Slipstreaming my freaking sata drivers

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{NG}Fidel

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
6,284
So I have been at this for hours now and I dont know what I am doing wrong.
I have the rig in my sig and my main OS Hard Drive Died.
And it has really sucked and I hate it.
I dont have a copy of Vista for my main rig so I just use my XP Pro.
How do I slip stream using n-lite?
is it the best program?
just help me out guys please.
 
yes nlite is the best for this. download the latest southbridge driver for your mobo and integrate it using nlite
 
I had one hell of a hard time slipstreaming AHCI/SATA drivers for my old AMD690/SB600 mobo. Basically it took a full day and about 5 failed attempts to figure it out and it involved editing .inf files and all sorts of stuff. With Intel, you just use nLite and you're done, it's very easy and you don't have to take the driver apart.

If you have the possibility at all, try to find an old floppy drive and create a SATA driver floppy disk instead. Or switch to IDE emulation mode, or install Vista.

Here's my post from the Asus support forum from back then.. not sure if the procedure has changed since then:

Anyway, the reason the driver wouldn't integrate is becaue the txtsetup.oem file was missing. It's supposed to be in the same folder as the .inf, .cat and .sys files. On the Asus installation CD, the txtsetup.oem file is located one folder level "up" from those files.

The folder \Drivers\Chipset\AHCI\XP\ contains the txtsetup.oem file. Then there are two folders, x64 and x86, each with its own set of .inf, .cat and .sys files.

Simply moving the txtsetup.oem file to the x86 folder won't work. The beginning of the file contains references to these subfolders:
[Disks]
disk0 = "ATI AHCI Compatible RAID Controller Driver Diskette", \ahcix86, \
disk1 = "ATI AHCI Compatible RAID Controller Driver Diskette", \ahcix86, \x86
disk2 = "ATI AHCI Compatible RAID Controller Driver Diskette", \ahcix64, \x64

They are refered to again a few lines down:
[Files.SCSI.Napa_i386_ahci8086]
inf = disk1, ahcix86.inf
driver = disk1, ahcix86.sys, ahcix86
catalog = disk1, ahcix86.cat

("disk1" is a reference to the /x86 folder)
Click to expand...

Ok, I finally got it to work. In case anyone else needs to do this in the future, here's how I got it to work:
Don't bother with the 166MB "ATI Chipset Program Driver" download. While it contain some other useful drivers, you don't need them until after you've installed XP.

Instead, insert your Asus drivers CD that came with the motherboard. Navigate to \Drivers\Chipset\AHCI\XP

Copy the x86 folder to e.g. c:\. Also copy the txtsetup.oem into c:\x86\

Open txtsetup.oem (the copy in c:\x86\) in Notepad.


Under [Disks], you have this line:
disk1 = "ATI AHCI Compatible RAID Controller Driver Diskette", \ahcix86, \x86

change it to:
disk1 = "ATI AHCI Compatible RAID Controller Driver Diskette", \ahcix86, \

Then delete the line "disk2 = "ATI AHCI Compatible RAID Controller Driver Diskette", \ahcix64, \x64"

Delete this entire section:
[Files.SCSI.Napa_amd64_ahci]
inf = disk2, ahcix64.inf
driver = disk2, ahcix64.sys, ahcix64
catalog = disk2, ahcix64.cat

Scroll down, and you have a big section beginning with:
[HardwareIds.SCSI.Napa_amd64_ahci]
id = "PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4380&SUBSYS_E0361631", "ahcix64"
id = ...
id = ...

Delete that entire section. *MAKE SURE* you delete the correct section. The section above it also contains alot of "id =..." lines, but they end with "ahcix86" instead of "ahcix64". You need to keep that section intact as it's for the x86 driver.

Also, at the end of the file, delete:
[Config.ahcix64]
value = "", Tag, REG_DWORD, 1

Tidy up the file a bit - leave only one empty line between sections, and remove any blank lines at the end of the file.

Now you can use nLite to slipstream the drivers normally. It will recognize the AHCI driver as a "Text-mode" driver, and a window will pop up where you can select the driver (there's only one driver to select from in the pop-up window). Then just create a bootable image and burn it with Nero (the built-in burn feature in nLite causes a coaster on my system every time). This part is really very easy and self explanatory. Now you can safely reboot, change SATA mode to AHCI (or probably RAID too if you want), and re-install Windows.

If you're one of the 18 people in the world that runs XP x64, you can probably use the same method to slipstream the x64 driver instead.

Now, instead of mutliple "Primary IDE Channel", my device manager only shows the P-ATA channels under "IDE/Atapi". The AHCI Compatible Raid controller shows up under SCSI and RAID. I haven't yet checked to see if NCQ and the higher burst speeds work, but I assume they will.
Click to expand...
 
I shall try thank you all for the advice, I hope this doesnt come to floppys.
 
So I tried guys I did everything I even made extra copies of XP with SP3 on them.
But nothing I got nothing.
And every time I boot with Legacy IDE mode on I get the whole freaking BS of windows can not be installed on this hard drive.
Which is retarded cause I formated the damn thing.
UGH.
 
{NG}Fidel said:
So I tried guys I did everything I even made extra copies of XP with SP3 on them.
But nothing I got nothing.
And every time I boot with Legacy IDE mode on I get the whole freaking BS of windows can not be installed on this hard drive.
Which is retarded cause I formated the damn thing.
UGH.
Click to expand...

