AHCI problem?

I have the np2096 by sager and recently I got the BSOD. Having experience with BSOD and not wanting to take chances I decided it was time to reformat my computer. After doing so, I've been having problems starting my laptop. When I power it on, it leads to a menu titled "AHCI Tools" and it gives me the option to disable or enable AHCI mode. I can't figure out how to get past this and the only way I can use my computer is by going to the boot menu as soon as I power on my laptop, and starting the OS from there.
Anyone know what kind of problem this is, and how to fix it?
Thanks.

 

Hi, I never had that option come up and I've reinstalled Win XP loads of times on my laptop. At the moment I dual boot Win 7 and Win XP from two separate drives, and didn't get that for my Win 7 installation either. I don't think XP has native AHCI support (i.e. drivers), but Vista and Win 7 does.

What OS did you install?

Not sure what real use AHCI really has (hard drive hot swapping - not a good idea on a laptop). If it helps my BIOS configuration has three options (in this order): Normal, RAID, and AHCI.

My Phoenix BIOS config is set to Normal. It has always been this way. I'm guessing normal mode is SATA as Enhanced IDE / IDE emulation mode.

Personally I think you should disable the AHCI mode as a lot of articles say it isn't really necessary. I don't have AHCI mode enabled and everything is fine. Some say it provides a performance increase, others say it actually decreases performance. For a normal user I think it could actually give a performance decrease. Apparently once you make the choice to enable or disable AHCI you can't change it (without registry modifications) as it will cripple your OS. At worse it means you have to reinstall the OS. No big deal if this is a fresh install anyway.

Read this forum thread:

AHCI, can someone explain? - Windows 7 Forums

There are loads of other information out there as well: (e.g.)

Tech ARP - SATA AHCI Mode

and

SATA AHCI Mode Bios Setting. What Does it do? | TechMetica

I am curious as to why this option came up for you though. Maybe if Vista or Win 7 is installed as the only OS? I've only had Win 7 with XP, and XP was on first.

 

I have only vista home premium 64 on my laptop but this has never occurred before in all my reformatting history with this laptop. if i disable it how do I get out of the menu after. The ACHI tools menu sort of looks like the command prompt on any windows os. Is there any way to change my hard drive to normal mode?
Thanks for the help Techno

 

A few questions:

Did the installation finish? Is Vista installed?

When do you get the prompt, before or after the BIOS screen?

Can you get into BIOS (F2 during the BIOS' load screen)?

Is the installation CD still in the drive?

Can you describe the "AHCI tools menu"?

 

1. Yes Vista is installed
2. the prompt comes after the bios screen. I press f12 for boot menu and load hard drive from there.
3. Can get into Bios
4. Installation cd is out.
5. It is just a black screen titled ACHI tools. and it says "execute 'ahci_dis.exe' to disable ahci mode or 'ahci_en.exe' to enable ahci mode."
no matter which one i do it still leaves me at same screen.

 

Do you have more than one hard drive, if so were they in RAID config before the new installation?

I can think of three options:

(1) Go into BIOS and go to the "Advanced" menu at the top. See what it says at the " SATA mode: " option. There should be three, Normal, RAID, and AHCI. If it is not on "Normal" then change it to this. Go to "Exit and Save changes". Reboot and see what happens if you actually changed it. Do not change any other options. If you think you have made a mistake, go to "Exit and discard changes" and start at the beginning.

(2) Put your Vista installation cd in and see if it goes to the repair option. If it does, then repair and see if that fixes it.

(3) Re-install vista, formatting your OS hard drive before hand.

 

When I go into BIOS I am missing all my tabs except the Basic and Exit tab.
Also shows product name and serial number as n/a.
Added a picture.
Does that mean theres a problem with my hard drive. Is there a way to change my hard drive setting without BIOS.

 

To tell you the truth I was a bit shocked when I saw your BIOS screen picture. I thought you may have corrupted BIOS or something. The Phoenix BIOS for my laptop has has about five menus with numerous options in each.

However, do not worry as I did a bit of research on the sager np2096, and this is normal for this model. It inherently has restricted BIOS. So I don't think you have a hard drive problem.

The first thing to note is your Sager np2096 is actually a rebranded Compal JHL90 laptop. Your BIOS version is v1.04, but can go up to v1.17 (it may include more BIOS functions).

