Recommended AHCI/RAID and NVMe Drivers

Important Drivers General: Storage Drivers (AHCI/RAID, NVMe and USB)
66

LOL! Got the attachment thing right before clicking Submit. I used Snipping Tool and not Paint, its easier. I took a few pics, as your instruction though good, was not compatible with my system. There was no selection of Driver or anything else when clicking properties on the list of ATA controllers in Device Manager…first pic will show

NoDriverafterProp.PNG



Oh good PNG format works great. Now pic #2 will show you the Amd PCI IDE controller properties, and in researching these, as the resource settings I/0 Range is FF00-FF0F, this tells me that these settings are very low, the FF00 is what I understand to mean to allow ISA expansions? And they are a sorry example to PCI? I got this info from http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/i/isa.htm

pciideamdcon.PNG



I shall try am limit more pics after this last and explain the rest of the info, as I do not want to overwhelm anyone with my ugly pics! Though I have taken more if you need to see.

This next pic I was able to get driver details for Standard ahci 1.0 Serial ATA Controller msahci by clicking properties on it, then driver, then driver details, and got a short list, though it seems one must click on any of the 4 drivers listed in order to get its details, but for msahci the details only explain that its W7 SP1 rtm and that MickeyNotSosoft made the thing ugh. So on second thought my next pic will not be of that, but I think more important than the details is a pic of Serviwin which is a free and good software made by Nirsoft that shows drivers (and services) running on the PC, their status, start values and so much more. I have edited the columns list so as to make the evidence viewable to show that indeed two amdsata (amd_sata) drivers are both running along with msahci right now on my PC…I tried uninstalling one of them before, not in safe mode but by Device manager, and though DM showed it was uninstalled, I went to the log files and read the denial of the amd_sata file to be uninstalled, which ticked me off royally, so to double check with my own eyeballs, I went back into DM and sure enough, there sat amd_sata.sys proud as you please.

Here are msahci, amdsata, and amd_sata properties and status, but in 3 tiny pics:

msahcidr.PNG




amdsatadrolder.PNG




amd-satadr.PNG



Whew! I am glad they turned out so small in size. The last 3 look different because I turned off my theme so you could see them at the clearest level, text etc. I sure hope my reply gives you enough information. I have been researching this for nearly a year…almost. I’m not patient, just reserved and a bit leery, hence the length of time to ask a source with which I am unfamiliar, but I think perhaps I chose wisely.

Thanks for listening and reading me, Fernando. TC, Xeny OH! PS for the list of Storage Controllers, there is only one, Virtual Clone Drive, the last before it became no longer free, version 5.4 something.

67

@ Xeny:
Thanks for your efforts to get and post the pictures, but you obviously misunderstood parts of my second last post.
Anyway I now know, that within your system there are 2 different IDE Controllers active:
1. the “Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller” and
2. a “AMD PCI IDE Controller”.
The first one is an AHCI Controller, the second one an IDE one.

Conclusion:
Within your system are SATA ports, which are running in AHCI mode (managed by the Win7-own MS AHCI driver named MSAHCI.SYS) and SATA ports, which are running in IDE mode (probably managed by the Win7-own MS IDE driver named PCIIDE.SYS, but renamed by an AMD inf file).
This verifies, that none of your SATA drives is managed by an AMD AHCI driver.
Unfortunately you didn’t post what you see after doing a right click onto both Controllers and choosing the options “Properties” > “Driver” > “Driver Details”, but I doubt, that you will see there any AMD driver like “amd_sata.sys” or “amd_xata.sys”.

If you want to get an AMD AHCI installed instead of the MS AHCI driver, you have to right click onto the listed “Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller” and to choose the options “Update Driver Software” > “Browse my Computer…” > “Let me pick…” “Have Disk”, then to navigate to the suitable AMD AHCI driver and to accept the installation.
The other listed “AMD PCI IDE Controller” cannot be updated or replaced unless you are able to set this Controller to “AHCI” within the BIOS, but I doubt, that this is possible. I suspect, that the mainboard of your system has 2 different sorts of SATA Controllers, but only one of them can be set to “AHCI” resp. “RAID”.

68

No, I did not misunderstand what you asked, and I explained that nothing shows as you described, and even showed you a pic. Of the nothing that gets listed in the window when I chose properties after I right clicked on the ATA Controllers Title Bar. The only options given were in a tiny box that said properties, and Scan for Hardware Changes. I see the pics I took are missing, so I am supposing the manner in which they were uploaded needs that I keep the pics where I uploaded them from in order to show on this site? But indeed, I took them exactly as requested, they had been showing, but now are not. I deleted them off of my desktop. I am used to web sites retaining copies of uploaded content, and not needing to continually read said content from the providing source.

