Recommended AHCI/RAID and NVMe Drivers

Dear Fernando,

First of all thank you for your big effort in making these wonderful drivers and making everything compatible once again. You’re providing a great service for the community contrary to the manufacturers which only care about selling and product life-time…
Well I purchased for my mom’s PC a motherboard Gigabyte 970A-UD3P Rev 2.1 (AMD 970 + SB 950) with bios FC but I’m having trouble in setting up AHCI mode in Windows XP. The board works fine in Windows 7 but since my mom have some old games that only run properly on XP that’s why we are keeping the dual boot mode. I have the operating systems in the SSD and two other HDDs for data.
But in XP the problem is:

- With the provided drivers on Gigabyte website I can’t update the device manager if I boot in IDE mode and do that trick of replacing the IDE controller which I made previously in Intel installations.
- With the 32 bit AMD AHCI driver v6.1.3.35 it installs but gives me BSOD when I restart.
- With the 32bit AMD SBxxx AHCI& RAID Driver v3.3.1540.33 for XP mod by Fernando it installs only if I boot in IDE mode and put the other HDD in AHCI mode, the driver installs correctly and those HDDs start working in AHCI mode. If I reboot my windows in AHCI then it refuses to boot from my SSD giving me a 7B stop error.
- Since this motherboard doesn’t have floppy I purchased one of those popular internal controllers to connect your 34 pin floppy to internal USB and I was able to configure it as a floppy since bios detected it as a floppy.
-When trying to install those drivers in windows setup. The AMD SBxxx where the only ones that worked but the problem is that in the windows setup it doesn’t detect my ssd, only my two HDD (and the ssd is present and active in BIOS).
-The AHCI “pure” drivers in the recommended section also doesn’t work it says it can find the information for my device. And in windows setup it loads and says “amd_sata.sys can’t be found”).
I also tried this → http://reboot.pro/topic/16452-switch-xp-…-to-ahci/page-2 and also doesn’t work.
I also tried to slipstream all of my previous mentioned drivers and the behaviour was the same :frowning:
-The rpcxachi driver I tried to add my PCI\VEN and also crashed… If I put the system in IDE all works fine and is detected… Frankly I’m out of ideas, what can I do in order to have AHCI in Windows XP?

Thank you in advance for your kind help and support.

With the best regards,

Rfsapiens.

Thank you in advance for your kind support.

AMD SB7xx/8xx/9xx Chipsets and Fusion Controller Hubs(FCH)(chipsets) for Socket FM2 and FM2+.

SB7xx/8xx and 9xx chipsets use the Promise Raid/AHCI controller.

Socket FM2 uses the A85X, A75 and A55 chipsets, codename Hudson, and use the Promise Raid/AHCI controller.

Socket FM2+ uses the A88X, A78, A68H and​ A58 chipsets, codename Bolton, and use the Dot Hill Raid/AHCI controller and use the AHCI Driver v6.1.3.35 and RAID Driver v6.1.3.35 drivers for Windows XP. They are 32bit versions, there are NO 64bit versions availible. They are not interchangable with any FM2 and SBxxx series chipset. → link

Too see extended information about FM2 and FM2+ Fusion Controller Hubs(aswell as other) AMD chipsets, please visit the Wikipedia page for AMD Chipsets. → Link

Edit - Post updated with additional information and tidied up a bit.

Thank you for your kind reply :slight_smile:

So what should I do? and what about the fact that the ahcix86 driver isn’t seeing the ssd? It’s because it’s not the right driver isn’t it? Where can I find more drivers to test? Where can I find the drivers for my SB950 chipset? :slight_smile:

With the best regards,

Rfsapiens.

Its 03.23 uk time and im tired. I need to dig around in my pc because i used to have more amd ahci drivers than there are hairs on a monkey. I will edit this post later today(to save space), i will pm you when i got an answer, though i dont know why the ssd isnt seen during setup.

Edit - It is possible that the floppy drive with the ahci has an incorrect folder structure which is why you may be better off slipstreaming the driver with nLite. This is the → link

Edit - Instead of a dual boot, try this. Disconnect all your drives. Get a hdd(spinner), set bios to AHCI and install XP in isolation. You would have to select which drive from the bios boot menu, but it might be worth a try too.

