358 replies to this topic

[ludacrisvp]

Update October 5, 2011

Based on the post quoted below it should be able to use the information below to enable AHCI for Linux machines. As I don't have this laptop to test anything nor the spare time to attempt to make the changes blindly I will not be able to provide assistance for this.
It should enable AHCI for the nVidia controller based MacBooks that have MCP79 SATA controllers.

mrlinux, on Oct 3 2011, 05:22 AM, said:

NVIDIA MCP79 SATA access mode:

setpci -d 10de:0ab5 9c.b=06

tested on 17" MBP 5,2 (mid 2009), works with linux

before:
00:0b.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP79 SATA Controller (rev b1)

after:
00:0b.0 SATA controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 SATA Controller (rev b1)

After comparing PCI registers from OSX and linux, there were only ~20 noteworthy differences.  binary search took 10 mins.  We don't need Nvidia documentation to discover these registers.

If windoze requires some driver magic to make this work, that part is up to you.

Update May 1, 2011
support for newest 2011 MacBook pro models with SandyBridge chipset has been added
This is currently a manually installed patch using the 'dd' command be sure to follow the instructions!
Windows Vista/7 MBR to enable AHCI. Tested on MBP 2011 17". If you do not have the exact same hardware configuration as the MBP 2011 17" it probably won't work.

See Euclid1's post for download of patched mbr.

To patch the MBR:

Copy the patchedcode.bin to a USB stick
Boot with MacOSX Setup CD (or Ubuntu Live CD or anything else where you can write the MBR to the disk)
In the first screen select your language, in the 2nd screen, open a Terminal through the menu at the top.
Go to your USB stick: cd /Volumes/USBSTICKNAME
IMPORTANT: Make a backup of your mbr first: dd if=/dev/disk0 of=backup.bin bs=512 count=1
Unmount all mapped drives from your disk0: umount /dev/disk0s1, umount /dev/disk0s2, etc.
Write the new mbr: dd if=patchedcode.bin of=/dev/disk0 bs=440 count=1
Type: reboot now
If for some reason it should not work for you, you can restore the MBR as following:
dd if=backup.bin of=/dev/disk0 bs=440 count=1

It is assumed that you already have set the msahci service start type to 0 in the Windows operating system.


Update 03-29-11

Johnsock with the help of others made a GUI application to run in OSX that modifies the MBR for you in a much simpler and less frightening way several months ago... I spaced out on updating the first post for a long while... direct link to his application is here ... Link to his post is here.

This is still considered to be BETA and most likely always will be. We are not responsible for any of your data if you or the application destroys it...so BACKUP!

It works on the INTEL CHIPSETS ONLY (having nvidia or ati graphics cards is ok) Running Leopard, Snow Leopard, or Lion (Tiger unknown) to make the modifications to the MBR
Currently NTFS only Partitions are supported (can share boot drive with OSX)
Mac Pro - All Models as of this writing
MacBook (Pro) - ICH8 (Core /2/ Duo/Solo) thru Mid 2010 Core i5 / i7
iMac - With Core i5 / i7


Will not work on ANY Nvidia chipset MCP**
Includes but not limited to Mac Mini
MacBooks (Pro) with nvidia chipsets

Currently working on support for:
Latest generation MacBook (Pro) with HM65 "sandybridge" Core i5 / i7 Chipset - Not sure of the issue at this time since the datasheets show the same configuration entry is needed for both i5/i7 chipsets to be enabled, it is entirely possible that something may have changed on apple's end with their EFI implementation that is causing this more research is needed.

Not working on support and NOT planning on support for:
Nvidia chipsets (NO documentation of PCI configuration registers are available)

Update 06-30-10

Support has been added for the latest generation Mac Book Pro 6,2 that are running the Intel i5/i7 processor chipset.
WILL NOT WORK ON 13" CORE 2 DUO MBP WITH NVIDIA CHIPSET, OR THE MAC MINI ALUMINUM

This script version 1.1 is only for the i5/i7 chipsets that are used in the Mac Book Pros
It may also work on the new Quad Core 27" iMacs - unable to find a tester -
It may also work on the newest Mac Pros - also no tester available -
Version 1.1 will not work on Mac Pro prior to 2009
Version 1.0 confirmed to work on all Mac Pros prior to 2009 should also work on Mac Book Pros prior to mid 2010

See post 137 for all details

The latest version of the Intel Rapid Storage Technology and some i5 chipset drivers are available on post 137

Instructions have also been added to the beginning of the script for registry editing in Win7 and Vista
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: 4-29-09
Here is a newer, easier method to perform the modifications to your existing setup with a script made by johnsock,
he is one of our newer members on the scene and it looks like he is off to a great start in helping those of us with
real Macs to enjoy Mac hardware in Windows to its fullest.