Install Vista :)
 
Assuming there isn't anything on the drive, wipe it, put the SATA controller in legacy mode, and install XP, Especially if this is an Intel chipset, you shouldn't need drivers.
 
I covered all this in the post I made, as well as the guide I wrote that I linked to in my post. Sheesh... why ask questions if you're going to dismiss the answers that provide the info you're asking about?
 
{NG}Fidel said:
So I tried guys I did everything I even made extra copies of XP with SP3 on them.
But nothing I got nothing.
And every time I boot with Legacy IDE mode on I get the whole freaking BS of windows can not be installed on this hard drive.
Which is retarded cause I formated the damn thing.
UGH.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about changing the SATA mode in the BIOS from AHCI to Legacy? This what I was going to suggest but I'm not clear on your meaning here.

Furthermore I've had some problems with XP SP3 and I recommend creating an install disk with SP2 instead and adding in SP3 later after things have installed correctly.
 
Ok I used nlite and nothing worked.
I am pulling the drivers from my Gigabyte mobo CD.
I did all the editing to those files the way it claims I am supposed to.
That didnt work.
Putting SP3 didnt work. Trying to do them together didnt work.
I am only begining with this user guide on how to that you linked beforeand ill report on if that works or not.
Heres hoping.
 
Like I said above, if you can't do it with the guide I wrote, forget it. It's step by step, tells you what to look for, how to determine the precise driver you need and slipstream it for your specific controller and then make the CD. It's long, it's wordy, but it works - and I've got over 2,000 emails from successful and happy slipstreams because of it. :D
 
Im working with that guide now and yes the bios is set to ACHI.
Crossing my fingers here.
 
Sata.jpg

I come up with two diffrent files when I choose select multiple Drivers.
They look right sinces its pnp and text mode but Im curious as to what you think.
 
You only need the TXT mode driver to slipstream, the PNP will come along for the ride.
 
Ok so remove the pnp driver burn the CD and attempt to install windows?
And this should all work as long as I managed to grab the correct Sata Drivers, yes?
 
All you have to do is choose Single driver, on the list that appears, choose the proper controller (not too difficult in your case) and then choose the TXT drive (you choose it by highlighting it and then click OK).

That's it.
 
Nope no need to worry.
I just checked on my main machine and its working now.
Detected dem drives and installing XP.
I will be the 2,001st person to thank Joe Average!
 
you could have saved loads of time by simply changing the AHCI option in your BIOS to IDE

You wouldn't have needed to do anything else
 
Ya I've been having the same problem trying to get our XP image to work on the new HP dc7900's. With the HDD mode set to AHCI I get iaStor.sys errors even if I slipstream it into the CD w/ nLite or using F6 and a floppy. Win XP will install, OS will run, but is unstable. Still trying to figure out a solution for use with sysprep. If you change the HDD mode in the BIOS to IDE everything works fine (which I'm trying to avoid). Pain in the butt.
 
vabch22 said:
Ya I've been having the same problem trying to get our XP image to work on the new HP dc7900's. With the HDD mode set to AHCI I get iaStor.sys errors even if I slipstream it into the CD w/ nLite or using F6 and a floppy. Win XP will install, OS will run, but is unstable. Still trying to figure out a solution for use with sysprep. If you change the HDD mode in the BIOS to IDE everything works fine (which I'm trying to avoid). Pain in the butt.
Click to expand...

You have the wrong drivers slipstreamed, been there, done that, a few hundred times as I figured out how to get the shit done right the first time, as that guide I wrote explains in all too many words. :) People always choose the Multi-driver option during the initial slipstreaming and that's incorrect: you choose Single-driver and pick only the TXT Mode driver, as I said above, and the PNP driver will be installed by default after the installation.

By choosing the PNP driver (as the selection, highlighted), you're trying to install the PNP mode driver for the TXT mode portion of setup which doesn't pan out well - it will allow for the install, but it's not the right driver so you end up having issues later on. It's just backwards, if that makes more sense. You need to choose the TXT Mode driver which pulls the PNP one along for the ride, not PNP pulling the TXT one.

Hope this helps...
 
Ahhhhh.. makes total sense. I'll redo it again, 3rd times a charm. Thanks for the info! I could kick myself in the ass right about now. Want my job? :p
 
vabch22 said:
Ahhhhh.. makes total sense. I'll redo it again, 3rd times a charm. Thanks for the info! I could kick myself in the ass right about now. Want my job? :p
Click to expand...

I'm retired, long time now, thanks.

Virginia Beach... I'm guessing that's where you're from or living because of the nick, I'm from P-town myself, now living in Vegas... had to get the hell outta Virginia once and for all. :D
 
Vegas? Lucky. :D Yea I don't blame you. I'd leave here too if I had a job elsewhere that made it worth my while. The beach has gone down hill over the years. I don't know why people come to vaca here anymore. So many other better options out there... like Vegas ha.

I don't feel so bad now. I did use textmode before, never changed it from the default. I redownloaded the iaStor and iaAHCI drivers again for the fun of it.
 
FYI - I used textmode before, but I chose the multiple driver option rather than the single. When I chose single and slipstreamed the driver windows installed the sys file correctly.

Thanks for your help!
 
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