Tutorial : How to switch from IRRT to AHCI mode - E6400/E6500 (Vista)

More updates:

After reading through this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=448066&page=4

It was recently noted that:

So if you download the latest version of intel drivers from dell or Intel's website (version 9.6 I believe) it should support trim!

To many hours spent looking this stuff up ;-)

 

I've just had another try at switching over from IRRT to AHCI while running Win 7 64 bit and this time I was successful. My procedure:

1. Download the .reg file attached to the first post of this thread and add it to the registry.

2. Download the latest Intel rapid storage driver from Intel's website and extract the contents by running the command "iata96enu.exe -a". This extracts to c:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology\.

3. Restart the computer, go into BIOS and switch the SATA mode to AHCI.

4. Windows then starts without the BSOD and installs a default AHCI driver. I then went to the AHCI in Device Manager (under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers) and updated the driver by browsing to the folder with the Intel drivers.

Rumours that IRRT carries a performance penalty may be true. WEI's HDD score has gone up from 6.8 to 6.9. SiSoftware Sandra also indicates about 8% boost in performance. However, I have yet to see evidence that TRIM is working although Sandra says it is enabled.

John

 

Hi, im sorry to sound like an idiot but I have to ask anyway, Ive checked my BIOS numerrous times and I cant seem to find any option for changing the SATA mode to AHCI. Ive updated to the latest version of the BIOS, I did this april 2010, but still I never see that option. Could some please please let me know where it is in the BIOS or at least tell me what option is before and after it so I can check to see if I have it in my BIOS or if something is missing because like I said after numerous attempts I really cant find it at all.
Thanks to anyone who might be able to help as im desperate to do this!

 

Perhaps this will help to find the option:



John

 

well, im glad its not just me being an idiot here. my bios looks like this and theres no option like yours still if anyone knows how to help it would be greatly appreciated!

 

It looks as if yours is an older mode which doesn't include all these options. However, you can look under system devices.

John

 

After several hours of trying different things, I've found a solution to using AHCI or IRRT on an E6400 running Windows 7:

You simply need to install the operating system with AHCI or IRRT enabled, but you don't seem to be able to change it once it has already been installed using SATA.

Hopefully this will help to save someone else hours of research time.

bobbyk18

 

I was able to successfully add the AHCI support to my Dell M4400 (Win7 x64 Ultimate) following the OP instructions.

Thanks for the effort!

 

Any reason the registry "fix" should work on a Dell M4500? It appears to use a QM57 chipset, not the GM45 of the M4400.

I've tried everything else to no avail.

Thanks.
-Mike

 

That looks like the old D series Bios, should be down in the Onboard devices menu.