Edit - Could be the ssd has a uefi type partition, not an mbr type. Maybe, im clutching at straws here.

@rfsapiens :
It was not a good idea to integrate more than 1 textmode driver into the XP CD.
The most important pre-condition for a proper XP installation in AHCI or RAID mode is to know the exact HardwareIDs of the related on-board SATA AHCI or RAID Controller.
So please do the following:

  1. Boot into Win7 on your Mom’s computer, run the Device Manager, expand the sections “IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers” resp. “Storage Controllers” and search for Controllers with the word “AHCI” or “RAID” in its name.
  2. Then do a righ-click onto the related Controller and choose the options “Properties” > “Details” > “Property” > “HardwareIDs”.
  3. Post them.

Then I will tell you, which XP compatible AMD textmode driver is matching and should be integrated into the original XP SP3 image.

@EmmaRoyd :
Thanks for your efforts to help rfsapiens and for statement within >this< post.
Since there seems to be a demand for a guide about how to get Windows XP installed onto an AMD Chipset system running in AHCI or RAID mode, it would be a good idea to write such guide and to offer it within >this< Sub-Forum. Would you be able to do it? That would be great.

Fernando, as i have said to Nuhi many times, i have learnt everything from forums and it is nice to put something into the forums(any forum) when i can. :slight_smile:

My technical level is Home User Plus, i know what i need to as the average home user(plus a little bit more) and my only real experience is with the later FM2+ A88X chipset and APU’s, A8 7600 and A10 7890K. A you know, Nuhi is a Croat and he has had to correct me on my grammar serveral times(and english is my 1st language). No guide is better than a poorly written guide. I can only write a guide from the FM2+ A88X/APU point of view, which i am happy to do.

It would have to be a multi part guide because some users may buy new hardware specifically for this, some may be using hardware they already have. They have to know what hardware is suitable on the FM2+ line, AMD have CPU’s up to the 880K - 4GHZ, RAM choices, HDD or SSD. It must cover AHCI driver slipstreaming with nLite if users dont have a USB floppy drive. XP cannot correctly format Advanced Format drives and doesnt know what TRIM is. Then there are the other drivers needed, graphics(for an APU) and the other chipset drivers needed. I only know of 2 hardware combinations that installing XP works on because they were/are my own self builds, any other hardware combination is theoretical.

I will put something together with OpenOffice and email it to you(let me know which format you prefer, Word or ODT) to approve/edit and to post, you know where you want it and how it should look. xx

Edit - Fernando, ok, Word it is then. Im going to need 4 weeks to do it because of commitments and i wont be able to help rfsapiens at the same time but hopefully he has enough information to work with and will find a solution soon. :slight_smile: xx

Edit - I will try to create a downloadable PDF guide too(i have not done this before :slight_smile: ).

Thanks in advance. You can use MS Word or MS Notepad.

Dear Fernando,

Thank you for your kind reply :slight_smile: Here it is the screenshots you asked me. This is what I get when I boot into AHCI mode on my mom’s Windows 7.

Link

With the best regards,

Rfsapiens.

rfsapiens - Tip. Windows 7 SP1 64bit and Windows XP SP3 32bit happily exist on a dual boot system, I know, ive tried. But there is a catch. If you install XP on a system with W7 already installed, XP "may" destroy your w7 boot entry(so i have read online, i have never done this). So you have to do things exactly as i say.

If you are doing a fresh install of both OS - You must install XP 1st(for the reason stated above). Then you must install W7. Whether you are installing each os to its own HDD or to 2 partitions on the same HDD, W7 will install its boot menu onto and overwrite the XP boot menu. The W7 boot menu happily co exists with XP and you get the option on boot to boot W7 or "an earlier operating system". This is the easiest way for an older/non tech savvy person to choose which OS to boot.

The next option will mean the user(mom) will have to select the boot drive from the bios boot menu and it is, in my opinion, the safest option because each OS is installed in isolation and each OS will have its original boot menu.