Fernando, I have already done what you suggest in your latest reply. I have done it more than a few times, but naught of these actions has solved my issue. Everything the pics showed is explained in my words as well. Perhaps some of what you say is true concerning the driver mess I am in, but you can blame Catalyst Install Manager, and AMD/ATI for that themselves for it is they that brought me to this stage, and they that installed these amdsata and amd_sata.sys drivers and they that make finding the correct drivers and then installing them a living nightmare for their customers! I refuse to purchase an ATI graphics card for any reason due to the nightmare of driver service AMD/ATI provides their customers overly often! While nVidia rarely fails, if at all, but now I am rather stuck with their CPU so I must figure out what to do, but only a fresh reinstall of W7 seems to be the answer.

So you know, every time I have attempted to update msahci always selecting your mentioned method, Windows shows me the same damn drivers that I am telling you about, same data, same install state, as I have studied the detail given in device manager in properties.

I am not as Newbie as you seem to think, I have been struggling to understand the concepts of much of the computer since I first typed on a keyboard many years ago, and on my own. It grows difficult when researching something when many a web site article conflicts in many ways with the others, and after some time one article creeps into another, and then all becomes a blur.

It seems at this date, that it is I alone who must repair the issue. I do appreciate the time, and speedy attempts to help me, a stranger to you. You have been gracious for the most part, and its a delight to see another who cares for other people’s troubles.

Thank you for that, and your dedication.

Xeny

Mmmm. Finally the pics showed up. Took so much time I am certain due that I did a thorough cleaning, and prefetch was cleaned away.

69

I didn’t ask you to show me the "Properties" of the "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers" section. What I wanted to see were the "Properties" > "Driver" > "Driver Details" of the 2 listed Controllers. Why didn’t you hit the tab "Driver" after having opened the "Properties" of the "AMD PCI IDE Controller" (pic 1 and 2)?

I can still see them…

A fresh OS install would be a good idea.
By the way: You can avoid the installation of unwanted or bad AMD drivers and software by unzipping the AMD package and doing a manual installation of the desired drivers (especially the graphics driver) from within the Device Manager.

You are welcome and good luck!

70

I recently got this ASMedia 1061 PCIe-SATA adaptor to use it with my SSD (because my MoBo based on nForce 750i doesn’t support TRIM natively). Firmware on the adaptor is 0.951.
I have used four of the five drivers that I found on line, on my Windows 7 x64 system.
1.4.1.0 dated 12/26/2012 - this one is adding a SATA controller under the “IDE/ATAPI” section of Device Manager. It does pass TRIM to SSD, based on the tests done with trimcheck . I got a WinSAT score of 7.4.
2.0.8.0 dated 01/27/2014 - This one is adding a SATA controller under the “Storage Controllers” section. However it DOES NOT pass the TRIM to SSD. In WinSAT it didn’t get better numbers than previous driver.
2.0.8.1 dated 03/14/2014 - This one also fails to pass the TRIM command to SSD.
2.0.3.1 dated 11/19/2013 - I only saw this on this site (the one from the first post), I did test it. My PC freezes at start-up, after signing in - maybe a conflict with my existing system… had to start in “safe mode” to change it to something functional. I noticed that in safe mode, when the 2.0.3.1 works, my E-MU 1820m does not have the drivers loaded, so maybe that’s the offending software.
The other driver is the one provided with the card:
1.1.9.0 dated 01/30/2011 - I didn’t test it because the 1.4.1.0 worked perfectly.

So, for now, I am sticking with the 1.4.1.0 driver. I am attaching it here, just in case that anybody needs it.

ASM106x_1.4.1.zip (3.07 MB)

1 Like
71

After having received SoNic67’s report (it is the post right above this one), I decided to offer the ASMedia AHCI drivers v1.4.1.0 WHQL within the start post and to remove the v2.0.3.1 ones.
Thanks to SoNic67 for having tested and compared the nearly 2 years old v1.4.1.0 with other(newer) ASMedia AHCI drivers.

Update of the start post

Changelog:

  • new: 32/64bit ASMedia 106x SATA3 AHCI drivers v1.4.1.0 WHQL dated 12/27/2012 for Win8/8.1, Win7 and Vista (x86/x64)
  • new: 32/64bit ASMedia 106x SATA3 AHCI drivers v1.4.1.0 WHQL dated 12/27/2012 for Windows XP (x86/x64)
  • new: 32/64bit Intel RST(e) drivers v12.9.4.1000 WHQL dated 04/24/2014
  • new: Intel RSTe Drivers & Software Set v12.9.4.1000 WHQL dated 04/24/2014
  • new: modded 32/64bit Intel RST(e) drivers v12.9.4.1000
  • new: Universal 32/64bit Intel RSTe Software vv12.9.4.1000


Have fun with these drivers!
Fernando

72

You are doing a great job maintain this site as a central point of information! I wouldn’t think that is so much variation in the world of AHCI drivers :slight_smile:
My journey involved going trough nForce 680i, 750i, ASMedia, even some Intel issues… and this site helped a lot.

