Stuck in endless loop trying to install Dell "Intel GM45 Express Chipset Driver" for XP Pro configuration

I'm in the process of creating an XP Pro operating system install for my new Inspiron 1545, on a new SATA hard drive (taking out the original SATA hard drive from Dell with Vista preinstalled to use as separate bootup opsys which I have to reinstall to zap all the bloatware later).

Things were going really really well (I thought) with setting up my new drive with XP and I got past the problem that bites most folks (SATA hard drive not being recognized by XP install), by switching the drive in BIOS to ATA mode b4 doing the install.

I got XP completely installed & activated AOK, with only a few minor wrinkles which I was able to figure out. Applied a few simple quick tweaks to XP to make it easier for me to use (disabling autoplay, killing the search dog, setting folder views, removing stuff I don't use like Windows messenger, MSN, etc).

Then I went to install all of the necessary Dell drivers from the website for the 1545 for (in order) Intel GM45 Chipset, Video, Ethernet, Dell Quickset, Wireless, Sound, Card reader, and Alps touchpad. I had figured that stuff out already and had all the drivers copied over to the new PC ready to go.

So - As recommended by Dell (& everywhere I've read about it), I started first with the Chipset driver - called "Intel GM45", filename "R197840.exe". This I thought would do a bunch of things including give me SATA support so that I could switch my BIOS back to SATA for use in both XP and my other config (Vista).

But running that exe, it extracted it's files into a C:\INTEL directory tree & ran automatically, then told me it needed to reboot and I gave it the AOK. I wasn't sure if at that point in the reboot I would need to go into the BIOS & switch back to SATA or not b4 it booted up but I figured I would wait and see what happened first.

Well what happened is that when XP tries to load, it flashes up a blue screen with error messages (I can barely see what is written on it as it only stays on the screen for about 1 second) then goes to another screen which tells me Windows is no good (I forget the exact wording) and gives me options like trying "booting normally" anyway, or booting into safe mode....and from there I cannot boot into XP if I tell it to do that. Just takes me back to the same screen if I try - it also gives me option of going back to last known good config which works but I'll get to that in a minute.

During the cycle of rebooting not working, I thought to try going into the BIOS and setting SATA back on so I tried that but it still does the same thing. So I set it back to ATA and told it to boot to last known good config, which boots fine, and then restored to a later restore point to get back to where I was before I tried running the R197840.exe update.

I really need to get the Chipset updated - and then all the other drivers too - to get XP working right but now I'm stuck. Am wondering if anyone else has run into this???

I'm going to sleep on it but I am thinking now of trying the newer GM45 update that is on Intel's website instead of this older one from Dell but I really think that is a long shot (I had asked about that in a different thread when I was planning out what to do in the first place). Note that the driver Dell has on their website is v8.7.0.1007. The one from Intel is v8.7.1.1007.

I'm using XP Pro SP2. Also I forgot to mention, I updated my Dell BIOS to latest vA08 b4 doing anything, but don't see what that would matter.

I'm wondering if I am overlooking/not understanding something....any hints guyz/galz???

 

AHCI support doesn't come with the chipset drivers. You need to find the Intel Matrix storage drivers, which can be had from Intel or from Dell. Personally, I haven't used AHCI mode since my first installation on a SATA laptop; it doesn't give any performance benefits and it's sometimes a pain in the butt to install.

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=41&fileid=275404

Plenty of guides on how to install these things. I don't know why they can't just make it run through an installer.

 

Agree with CommanderWolf, updating the chipset drivers should not have any impact. We need to know what the error messages are; ok you can't tell us the one from the blue screen, but the one that comes up next would be handy.

 

Thanks a ton.

How did I miss that one?? Actually I think I might know how I messed up - the Dell driver download page that lists all the drivers is really javascript heavy and a pain in the butt. Trying to click on specific drivers in the big list (with right mouse/open new tab) kept bouncing me around to a different place on the screen. I was actually expanding the "+" signs to see the drivers then turning off Javascript, then going to the specific one I wanted to get things but I guess I messed up on that one. I DID get it for my VISTA rebuild but someone missed it in the XP one.

Also, wierd to note, unlike all the other Dell drivers I downloaded that have (pretty simple/useless) install instructions, that one has this - very strange:

"Custom Instructions for R197861.EXE:

custom"

That's it! No actual instructions. Just the words "custom".


As far as the chipset thing goes - Maybe I should just skip the chipset driver upgrade altogether??? I find that odd though, since every thread I've read about setting up XP (on the Dell forum and elsewhere on the 'net), says to do it, and do it first!!

