BSOD when trying to install Win XP Pro on Sager NP2090/IFL90

Hey guys, hope most of you have received your NP2090's. If not, keep waiting! They'll get here soon enough.

Anyways, I just received mine today. It looks great. But I'm already running into a problem. I ordered my NP2090 without an OS since I already have Windows XP Pro. What I did was turn on laptop (connected to AC Adapter), go into the setup menu, change boot order to CD drive first, and then exit and save, then popped in Windows XP CD, pressed any button to boot from disk, and let the Windows XP Setup thing work it's magic. But when I waited for it to finish loading setup files, it finally gets to a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Thinking this is just a one time thing, i try everything again and still get to the same place.

Do I need to update my BIOS or something (it's version 1.09)? Or did I do something wrong in the process of installing my OS? I would sure love to get this solved...

Thanks!

 

That's because XP shipped before SATA drives were invented. You're going to need to disable AHCI in the bios, temporarily. Or you could add the driver to the CD, but that's a bit more complicated (and requires a second machine!).

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host_Controller_Interface

 

the thing is, AHCI is already disabled when I checked it in the BIOS. I heard something about slipstreaming here on the forums, but didn't know exactly for what. Am I going to have to download some driver to fix this problem and slipstream it into my Windows XP Pro CD? If so, where would I download this driver?

 

jeez, I just saw the instructions for slipstreaming, it's a crapload of steps. I should've just paid the extra $$ to have the OS installed, I didn't know it was going to be this difficult installing Windows XP on to my NP2090....

are you sure there isn't another way? or am I doing something wrong. It can't be this hard to install XP....

 

I didn't think the lack of SATA support caused bluescreens. I thought it just failed to show the hard drive as an installation target.

Can you post the details of the bluescreen? There should be a stop code (starting with "0x"), possibly a driver name (<name>.sys), and possibly four other numbers in parentheses. It'd help us know what's actually going on. Bluescreens can indicate a lot of things, including driver bugs, hardware failures, and operating system bugs.

 

oops i actually did copy it down at first, forgot to post it:

Technical Information

Stop : 0x0000007E

(0xC0000005, 0xF786a0BF, 0xF7CB6208, 0xF7Cb5F08)

pci.sys - address F786A0BF base at F7863000, Datestamp 3b7d855c

 

Which causes bluescreens

Slipstreaming really isn't that big a deal - yes it looks complicated, but if you follow the instructions it should work.

Double check the AHCI setting though, is there an 'IDE-mode' or something like that? Or is it just straight On/Off?

 

it's just Enable/Disable

 

If the NP2090 uses a standardized, intel, chipset should there be SATA drivers for it somewhere? I'll look.

edit: nada

 

Darn.

The problem is (probably) going to be loading them, without slipstreaming. IIRC, the XP install program doesn't load USB drivers, and the only other option is floppy! By all means try using USB, I could easily be wrong, but slipstreaming may be your only option...

 

Isn't another option to get a USB floppy drive and copy the SATA drivers onto a floppy disk?

 

so will using a USB floppy drive to load the SATA drivers definately work? i'm surprised no one else has had problems with installing Windows XP Pro on their systems yet. i don't want to waste money (no idea how much they cost though, will check right now) and more time if the USB floppy option doesn't work. I'm already flustered that i can't use my NP2090 since I finally got it! I should've just coughed up the extra $80 for XP Home to be preinstalled. Just wondering, would the people at Sager have had to done the same thing as me?

 

for all this trouble you have a couple options -
figure out slipstreaming.. something I was too lazy to do
go and buy a floppy usb.. i was too cheap
just get vista... but since u already have xp and i personally hate vista atm.. i would go for the floppy or slipstreaming..

btw the BSoD is NOT caused by the SATA drive unless you installed successfully and THEN reenabled AHCI without the proper drivers being installed first

 

thats the reason I went no OS in the first place, easier for me to use while in college and I don't really like Vista yet. The slipstream process looks a little tough and although I have downloaded nLite, SP2, Windows NET 2.0, I don't feel like going through with it.....

but if the USB floppy will work, I'm going to go out and buy one before the stores close. Sorry, but exactly why SATA driver am I suppose to download to copy onto the floppy? Also, will the laptop recognize the USB floppy drive? And if it does, do I just operate it the same same as if I was installing Windows XP Pro from a CD (boot from USB floppy drive in the boot order?)

thanks for all the help everyone.

