AHCI BIOS not installed

[froggerjohn]

GA-P55A-UD4P with F11 BIOS, and WinXP installed to 2x Vertex2 SSDs in RAID0 via the Intel ports. Everything boots and seems to run correctly, but I see the message "AHCI BIOS not installed" after the drive identification in the startup.

Is this anything to worry about? Did I miss any installation steps or drivers?

The drives feel very snappy once Windows is up. I'm getting over 500 MB/sec ATTO both R/W on the large files, so the RAID is obviously working. But the system oddly takes longer to boot on a fresh XP install than my previous 5 year-old system (which was an AMD 3500+ with a RAID0 of WD 740GD Raptors). The only thing I can figure, is that there was a lot of streamlining done on the XP install (done by someone else) for the old machine. I just wanted to get the above question answered before researching that route.

Thanks,

--
John

[wazza300]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

gigabyte boards do take a longtime to get into windows usually 1minute from press of power button to the desktop,this is whether ahci or raid or in ide mode,there is a reg tweak you can do if the ahci drivers wasnt installed before the os was installed,check that ahci is enabled in the bios if it is and boots into windows then ahci is working,it will lock up at the xp sign if ahci wasnt working but enabled in bios

[Acebmxer]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

My P45-ud3p when the intell chip set was set to raid it would also show AHCI not installed right before the raid bios would load. On my x58 it says AHCI installed before the raid bios. Everything worked fine on the p45. If you disable raid and enable AHCI it should say AHCI installed.

[froggerjohn]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

Thanks guys. The BIOS was set to RAID before the OS install, so it sounds like everything is okay.

And the Smart QuickBoot option that was initially unselectable, is now available. I could never get hibernate working on my previous computer, and if it works here,it will certainly solve the boot time wishes, and then some.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

So you all sorted out now?

[froggerjohn]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

So you all sorted out now?

If the "AHCI BIOS not installed" message is normal when XHD/RAID is enabled, then yes, it appears that the system is functioning as intended. Though IMO, the message is still confusing, and makes the user think he did something wrong.

It appears as though the slow Windows load time is caused by the Realtek audio drivers. I ended up starting over with the Windows XP install, and before the audio drivers were loaded, I was getting 12 seconds from "loading operating system" to the desktop first appearing. After doing the audio driver install, that lengthened to 22 seconds. (Previous system did not use MB audio, so perhaps that's why it booted fast as well).

But it may not be installed correctly either. After patching XP to SP3, I used this procedure on the Gigabyte FAQ:
FAQ - GIGABYTE

Installed Microsoft UAA Bus Driver first, then Realtek HD, but Device Mgr still shows "Audio device on high definition audio bus" as having no driver. Same behavior as when I previously used the Express install. Note that the audio itself works, despite the driver warning.

[Acebmxer]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

If the "AHCI BIOS not installed" message is normal when XHD/RAID is enabled, then yes, it appears that the system is functioning as intended. Though IMO, the message is still confusing, and makes the user think he did something wrong.

Unless LSD says other wise this is correct. Just for test purpuses you could switch the setting from raid to ahci and it should go through and say AHCI bios installed.. Dont the the system try to boot restart and set back to raid.

I dont know if you need to install the Microsoft UAA Bus driver unless its a windows update, just install the realtek audio drivers and see if that does it.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

It's Intel tech's hard at work, I always laugh when I see the "This will take few minutes message"

UUA driver is required and would be installed via windows update or windows install. I'll reboot here in a second and tell you for sure which way it should say that with XHD/RAID enabled, I am always switching back and forth so I am not 100% sure, I do know RAID or AHCI either way you see the AHCI BIOS screen.

If you want to keep realtek enabled, and speed up those boot times you can use this to disable the realtek CPL Startup item, I forget the name but look through all the tabs and you will recognize it (This installs into your control panel as Startup)
Mike Lin's Home Page

First link

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

K, I just tested for you two ways, and I always see AHCI BIOS installed. So it must be a BIOS glitch or something with your current BIOS, as it has to be installed for it to be loading to even show you the AHCI BIOS screen, otherwise IDE mode would be used and you would skip the AHCI BIOS screen/detection altogether.

I suggest you clear your CMOS, or do that and or flash your BIOS to a newer version (Disable Keep DMI Data) then clear the CMOS again. Then load optimized and reboot back to the BIOS and setup your RAID Settings again before loading windows.

BIOS Setting 1




BIOS settings 2




Result



I did not test with Native Mode Disabled, do you have it disabled? If so enable it and see if that fixes it, if not see my above thoughts

[froggerjohn]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

Thanks lsd, I'll try the clear tomorrow. In the meantime...

If I set the SATA control mode to AHCI, I do see the "AHCI BIOS installed" message. But in either of the RAID configurations matching your screen shots, it shows "not installed".

I do have the SATA native mode enabled.

Which BIOS version are you running? I'm using F11.

I notice that you have Azalia codec disabled, whereas mine is Auto, and I wonder if that's related to my high definition audio device that doesn't have a driver. Note that before I installed the Realtek drivers, I had two identical-looking entries of "Audio device on high definition audio bus".

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

Ahhh, well sorry! That is actually one way I did not test, in RAID mode with a RAID array setup, so that may be the key as to why you see it say that.

I wont be setting up an array on the Intel controller for a few days, but I will remember to check this when I do, but I bet that is it!

I dunno :) - X58A-UD7 F7p

I think that is it though, I see AHCI BIOS installed because I was actually in AHCI mode since there were no SATAII RAID Arrays all disks would be ran in AHCI Mode (NON-Member RAID)

I have Azalia disabled because I have my own sound card installed, so that disables the onboard Realtek.

I think you just need to install the UUA Driver again, and then get the latest Realtek driver direct from Realtek.
Realtek

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

Actually I can test this for you tomorrow, I need to setup a clean array on the Intel ports for testing and data collection for a review I am working on, so I can do that tomorrow I think.

If I do I will let ya know what I find

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

OK, tested and I find the same







So I'd suggest you go through the BIOS flash and or Clear CMOS and see if that helps.

What ports do you have your array plugged into? Should be SATAII_0 and 1

[froggerjohn]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

Okay, I've now done the following:

Clear CMOS.
Load optimized defaults.
Enable XHD, Floppy drive A, and XMP profile.
Init display PEG, disable LOGO, disable unused ports LAN2, GSATA, Serial, Parallel.

Bootup still shows AHCI BIOS not installed.

Because the system works correctly, and acebmxer reports the same behavior, I suspect that this is a small bug in the BIOS that simply displays the wrong message but otherwise does not affect performance.

Let me know if you'd like me to perform any other tests, and thanks for your help.

--
John

[Acebmxer]

Re: AHCI BIOS not installed

yes I have not notice anything other then the same you seeing. Again this only happen on my p45-ud3p. My ex58-ud5 shows AHCI BIOS installed when raid is selected.