Switch to AHCI

Just a quick post to expand on my comment in a previous post on switching to AHCI mode (to enable full SATA functionality) after installation (in IDE emulation mode) of the operating system. See this for further information. This is particularly useful if, for whatever reason, an F6 floppy install of the SATA drivers proves futile.

Here is the thread I found. I basically followed those instructions, except it's an MSI-specific forum, so I believe the IATA621_CD.EXE file specified may be such. I also believe the IATA88CD.exe file I found on my driver disk from Gigabyte is the corresponding file. Nevertheless, to be safe, I downloaded the Intel Matrix Storage Manager executable directly from Intel, to be sure I had the real goods.

I then followed the instructions, but I used the text found here. It was a bit of a long shot, perhaps, but mine is a ICH10R-based board, and that was supposed to work... and it did! I did have a couple devices (IDE primary and secondary controllers, to be precise) show the infamous yellow question marks by them for a few reboots while I installed other drivers, and then they resolved themselves.

So, there you have it: an ex post facto method to enable SATA mode.

NB: Only tested with 32-bit Windows XP Professional and the specified Intel chipset.