# AHCI BIOS not installed, BSOD



## patcaton (Aug 16, 2008)

With my new computer build, I was experiencing periodic freezes and BSODs, but only when doing very intensive tasks such as video games or compiling homemade movies with Adobe Premiere. For regular tasks such as word processing, surfing the web...no problems at all. I noticed that the following line appears on the screen immediately after startup, just below the list of identified hard drives: "AHCI BIOS not installed". I'm running two SATA drives, but not in a RAID configuration. Intel's own advice is to keep their RAID controller in RAID mode with SATA drives, even if you aren't using RAID, as this enables both AHCI and RAID, and will allow you to switch to RAID in the future. 

Hmm. When I built the system, I slipstreamed the RAID driver into the windows install using nLite. Intel's support service thinks this "AHCI BIOS not installed" line is a problem, and first suggested I just reinstall the OS, making sure to include AHCI drivers as well as RAID drivers. Then, when I pushed them, they said this wouldn't work, and told me to replace the mobo.

I'm confused. Fist, how can a operating system install affect what is, or is not, installed in the BIOS? (Why would reinstalling the OS with any driver affect the AHCI BIOS being installed or not?) Certainly, I've flashed the latest BIOS updates, so it's current. Has anyone else seen this "AHCI BIOS not installed" line? I've found a few instances on the web, but they all seem tied to much more constant BSOD, and typically due to setting the BIOS drive configuration to IDE when it should be RAID/AHCI or some combination. I'm pretty sure I have that set to Intel's specs. Just seems curious that my whole mobo is just bad, and I don't want to replace unless I have to. Any ideas?

Details:
Win XP Pro
Intel DP35DP mobo
Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66 GHz
2x1GB OCZ 5-5-5 DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro
WD 320 GB and 500 GB RE2 enterprise drives, non-RAID


----------



## manic (Aug 2, 2005)

I would dump that board. Ahci is for ide devices. Intel telling you to
leave raid enabled, even though you are not in a raid array sounds 
flakey to me.


----------



## patcaton (Aug 16, 2008)

Huh?

From Intel's website:

"The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) specification describes the register-level interface for a Host Controller for Serial ATA. The specification includes a description of the hardware/software interface between system software and the host controller hardware."

I'll admit, I'm no expert on AHCI, but everything I've read suggests it is for SATA, not IDE. I'm just trying to figure out how and why the "AHCI BIOS not installed" message appears, and if it really is an issue (i.e. should I be looking someplace else for a problem), and how to get rid of this message if it is a problem. I just find it hard to believe that the entire mobo is fouled up if it is working fine most of the time.


----------



## manic (Aug 2, 2005)

You are right. Im confused with the ich8 achi driver.,which I thought
was for ide, and read where ich8 doesnt support ide. Disregard
my other post.


----------



## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

manic said:


> You are right. Im confused with the ich8 achi driver.,which I thought
> was for ide, and read where ich8 doesnt support ide. Disregard
> my other post.


ICH8 does support IDE, does support SATA, but does not support AHCI or RAID.


----------



## patcaton (Aug 16, 2008)

I think magnethead wanted more info, not sure if that was part of the post or not--but just in case:

Details:
Win XP Pro
Intel DP35DP mobo
Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66 GHz
2x1GB OCZ 5-5-5 DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512 MB DDR2
480 W PS (ATI recommends only >400 W for this PCI-e card)
WD 320 GB and 500 GB RE2 enterprise drives, non-RAID

Anyone else have any insights into the "AHCI BIOS not installed" message?


----------



## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

patcaton said:


> I think magnethead wanted more info, not sure if that was part of the post or not--but just in case:
> 
> Details:
> Win XP Pro
> ...


my post was for insight- i had the same deal on my 965P-DS3. Your ICH8 doesnt support AHCI at all, nor RAID. It only supports IDE, and SATA in IDE mode. Basically, It supports IDE and IDE. IT doesnt support the true SATA 1.5/3.0 protocol.


----------