 

The USB floppy *might* work. I have no experience with them, I just slipstream the install. They're pretty expensive for something that you're not going to using much though...

 

I can't find the drivers at all. Where are they located?

 

bleh i've decided to install Windows Vista Ultimate since my friend has the CD and I'm picking it up tomorrow. Easier than slipstreaming and cheaper than buying a one time use USB floppy drive.

but Vista is guaranteed to work, right? I hope my BSOD isn't because of a hardware problem, because i'll be plenty mad!

 

The drivers are available all over the forums. Look for threads relating to drivers.

As to Vista, plenty of people have installed it so far, so it should work fine.

 

The drivers for the SATA are not located on any thread. I checked the sager website and I cannot find the drivers for the sata either. I would like to know this as well as I am getting my laptop tommorow and I am almost positive i am going to have this problem as well.

 

Ha.
See, I'm shipping my 9260 back to Sager for a similar problem. It won't let me install XP completely either. Tried nLite, but it didn't work. Tried using a floppy for RAID drivers, it got past a few steps, then f'd up too.

 

ayyy i'll just install Vista Ultimate then.... no one seems to have issues installing Vista on the NP2090's...

is this a problem with all new SATA HDD laptops w/ no OS installed?

 

er... well no has issues with installing vista... once it's installed... that's a whole diff story! lol. it's causing a whole whackload of problems, especially my audio and video drivers, which I've been getting from bizcom and sager... both end up screwing up somehow.. Nvidia's control panel is the biggest issue.. it keeps disappearing

 

both the 32bit and 64bit versions?

 

i've only tried 32 bit and it seems like it's a rare issue... i've tried googling and anybody else who's had this problem had it fixed in one reinstall... i'm not 2 sure why mine is recurring..

 

well seeing as how getting XP Pro on my NP2090 will be hard, I have no choice but to try out Vista. Fortunately, its the 32bit version which should be a lot more stable for programs and drivers than 64 bit. I already downloaded most of the important and miscellaneous drivers soley from Sager and loaded them up on a flash drive. i'll be sure to update how the drivers hold up once I get Vista Ultimate installed. Im praying for no BSOD.....

 

Did anyone else who tried this also have the same problem? There were other threads with similar problems of installing XP, but switching the AHCI bios setting seemed to solve them. (I'm assuming they had no other problems since the threads kind of just...died) Maybe its just a specific issue with your system?

 

i have xp on mines and i had no problems getting it to install. although i did slipstream sp2 and updates

 

Hi icecubez189,

I was reading about your plight, so I decided to register to help you out a little. To easily slipstream a service pack into Windows XP/2000/2003, all you need is a nifty little program called AutoStreamer ( Link).

To use AutoStreamer, download the program, as well as the XP Service Pack 2 Redistributable ( Link). Now all you need is a copy of XP and a blank CD, the software is pretty straightforward from there!

Hope this helps.

 

Slipstreaming is nice too because after you get the disc made, you dont ever have to download and install SP2 on the notebook, so you're spending extra time on the front end and saving it on the back end.

 

actually I'm using 64 bit version right now and finding it wayy more stable and I'm pretty sure it's slightly faster for a couple of things too. The driver thing isn't a huge issue since its a laptop and I usually go with official drivers anyways

 

According to Sager support, when they install XP on he 2090s, they just disable the AHCI option instead of getting the driver from an external floppy drive. To install XP with AHCI enabled, you will need an external floppy drive with the driver on it. The driver should be located on the driver disk that came along with the computer.

 

even with AHCI disabled, I still get BSOD

 

Well, wouldn't this be an option?

Just go download a "backup" copy of XP off "one of those sites", which would be legal because you already have your own product key anyway - just burn the .iso file and install using that CD which has SP2 already in it, if you dont want to deal with slipstreaming

 

Don't most stores/sites sell XP Pro w/sp2 already on them?