo after changing sata mode to ahci in bios.
Considering the situation, what would you advise me ?
Reinstalling the system in ahci mode and with the ssd connected to the intel sata ports ?
Other thing ?
When the system is already installed, do I have to modify registry before enabling ahci in bios?
I doubt, that you are able to use any of your JMicron ports in AHCI mode.
Exactly.
This is what I recommend to do:
1. Backup your important data.
2. Connect your SSD to the first Intel SATA port and unplug all other storage devices (incl. DVD ROM).
3. Set the Intel SATA Controller to "AHCI" mode.
4. Boot off the Win7 x64 DVD/USB Flash drive and do a fresh install of the OS.
5. Once the OS is up, open the "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers" section of the Device Manager and look for the name of the listed Controller.
If it should be the "Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller", you really succeeded with the OS installatin in AHCI mode.
Ok thank you 
I’ll try this tomorrow and give you a feedback.
Is this a good thing to update the ich9 driver (if the installation succeeds) with the 11.2.0.1006 ?
@ neyro:
At the end of the OS installation you will definitively know, whether your Intel ICH9 SATA Controller is running in AHCI mode or not.
Yes, once the OS is up and running in AHCI mode, you can "update" the MS AHCI driver to the modded Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006.
Note: You have to force the installation by using the "Have Disk" button.
Hi!
My system is now installed with the right Intel drivers (yours v11.2.0.1006). Everything works fine.
Thank you for your help Fernando
Here is the procedure I’ve followed :
- connect the ssd to the second Intel Sata port (first is for my DVD-Rom)
- start the PC and enable ahci in bios
- start windows 7 64bits installation
- at the first boot after complete installation, I’ve launched the intel installation drivers from asus (maybe this step is not necessary)
- after reboot, I’ve updated the intel ahci drivers with yours
As it’s my first install with ssd, next step is to check if everything is ok (specially the trim function).
The only strange thing is at the boot just after the JMicron display message (and before the black screen with the windows logo), I’ve a cursor on the top left corner of the screen (the screen is black with this cursor)…I don’t know what the pc is doing. It only appears when I enable ahci in bios during 10s.
If someone has an idea…
Maybe it’s a POST operation that is long…
Why that? I recommend to connect the system drive to the first Intel SATA port. The optical drive can use any other (maybe a non-Intel) SATA port.
The initialization of the Intel SATA AHCI Controller may take some time, because there is no or an outdated Intel AHCI ROM within the BIOS.
Why that?
I don’t know. I’ve just done that because of the devices boot order. I boot first on the DVD so…
Is there any disavantages of connecting the system sdd to the second sata port ? performance?
The boot order settings within the BIOS has nothing to do with the SATA port order.
Usually the boot time will be the shortest, when the system drive is connected to the first of the SATA ports, which belong to the chipset.
Ok.
So, now that I’ve done a clean install, can I change the sata port of the ssd without inpact on Windows installation ? 
edit: sorry, a long time ago that I’ve not touch to my hardware configuration. I’m a little rusty
Yes, you can connect your system drive with any other Intel SATA port without risking any problems.
I’ve changed the sata port for the ssd (now 1). Everything is ok.
Thank you for your help
@ neyro:
You’re welcome!
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976
This is a bit late for your situation but I used this easy solution to enable the driver for ahci mode after installing in ide mode.
Dear, Fernando.
I have the same situation as topic starter. I have flashed ASUS P5K with BIOS from ASUS P5KR to get an AHCI mode and successfully installed Windows 10 x86 in AHCI mode.
Now I want to update the standart MS AHCI driver with Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006. When I click "Have Disk" button and pick iaAHCIC.inf file, I get a list of the following drivers:
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Intel(R) 5 Series 4 Port SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) 5 Series 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) 7 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) Desktop/Workstation/Server Express Chipset SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) ICH10D/DO SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) ICH10R SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller
Intel(R) Mobile Express Chipset SATA AHCI Controller
Please tell me which one should I choose for Intel ICH9?
By the way, the Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006 I downloaded from this thread. Is this the modded driver?
@SuprA :
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!
Your ASUS P5K has an Intel P35 Chipset and an Intel ICH9R Southbridge. The DeviceID of your on-board Intel SATA AHCI Controller is DEV_2922.
As you can see, this DEV_2922 Intel ICH9R SATA AHCI Controller is natively not supported by the Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006 WHQL.
No, that is the original driver.
So if you want to get the Intel RST AHCI driver v11.2.0.1006 installed onto your Intel ICH9R SATA AHCI Controller, you should take the driver, which has been modified and signed by me. You can find the download link within the start post of >this< thread. Don’t forget to import the Signature Certificate before you are going to install the driver.
Good luck!
Dieter (alias Fernando)