73

I use W7 x64 SP1.
I have uninstalled ASM106 driver V 2.0.3.1 and replaced with V 1.4.1.0.
Seems to work on my P8Z77 mb.
However, the ASM106 controls the two e_SATA 6G ports of the board.
I have attached an external SSD to the e_SATA port to test the TRIM function.
Trimcheck report TRIM is not working…
I see also SMART infos are not reported.

May be the issue is due to the external dock station ?
Any idea ?

74

@ 100PIER:

Maybe your problem is caused by the fact, that I have offered this morning by mistake for half an hour an ASMedia AHCI driver v1.4.1.0 for "Win8/Win7/Vista/XP", which has been disigned especially for Windows XP.
I am sorry about that.
Please re-download the 64bit Win8Win7Vista ASMedia SATA3 AHCI driver from the start post and compare it with the one you have installed.
If you see a difference, please re-install the correct driver and report here, if you got TRIM and SMART support.

75

Don’t forget to run the trimcheck program saved on a location on the SSD that you want to test.
Example: If your SSD is "D:", that’s where the trimckeck should be saved (or on any folder on that drive).

76

@Fernando ,
I have re-downloaded the 64bit V 1.4.1.0 driver to be sure.
Manual installation has been done with the ‘have disk’ option. Reboot also done.
Driver seems well installed , up and running well.
However I don’t got TRIM and SMART support.
I don’t see why, except the fact I use e_SATA And a docking e_SATA station where the SATA 2 SSD is plugged in ?

ASM106_driver1410_test2.PNG


ASM106_driver1410_test1.PNG


ASM106_driver1410_test3.PNG

77

Of course TRIMCHECK V 0.6 is well installed on the external SSD i use to do the test.
Even several retries or a reboot doesnt produce the ‘TRIM is working’ message.

78

Can you test it by using an internal ASMedia 106x SATA port?

79

@Fernando ,

It is not possible on this motherboard (ASUS P8Z77 V Deluxe), there is no internal ASM106x SATA port…

80

It is a pity, that you cannot test it yourself, but I am pretty sure, that the difference between your an SoNic67’s test results can be explained by the different sorts of the SSD SATA connection (eSATA vs. SATA).

81

Trimcheck Version 0.7 was posted (see my link on previous page).
However, from what I saw on my card, the chipset uses different lanes for the external connectors - they can activate any 2 connectors from the 4 possible options (see below). So… that might affect the end result.
As I said, my card came with even an older driver (1.1.9.0 dated 01/30/2011), didn’t need to test it but I will post it if needed…
Or he can just install the MS generic AHCI driver for a quick test.

82

When using V 2.0.8.000 WHQL ASM106xx SATA driver I get also NO TRIM (Trimcheck V 0.7) function and NO SMART function on any of the two the e_SATA ports.
Moreover CrystalDiskinfo (V 6.1.14 or V 6.2) doesnot see the external drive…
However, Crystaldiskmark sees well the external drive.
I see that when using V 2.0.8.000 driver W7 Configuration Panel sees differently (as SCSI) than with V 1.4.1.0 (as IDE).

Using V 1.4.1.0 I see also better performance (CrystalDiskMark bench, AnvilPro bench, AS_SSD bench, ATTO bench) , and CrystalDiskinfo sees the external drive (SSD) but does not report any SMART infos.

So, at this day my preference is to use the V 1.4.1.0 driver for the ASMEDIA106xx e_SATA ports for this mboard (ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe, modded BIOS UBU 8.2).

83

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84

Hey Fernando, just letting you know, I did hit the Tab "Driver" but all it gave was the info on the maker, Advanced Micro Devices, the version, the usual, so I didn’t take a pic, as I was concerned about the amount of pics being posted, and being told it was too many, that kind of thing. I was a forum poster for a few web sites, so as nervous as I was, I just made as few posts of pics as possible, and since I figured you have seen the driver details of many a driver in Windows Device Manager, I figured the more important IMAGE you needed to view was of these drivers actually running on my computer, which I showed you with Serviwin.

In part, I also explained the issue about not taking the pics of the details of driver, but perhaps you missed it, as some of what I typed might be muddled to you, as I tend to use other words to describe what I mean than is the dedicated norm. Regardless, I felt that the point of our conversation was getting off track and away from my initial inquiry.

I do feel that in the process of the discussion, I have gained new knowledge regarding my issue and the computer as a whole, so I did not leave the discussion empty-minded.

Take Care, and fortune to you in the future.
Xeny

EDIT by Fernando: Quoting corrected

85

@ Xeny:
Thanks for your reply.
This is my conclusion after having seen your pictures:
1. Your computer has 2 different storage controllers.
2. One of them is running in AHCI mode, the other in IDE mode.
3. None of the 2 controllers is using an AMD AHCI driver.
4. The storage controller, which is running in IDE mode, is an AMD one.