Thanks again. I will report back more later. Appreciate the help.

 

Yes you should still install the chipset drivers. Typically I don't think things like the SMBus drivers are included with the OS out of the box, and installing the chipset drivers sorts that.

 

Hmmm. Well this is weird. Good though I guess.

After researching things a bit further without really getting any definitive answers, I decided to try reinstalling the exact same thing again but try to take photographs as I go to better document the screens.

But guess what? It worked this time - drivers unpacked/installed...asked to reboot. The only thing this time is that I told it NO, I will reboot later. Then I did a complete powerdown instead of a reboot. I've had success with similar freaky things like that doing a powerdown instead of reboot so figured I might as well give that a try, but not expecting it to work. To my surprise though, this time - rebooted fine.

I'm not sure where/how to look at anything to verify that the chipset update has been applied in XP ok. I assume it has but since I had that wierdness the first time I'd like to check somewhere if that is possible. Anyone know how to do that?


Switching gears - so now I am trying to install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager. Holy crap. This "update" is totally fubar. I think I know now why Dell's install instructions for this driver are nonexistent (they just say "Custom"). It's because even they can't figure it out.

This is all I understand from following it through as far as I can....please if anyone knows how to do this let me know (I am still trying to figure it out)..

(1) I ran the R197861.exe. Like with the chipset update it first unzipped itself into C:\Dell\Drivers as C:\Dell\Drivers\R197861. Unlike the chipset update which continued on running an install, this ONLY did an unzip. That created 2 different subdirs, a "f6flpy32" and a "f6flpy64". Then if I remember right brought up a Readme.txt (or maybe I opened that up manually, I 4get now).

(2) The Readme has "install instructions" which start with the words "Installation Readme for F6 Method". This in itself meant nothing to me at first but after much head scratching & research I think it is key, and I believe that this method is impossible to achieve with my 1545 (since it has no floppy drive)?? But I could be wrong and am pretty confused trying to untangle this. I'll get into what this means below.

(3) Reading further in the README it says you need to determine if you processor type is 32 or 64 bit to determine which of the 2 subdirs to use for your drivers and explains to look in the general tab of Device Manager to determine that. Well doing that doesn't actually answer that directly per se, but I know that the Intel Core 2 Duo in my PC is 64 bit so therefore I know (I hope) to use the "f6flpy64" dir.

(4) From there it says to go to the Readme.txt for the version you are using. The problem with that though is that there is no Readme.txt for either of the sudirs. And thinking about it more I realize that "f6flpy" must mean "f6" (like a function key) and "flpy" means a floppy disk. So these subdirs have something to do with an install that uses a f6 function key press at some point, and then requires you to insert a floppy disc, which is what these subdirs are, they are files you need to copy to a floppy. But of course the 1545 has no floppy drive. And I don't know what the install itself for pressing F6 would be. So I start googling around....

(5) Turns out this "Installation Readme for F6 Method" is for use when INSTALLING XP!!!!
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314859

Basically (if I understand this right) it is going back to the old central problem of installing XP on system set for SATA but XP doesn't have SATA built in, so this method let's you interrupt the XP install (pressing F6 at a specific point) to supply the install with the SATA drivers you need via a floppy drive. Which of course as us 1545 owners know we don't HAVE a floppy drive so that method doesn't work, which is why I turned the BIOS to ATA to do the install then am trying to install the SATA now AFTER THE INSTALL instead. But that is NOT FOR DOING THIS (if I understand it right).


Now, I could've done the "slipstreaming" the drivers into the XP install method for the XP install in the first place but after reading so much info all over the 'net of how just switching the drivers to ATA then doing the XP install THEN going back & adding the drivers is easier I choose to do it this way. But right now I'm finding that adding the drivers after the fact is not so clear cut.


I think there must be a way to install this now after the fact but I just don't know how to do that yet. If anyone knows please shout it out!!!!! In the meantime I will keep trying to figure it out. But if I learn that this is a deadend, I guess I can just go back to trying to make a slipstreamed install CD and install XP all over again......


I'm gonna guess at a possible answer though & would appreciate some confirmation if anyone knows.