It seems a few people who own this model have had AHCI problems as well, some of which were also related to formatting their hard drive and reinstalling the OS.

It looks as though you'll have to download the Compal AHCI disable/enable Tools and save them on a CD or USB stick. Boot up with CD or USB stick in, and then use the "ahci_dis.exe" or "ahci_en.exe" command when the DOS prompt comes up. It seems you need this program to be able to utilise either command.

Check here for the Compal AHCI tools:

Welcome to Compal Driver Download Site!

It's a strange site, but click on the folder, top right of page. Open the Bios folder, and click on the JHL90 icon. At the top you'll see "AHCI Tools". Open that folder and there is one entry (JHXXX_AHCI.zip), download that. Inside are separate "AHCI enable" and "AHCI disable" programs + readme file.

Note: There are loads of drivers and other stuff here for your model if you need it. It also seems to have JHL90 BIOS v1.17 (yours is v1.04), that's a lot of changes. When you resolve your AHCI issue I would research flashing your BIOS to this newer version.

Check out these threads from people with similar problems. Most relevant first.

Compal forum (this site):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...jhl90-vista-home-premium-oem-please-help.html

(note in the below, that post #2 has a link to the file needed, but this seems specifically for XP 32bit. USE file from the Compal link I provided).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/compal/329692-jhl90-disable-ahci.html

(External site):

(np2096 BIOS features. Fourth post down. That guy has boot order options as well, probably because he has slightly newer BIOS)

Sager NP2096 Features Sager and Clevo Question

Hope this helps some.

 

The first link seemed as if it had everything i needed but when i tried loading the program, it would say that it is not compatible with 64 bit. Happens again when I try to install the BIOS.
I tried the third link with the same luck, incompatible.
Should i just reinstall vista with x86 just so I could get these programs to work.
Vista: Should I Install 64-bit or 32-bit Version? (x64 vs x86) | Microsoft Vista | Tech-Recipes
The post seems outdated but maybe using 64 bit is the problem?
I dunno cause I'm not too tech savy.

 

First tell me what you did so I can understand where you are, at the moment.

Are you saying that when you tried to run the AHCI tools program(s) that it said it was incompatible?

Also, are you saying that you tried to flash your BIOS?

The AHCI Tools are not BIOS. The BIOS is in the BIOS folder (latest version is labelled JHXXX117.zip). Flashing the BIOS is not reliant on the OS installed (i.e. whether it is 64bit or 32bit), it's actually stored on a CMOS chip on the laptop motherboard.

Try and fix the AHCI first before doing anything else. It is possible that you will have to install Vista x32bit (x86) first to get Tools to work.

 

I think your problem is all these are run from a dos prompt from a boot disk not directly in windows.

 

yah i tried to run the AHCI program and it said it was incompatible.
I'll try to do the usb method and see if it works.

 

The way I understand it smjx824 is not in the OS when the AHCI Tools prompt comes up. From what I read I think this prompt is in DOS, however it should not say that the program he is trying to run is 64bit incompatible. It depends on how the AHCI program is trying to enable or disable AHCI.

The AHCI Tools program(s) may not compatible with the installed 64bit OS it has detected if it needs to alter it in some way, remove or add drivers?

@ smjx824 :

What are you using the USB method for? Are you updating your BIOS first? If you are be careful what you are flashing or you'll brick your whole laptop.

 

Didnt you say that I should download the Compal AHCI tool, put it on a usb, and try running it through BIOS to disable it. I dunno but thats how I read it.

 

No I said:

I didn't say to go into BIOS. Put your usb stick in, reboot, and when you get to the prompt (this should be the DOS propmt) asking you to enable or disable AHCI. Type in the appropriate command: "ahci_dis.exe" or "ahci_en.exe" to run either the disable OR the enable AHCI program on the stick.

Are there any drive letters before the prompt (C, D etc.)?

I'm not sure if the usb or cd has to be bootable as it seems that you are already at the DOS prompt. However the USB may have to be DOS structured to be read. I have no idea. It may be worth asking in the Compal forum or PM'ing those guys that were in the thread links I posted for advice. I've never had this AHCI prompt before.

EDIT: Thinking about it, if you make a bootable USB and put AHCI Tools on it, then it will take you to the DOS prompt anyway. Then you can run the program from there. It should have the same effect as going to the AHCI Tools prompt. I think you will need to have a bootable USB either way. I think