If you wish to install XP on a system that already has W7(or later OS) and you dont want to/or need to, do a fresh install of those, do this. Disconnect your hdd/ssd containing W7(or later) OS. You only need the target hdd and optical drive(to install from). Windows XP will happily install and not wipe your W7(or later) OS boot menu. You will have to remember which drive, connected to which port, holds which OS. Again, this all depends of the tech knowledge of the end user(mom). Hope you find this helpful. xx

Fernando, i might actually put this post into the guide as it is related. I suggest keeping this post/information here for now then move it into the guide when its posted so as to not duplicate it. :slight_smile: xx

@rfsapiens :
Thanks for the link with the photos of your Device Manager. By the way: It would have been much easier and the screenshots would be much better readable, if you take them according >this< and insert them according >this< guide.
What I additionally need are the details about the in-use AHCI driver of the listed device named “AMD SATA Controller”.
Here is the way to get the Driver Details: Right-click onto the “AMD SATA Controller” and choose the options “Properties” > “Driver” > “Driver Details”.

@EmmaRoyd :
You are right - the user cannot boot anymore into Win7 after having installed Windows XP, because the Win7 boot sector entries will be overwritten by the older XP Setup.
Nevertheless it is not required to install Win7 again thereafter. The Win7 boot sector enties can be easily repaired by using the tool EasyBCD. The free non-commercial version can be downloaded from >here< (after having been registered).

I knew it must be possible to repair the w7 boot entry somehow, but i have never done it, either with a w7 dvd or EasyBCD. Be careful with EasyBCD, see if you see a subscribe to newsletter option, uncheck for gawd sake, you will be pestered. I have also seen and used Visual BCD Editor, its quite good and has more options. :slight_smile:

Hello,

Thank you all for your kind reply :slight_smile:
I have Windows 7 installed after Windows XP and in separated partitions, the C: is for Windows XP and the D: is for Windows 7. so the dual boot works correctly :slight_smile: Regarding what you ask there it is the screenshots :slight_smile:





With the best regards,

Rfsapiens

@rfsapiens :
Thanks for having delivered the requested informations.
It will not be easy to offer an AMD AHCI driver, which can be used to get XP installed onto your mom’s system running in AHCI mode.
Give me 1 or 2 days to think about how to manage it.

Fernando, which driver version do you think(given your experience) rfsapiens needs and i need the Exact dev number please. I "may" have found something direct from AMD, i am looking at it(them) right now.

At the moment I think, that the best way will be to install XP in IDE mode and to switch from the IDE to an AHCI driver from within a running XP. My idea is to modify the AMD AHCI driver v1.2.1.402 to make it usable with Windows XP.
Unfortunately there is no AMD AHCI textmode driver (incl. TXTSETUP.OEM file) available for DEV_4391 AMD SATA AHCI Controllers.

Can you give me the link?

[ATI.NTx86.5.1] %NapaDesc%=Napa_Inst,PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4391&CC_0106 ahcix86.inf? It has a txtsetup.oem file in its folder.

This driver looks like its the one. Download page at AMD, AMD Raid Drivers 24.4 MB, 13.1, 1/17/2013

As a point of reference for yourself and other users looking for AMD XP drivers, → see this link

13.4 is the latest/last XP package. xx

@EmmaRoyd :
Thanks for the link. I am not sure, whether it makes sense to create a dual-boot system, whose first OS is running in AHCI mode and the second in RAID mode.

Try the AMD Chipset Drivers 24.4 MB 13.1 1/17/2013, there are 2 drivers in there too - Packages\Drivers\SBDrv\hseries\AHCI_svr\XP and Packages\Drivers\SBDrv\SB7xx\AHCI_svr\XP

I have never used RAID and i dont know if RAID and AHCI installs can co exist. This hunting for AMD AHCI drivers is why i was damn glad W7 came along with native AHCI driver(aswell as usb installing). I was just very lucky on these 2 apu systems. Im off for the night now, i have other things waiting. Good Luck guys. :slight_smile: