AHCI or IDE.

BoomAM

BoomAM

BoomAM

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Hi.
During some troubleshooting some Ubuntu errors, ive noticed that both the SATA chips on my motherboard have BIOS settings called AHCI, along with RAID & IDE.

Should i enable it? And what will Vista do if i do?

Thanks in advance all. :).
 
Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a hardware mechanism that allows software to communicate with Serial ATA (SATA) devices such as host bus adapters which are designed to offer features not offered by Parallel ATA (PATA) controllers besides higher speeds, such as hot-plugging and native command queuing. The specification details a system memory structure for computer hardware vendors in order to transfer data between system memory and the device. The current version of the specification is, as of July 2007, v1.2.[1]

Many SATA controllers can enable AHCI either separately or in conjunction with RAID support. Intel recommends choosing the RAID mode (which also enables AHCI) on their motherboards rather than the AHCI/SATA mode.[2]

AHCI is fully supported in Microsoft Windows Vista and the Linux operating system from kernel 2.6.19. Older operating systems require drivers written by the host bus adapter vendor in order to support AHCI.

Straight from Wiki. :D
 
You can't change from IDE to AHCI without reinstalling Vista.

Well you can change the option in BIOS but your current installation won't boot.
 
What the guy above said. idealy you want to have AHCI enabled (but obviously this will mean a reinstall) also AHCI means you need the floppy disk and the whole F6 thing during windows which can be a pain if (like me) you dont have a floppy drive!
 
Well according to MS knowledge base, its possible to do by changing a registry setting.
Which i can confirm, does work, however for some very bizzare reason, when i do, it boots fine to the login screen, but my USB keyboard/mouse dont work, but a PS2 keyboard does.:confused:.
 
Luckily, compared to my old XP installs from way back when, my current Vista install isnt customised/have much on it. So im just gonna re-do it sometime over the week.
:).
 
Yeah :) fair enough

I will do at some point as well. firstly i need to find a floppy drive first!

figure i want to install ACHI drivers and i want to put x64 back on so ill probably kill 2 birds with one stone
 
I've played with AHCI before and, unless you are running a server or need to hot-swap SATA devices, it's just not worth the hassle. I have also read that enabling NCQ in a non-server environment can even have a detrimental effect on performance in certain circumstances.
After using AHCI for a while, I switched back to IDE and things just felt nippier. Not very scientific I know but it's how you feel about your rig that matters.

Still, who am I to deny you your fun.......
 
Buffalo2102 said:
Still, who am I to deny you your fun.......
Click to expand...
lol.
True.

Ive enabled it mainly for the NCQ tbh. I do a lot of multi-tasking on a daily basis, so having the HDDs reading things optimally, NCQ would make a difference imo.


How do i see if its on or not?
 
BoomAM said:
How do i see if its on or not?
Click to expand...

Firstly, you need to ensure that your hard drives are NCQ enabled, aswell as the controller. Check your HDD manufacturers website.

Once you have set the BIOS and installed the your storage controller AHCI drivers, the storage controller should appear in device manager as a SATA AHCI controller.

To see whether NCQ is enabled you may need the Intel Storage Utility (assuming it's an Intel chipset/controller) and/or the drive manufacturers HDD utility.

Unfortunately, it all depends on the controller and HDD you have and the drivers required. I haven't tried the registry hack myself so can't help with that. Personally, I wouldn't trust it and would always start with a clean install.
 
Buffalo2102 said:
Firstly, you need to ensure that your hard drives are NCQ enabled, aswell as the controller. Check your HDD manufacturers website.

Once you have set the BIOS and installed the your storage controller AHCI drivers, the storage controller should appear in device manager as a SATA AHCI controller.
Click to expand...
Done done and done. Its a P35 chipset, 3 of Samsungs latest HDDs & its enabled in the BIOS.

Device Manager lists the following under controllers:
ATA Channel 0.
ATA Channel 0. (cant start).
ATA Channel 0.
ATA Channel 1.
ATA Channel 1. (cant start).
ATA Channel 1.
ATA Channel 2.
ATA Channel 3.
ATA Channel 4.
ATA Channel 5.
Intel(R) ICH9 6 Port ATAT AHCI Controller -2922
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller.
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller.

Im asuming that the 3x 0s & 1s are for the two IDE channels, 2 eSata ports & the first 2 of the 6 SATA ports.

Unfortunately, it all depends on the controller and HDD you have and the drivers required. I haven't tried the registry hack myself so can't help with that. Personally, I wouldn't trust it and would always start with a clean install.
Click to expand...
Its not a hack per-say, its a workaround, provided by Microsoft.
Vista doesnt load drivers it doesnt need on startup. As AHCI causes problems with installing Vista on mine, i had to install in IDE mode, do the registery change, enable AHCI, and that was it (excluding the faff to get USB working again. :p).
 
Last edited:
How very odd.
I downloaded the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, it said it was replacing a newer version of whatever? Did it anyway, rebooted, checked device manager, now theres only the following listed under controllers:
ATA Channel 0. (cant start).
ATA Channel 0.
ATA Channel 1. (cant start).
ATA Channel 1.
Intel(R) ICH9 SATA AHCI Controller.
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller.
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller.

So the other ATA Channels arnt listed anymore, and the '2922' has gone from the AHCI Controller thing.

The storage manager reports that NCQ is supported, and its running the drivers in SATA generation2 mode, so i asume thats 300mbps/NCQ/HotSwapping?
Code: 
System Information

Kit Installed: 7.6.0.1011
Kit Install History: 7.6.0.1011
Shell Version: 7.6.0.1011

OS Name: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate 
OS Version: 6.0.6000  Build 6000
System Name: MAIN-PC
System Manufacturer: http://www.abit.com.tw/
System Model: IP35 PRO(P35+ICH9R)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU    Q6600  @ 2.40GHz
BIOS Version/Date: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 09/06/2007

Language: ENU



Serial ATA Information

Intel Serial ATA Controller: Intel(R) ICH9 SATA AHCI Controller
Number of Serial ATA ports: 6
 
Driver Version: 7.6.0.1011
Serial ATA Plug-In Version: 7.6.0.1011
Language Resource Version of the Serial ATA Plug-In: 7.6.0.1011
ISDI Library Version: 7.6.0.1011
 
Hard Drive 0
Status: Normal
Device Port: 0
Device Port Location: Internal
Current Serial ATA Transfer Mode: Generation 2
Model: SAMSUNG HD501LJ
Serial Number: S0MUJ1KP715312
Firmware: CR100-10
Native Command Queuing Support: Yes
Size: 465.7 GB
 
Hard Drive 1
Status: Normal
Device Port: 1
Device Port Location: Internal
Current Serial ATA Transfer Mode: Generation 2
Model: SAMSUNG SP2504C
Serial Number: S09QJ1HL921715
Firmware: VT100-41
Native Command Queuing Support: Yes
Size: 232.8 GB
 
Hard Drive 2
Status: Normal
Device Port: 2
Device Port Location: Internal
Current Serial ATA Transfer Mode: Generation 2
Model: HDT722525DLA380
Serial Number: VDB41BT4CURSLC
Firmware: V44OA91A
Native Command Queuing Support: Yes
Size: 232.8 GB
 
Hard Drive 3
Status: Normal
Device Port: 3
Device Port Location: Internal
Current Serial ATA Transfer Mode: Generation 2
Model: SAMSUNG SP2504C
Serial Number: S09QJ1HL921718
Firmware: VT100-41
Native Command Queuing Support: Yes
Size: 232.8 GB
 
Unused Port 0
Device Port: 4
Device Port Location: Internal
 
Unused Port 1
Device Port: 5
Device Port Location: Internal
 
Looks good to me.

If you right-click on the specific ATA channels in Device Manager and select Properties does it give you any more information? IIRC there are some advanced options in there.

Buff
 
Buffalo2102 said:
Looks good to me.

If you right-click on the specific ATA channels in Device Manager and select Properties does it give you any more information? IIRC there are some advanced options in there.

Buff
Click to expand...

IIRC, there was those options that you were on about in XP, but they arnt there in Vista.
Im unsure if its on or not tbh, as the Intel app only says 'supported' and not 'on'?
 
Well, I'm pretty sure that if the controller is listed as AHCI and the drive is SATA II (with NCQ) then you can assume that it is on. Your controller states that it is in Generation 2 transfer mode which means that it is running in SATA II mode, confirmaing that both the drive and controller are SATA II. If both devices support NCQ then it should be enabled.

Some drive manufacturers have a drive utility that you can use to enable/disable SATA II transfer speeds etc. and diagnose issues - you may be able to get more info. that way? I'm sure that Hitachi do a pretty good drive utility and Samsung do a basic one, although I am also sure that Samsung enable SATA II and NCQ by default.
 
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