In the f6flpy64 subdir there are 7 files. They are called:

iaahci.cat
iaAHCI.inf
iastor.cat
IaStor.inf
license.txt
TXTSETUP.OEM​

I know that you can "install" (or at least try to install) inf files by right clicking on them & selecting Install. That they are just text files with info for the installer to digest (whether they work or not in this case I dunno yet but will assume that they do). Which means to me perhaps if I knew which info to "install" maybe that would help. Or maybe I should install both? (again assuming install even works)

So i looked in each inf for clues. Also jsut the names - mentioning "AHCI" I think is what I need for my PC.

iaAHCI.inf has a section that says this:

[Strings]
DiskName = "Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver"
*PNP0600.DeviceDesc = "Intel AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2681&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ESB2 SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C1&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2821&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH8R/DH/DO SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH8M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2922&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH9R/DO/DH SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2929&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3A22&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH10R SATA AHCI Controller"​

iaStor.INF has a section that says this:

[Strings]
DiskName = "Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver"
*PNP0600.DeviceDesc = "Intel RAID Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2682&CC_0104.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ESB2 SATA RAID Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C3&CC_0104.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA RAID Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C6&CC_0104.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH7MDH SATA RAID Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2822&CC_0104.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R SATA RAID Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&CC_0104.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH8M-E/ICH9M-E SATA RAID Controller"
​

And I even opened TXTSETUP.OEM with notepad and found this:

; iaAHCI.inf
iaAHCI_ESB2 = "Intel(R) ESB2 SATA AHCI Controller"
iaAHCI_ICH7RDH = "Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA AHCI Controller"
iaAHCI_ICH7MMDH = "Intel(R) ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI Controller"
iaAHCI_ICH8RDHDO = "Intel(R) ICH8R/DH/DO SATA AHCI Controller"
iaAHCI_ICH8MEM = "Intel(R) ICH8M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller"
iaAHCI_ICH9RDODH = "Intel(R) ICH9R/DO/DH SATA AHCI Controller"
iaAHCI_ICH9MEM = "Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller"
iaAHCI_ICH10R = "Intel(R) ICH10R SATA AHCI Controller"

; iaStor.inf
iaStor_ESB2 = "Intel(R) ESB2 SATA RAID Controller"
iaStor_ICH7RDH = "Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA RAID Controller"
iaStor_ICH7MDH = "Intel(R) ICH7MDH SATA RAID Controller"
iaStor_ICH8RICH9RICH10R = "Intel(R) ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R SATA RAID Controller"
iaStor_ICH8MEICH9ME = "Intel(R) ICH8M-E/ICH9M-E SATA RAID Controller"
​

That leads me to believe that "iaAHCI.inf" is the thing I should be installing, since it is SATA support I am trying to get - not "RAID".

Does any of that guesswork make sense? Do I try to "install" just the "iaAHCI.inf" file? Do I try to install just the "iaStor.inf" file? Do I do something else altogether? Anyone know for sure???????????

Or what am I missing/overlooking??????

 

For the hell of it I decided to be adventurous and try "installing the iaAHCI.inf file. I right moused clicked on it and told it to install. Nothing appeared to happen other than the PC perhaps "blinking" for a second.

I then did a shutdown. Assuming the iaAHCI.inf did what I wanted (modified XO to give me SATA support) I then went into the BIOS and changed AHCI to SATA from ATA. Then tried to boot.

This got me into the same endless booting loop as I had earlier with the chipset update. Windows could not boot, but gave me an option to restore to last known good config. I chose that and am able to get back to Windows. Then I restored from my very last restore point (I had made other changes that I wanted back). So that is where I am now.

Still trying to figure out how to get SATA I guess....

 

It's been ages since I even tried, so I can't recall if this works, but could you not put it on a USB flash drive and pull the drivers from there during the XP installation?

 

I thought I had read somewheres (I've read so many things relating to this over the last 4 days it's all mush in my brain) that XP will ONLY read from floppies during the install - which is why people without floppy drives resort to "slipstreaming" the XP install disk to include the necessary added drivers (like for SATA support).

If I have to go that route (reinstalling XP) I might as well go the route of figuring out the whole slipstream business since that *supposedly* will work for this. Although I have no idea yet detail-wise how to do it.

Although *supposedly* this route I chose to try (setting the BIOS to ATA first, then installing XP, then installing the SATA/AHCPI drivers) was supposed to work too and be so much easier.

I just tried doing the install from INTEL's Matrix driver set rather than Dell, and that one doesn't just do this (worthless) F6 floppy unzip thing, it actually runs and tries to DO the install, but that came back and gave me an error message of something like "your system does not meet the minimum configuration to install this".

So now I am thinking that this entire driver install is based on installing it on a PC that is ALREADY set to SATA/AHCPI, for more of an update scenarios than an install scenario, and that is why it won't install on my PC (since my drives are in ATA mode, and can't be set to SATA/AHCPI until after they get the drivers or XP won't even load).

But then again, I have no real idea what I'm doing - just guessing....fun stuff (not).

