SATA driver for Asus M70VM that works wih XP install disk?

Hi guys

I am trying to install XP and I have used nLite to put what I think is the correct SATA driver into the XP installation disk image and burnt it.

But when I come to install XP it gets part way through the setup screens before giving me the option to install (the parts where it loads all the drivers it needs) and then BSODs on me, currently I don't have the error code it gives so I can't post that but I'll get that shortly when I try to install XP again (after I've done a full factory re-install to solve the slight sound issue I'm having with Vista...) and use google to see if I can find out why it's BSODing or post here if I get no joy with google (which is most likely).

Anyway my question is this - how do I find out if I have the correct SATA driver?

I'm finding Vista won't run Race 07/GTR Evolution properly (it seem sluggish even in lowest res/settings) so I think I'll be better off using XP instead so thanks in advance for any advice/help on this.

 

Is the BSOD code 0x0000007A or 0x0000007B? If not, it's likely something other than SATA drivers.
Either way, here are the drivers you need: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...&OSFullName=Windows* XP Professional&lang=eng
You have an Intel Mobile PM45 chipset.

 

Thank Hep! the exact code is 0x0000007B (0xF78D2524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

So yes it probably is the SATA driver then, I'll dl the one you've linked me to and slipstream those and see how it goes.

Thanks, much appreciated. I'm having a nightmare with Vista atm due to a stupid problem with the realtek soundcard and games not running as they should even with new video drivers, hopefully I will be able to get XP installed and be happily gaming in due course...

 

Do you know if your optical drive is IDE or SATA? I've seen issues resulting from installing XP on systems with SATA drives as well, though my solution was to install from a USB optical, didn't want to mess with installing two sets of SATA drivers.

 

Good question. I actually don't know, it's an Optiarc blue ray drive?

 

My F8Sn has DVD and card reader hooked on IDE. I think M70 DVD has IDE connection.
Secondly, I think OP does not need SATA driver update. In BIOS he has to change HD mode from enhanced for VISTA to advanced for XP (or opposite?)

 

Here is the SATA driver:

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/16759/eng/f6flpy32_85.zip

 

Thanks for the tips guys, they have been most helpful.

I changed the SATA option in the BIOS to compatible and I now have XP installing...

I take it I don't need to change it back to get Vista working though?

Just hope the same sound issue I'm having (thread here) isn't present and that all the drivers install ok.

As for Asus tech support, well their phone line is useless here in the UK (I called them about the sound issue).

Fantastic laptop though, performance wasn't quite what I was expecting but I think that's more down to Vista (even though it has SP1) than the CPU/GPU...

Anyway thanks again guys, hopefully I'll be ok from here.

 

Good luck (10 characters min limit)

 

Noooooooo, then his drive will be functioning at ATA speed (100mbps) not SATA (3.0gbps). Plus he won't be able to take advantage of AHCI functions on the drive like power saving. This is the easy way out, and you will pay for it with a hit on system performance. Unfortunately, once you install an OS with one setting, you must keep this setting for that OS.

 

That is not speed, that is bandwidth Hep!, and no mechanical drive is so fast that the ATA/100 bandwidth would bottleneck its performance.
AHCI will just provide a mild boost in R/W rates due to NCQ, plus some useless SATA features.

 

Yeah I know that's bandwidth... and hopefully you're not serious. There is a noticeable difference in throughput between SATA 3.0 and SATA 150 even, let alone SATA 3.0 and ATA 100...

I wouldn't call those SATA features useless either.

 

This features are not useless, they are gimmicky.

SATA100 and SATA1.5 are the same, SATA3 is a next step that can give a performance boost when run SCSI which is not the case for notebooks for now.

 

There is no such thing as SATA 100. If he used proper drivers instead of compatibility mode, he WOULD be running the device in what you are calling "SCSI"

Your ignorance is showing

 

The real speed/bandwidth of ATA/100 is 100MB/s and that of SATA1 is 150MB/s and the fastest mechanical drive ATM is the 320GB 7200.3 with a max read rate of 88MB/s. (Let alone SATA2)


EDIT: BTW, OP can switch b/w AHCI and IDE, even after the OS installation. (It'll only improve the Burst Rate)

 

Maybe the fastest throughput on laptop drives is under 100MB/s, I was not under this impression though. AHCI still provides other benefits.

As for switching, NO, HE CANNOT. His computer will BSOD if he tries to boot until he switches back. OP, please do this and report results.

 

OP just needs to download the SATA driver, install it manually in place of the legacy Serial ATA controller (In Device Manager) and reboot. Change to AHCI in the BIOS; and boot.

And the only 'performance' advantage provided by AHCI is that of NCQ and turbo-memory, which provides a performance increase for some, and sometimes a decrease for others.

 

I am still fairly certain that this is wrong. I'm not the first to claim that switching drive controller modes requires a reformat.

 

Ok, to the point.
http://forums.techarena.in/windows-xp-support/936428.htm

I guess OP's notebook has the ICH9-M Southbridge, so I tried finding something more precise.

 

It doesn't really hurt slipstreaming the AHCI drivers, or installing the drivers via F6, but just for the heck of it -> Here is a more ' comprehensive' guide....

 

Nice, I always wanted to find out how to do that and was too lazy to do the sifting through the Google results. Thanks, Andy. Bookmarked that link.