Commander Wolf I think hit it on the head, jsut stay with ATA, it either is impossible to install this stuff or so difficult it is not worth the effort. Unfortunately since I will be using my PC in 2 different ways (one booting with XP drive, another booting with VISTA drive), I can't leave the BIOS as ATA without then killing the VISTA bootup, and can't leave the BIOS in SATA/AHCPI without killing the XP bootup. Unless I remember to change the BIOS one way or the other every time. Which is what I may have to settle for. Sheesh. There has GOT to be a way to do this....i'm not giving up on this yet...

 

Well I thought I just stumbled onto a way to do this but that didn't work either.

Went to device manager. Looked at the "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers". Saw 2 in the list. Don't have any idea why there are 2, called "Intel ICH9M/M-E 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 1 - 2928" and "Intel ICH9M/M-E 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 2 - 292D".

(2) Selected the first one. Right mouse clicked on "update driver". Went through the various menus to try to get it to look in the f6flpy64 dir with the INF files. No dice. One way tells me it does something (search) and asks to reboot but nothing actually changes. Then somehow stumbled onto a way to specify the exact INF to use and it gave me a device list to choose from, found a ICH9M in the list, told it to install, it warned me that it was incompatible and result in system instability or something, told it go ahead anyways, it went and - then came back and said it wouldn't install it because it was not right for my system or something (sorry i can't remember exactly what was said, and i can't even figure out how to get into that same mode again...my head is spinning from this...)

 

imho it's probably easier for you to slipstream the drivers on. Plus you then have a disk with it already done, so you don't need to mess about in the future

 

HOLY CRAP!!! I GOT IT!!!!!!

I'll post more about that later, to document it in case anyone else can benefit. Assuming this all works ok. So far looks good!

Got too much other work to do first now, on finishing the XP install.

 

Yeah I was about to do that, took a dinner break, and printed out 35 pages i had already saved about how to make a slipstream disc, adding drivers etc. I would lose a day in all the stuff I already did with setting up & figuring that out instead but at least I'd get back to where I needed (assuming I can get the other drivers installed too, which is my next step).

I figured it would take me a couple hours to digest all that (the notes, not my dinner). For example, WHICH drivers do I use? The "flp32" ones or the "flp64" ones? How does that work anyways.....then I had a thought during dinner. Although I had tried the right mouse click & "install" on all the drivers in both of those dirs (nothing happened) I didn't try the Device Manager/select one of the ATA choices, point it the flp dir for anything other than 64 bit one - which wouldn't let me do it. I didn't try that for the 32 bit one. I couldn't even remember HOW to get back to that update choice.....but I thought I would try that, just one more thing, wondering if the advice in the readme about checking if you processor was 32 vs 64 bit was just wrong, maybe it is limited by the opsys, and I am just running 32 bit XP.

Anyways, I will try to document what worked later (assuming it did work). I'd like to find out if there is any kind of testing I can do on my drive to make sure that it is running right, and fast enough etc. I will have to look into that.

Just looking in device manager now it is radically different as far as what is in there. It no longer has the 2 ATA choices; it now just says "Intel ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller".

Oh yeah, my BIOS is set back to SATA/AHCPI. Booting fine into XP. No yellow "? " warnings about the disk or DVD or controller. Even tested the DVD and it still works too. Fingers crossed.....

 

Yea the two folders are either for XP 32 or XP 64, not depending on your processor.

It's a bit odd that there wouldn't be an actual installer, though.

Messes like this is why I advocate leaving the 8 year old OS to 5 year old hardware

 

I'm thinking that the download for this that Dell put on their website is either a work in progress or just a mistake. Their installations instructions alone were a big tip that something wasn't kosher (all it says is the word "custom")!

I 4get if I mentioned it or not above but I also tried Intel's own download for the same exact version of the Matrix Storage Manager, which was packaged as an Installer/executable. It wouldn't work though (gave me message at the end something like "your PC is not compatible with this" and exited). I then found a log for that installer on the hard drive and in the end it has errors that say things like "OS not Vista", "Windows version=WINXPSP2, No INFs found that match the active devices on the system". I'm not sure why it bombed like that though, because the readme for that says it is for XP versions too. Maybe Dell tried to use that and had the same problem so they put up this other wierd "F6" install thing instead, but are still working on figuring out how to actually install it & document it.

At this point I'm ecstatic I lucked into figuring it out the way I did it, and am wondering what would have happened if I tried the slipstream method. I'm sure I would have run into similar confusion trying to get that to work too.

wise man ;-)