See post 44 for the detailed explanation of how he was able to do this.
To just download his AHCI modification file click here
It is still a work in progress but it does save a lot of work.

Here is a quick how to for his script.

Vista 32/64 Windows 7 32/64
   - Run Regedit
   - Navigate to "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci"
   - edit the "Start" key and change the value from what it is to "0"
   - this will tell Vista to check for AHCI on next boot and install the AHCI driver if it is in AHCI mode
- this installs the generic AHCI Microsoft driver and it is really a poor driver for your hardware and you will need the Intel ones to get full performance.
  
For Windows XP
You need to Force the installation of the AHCI mode driver over the Legacy driver
--Here is how--
- Open device manager
- Under IDE / ATA section open properties for the "Intel� 631xESB/6321ESB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 2680"
- Update the driver for 2680 with one labeled 2681 (ESB2 SATA AHCI Controller)
- You will need to uncheck the box that limits you to only known supported drivers for your hardware
- Once installed it will require a restart
  - Attempting to restart into XP without doing the next steps will leave you with a BSOD  and instant reboot

Load up Mac OS X or Linux Live CD
OSX

Run johnsock's script in "Terminal" under 'sudo' mode.

ludacrisvps-mac-pro:~ ludacrisvp$ sudo -s
Password:
bash-3.2# /Users/ludacrisvp/Downloads/ahci.sh 
AHCI Master Boot Record Patch 1.0
Type /Users/ludacrisvp/Downloads/ahci.sh -h for command line options.

Scanning drives...
Windows partition found on /dev/disk4
Do you want to use this drive? (Y/N)y
The MBR on /dev/disk4 appears to already be modified.

bash-3.2# /Users/ludacrisvp/Downloads/ahci.sh 
AHCI Master Boot Record Patch 1.0
Type /Users/ludacrisvp/Downloads/ahci.sh -h for command line options.

Scanning drives...
Windows partition found on /dev/disk4
Do you want to use this drive? (Y/N)n
Enter drive to use: /dev/disk1
Backing up MBR from /dev/disk1 to ./backup.mbr
MBR backup complete.

Detected Windows Vista Master Boot Record.

  Are you ABSOLUTELY sure you want to write the modified MBR to /dev/disk1? (Y/N)y

Modified MBR written to /dev/disk1

If it fails to autodetect you can follow this below to manually choose your drive.
Open "Disk Utility"
Find the drive that has the OS you have installed the AHCI device drivers too.
Right click or Command click on the part of the drive that says how large it is and choose "Information"
This will tell you what drive to use when running the script.
Disk order can and does change randomly with each boot.
The drive below is my Windows 7 drive and in this case it is Disk4 as you can see in the red box.

 Disk_4.jpg   357.09K   1191 downloads

Now you will want to run the full installation of the Intel Matrix Storage Drivers on any of the OSs that you have converted to AHCI mode.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------- OLD METHOD USING GRUB FOR LINUX INSTALLS NOT UPDATED FOR MAC BOOK PRO MID 2010 UNLESS REQUESTED ---------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well I finally got around to figuring this out and here is how to do it.

The following will enable you to use all 6 SATA ports on the Mac Pro Early 2008
It might enable AHCI on other Mac platforms, however I have none to test with.
There was mention of a MacBook Pro user enabling AHCI for faster drive access in Windows on the OnMac forum.

This will let you add your Blu Ray or DVD SATA drives to your Windows install without losing one of your hard drive bay Sata ports.
This will increase your data transfer speeds in Windows from the 100mb speed of the legacy mode to the native 1.5gbps or 3.0gbps of your SATA drive.

I give credit to pipomolo42 for figuring out that it can be done.
And for the Modified Stage1 file for the GRUB boot loader.

It was done on the OnMac Forums in the middle of 2007 in an attempt to enable RAID 5 in Windows.
However it wasn't easy for the casual user or power user to get done with out having major headaches.

Here are the links to the required files that will be needed.

Download and install rEFIt from inside OS X

Windows XP/Vista x86/x64 Intel Matrix Storage Manager Drivers - Direct from Intel Website

Ubuntu Live 8.04.1 AMD64/EM64T Desktop Version  - Download from your nearest location, make sure to choose the desktop  version for the 64 bit based systems, this is a CD based version and  will therefore fit on a CD-R.
 boot.zip   55.84K   445 downloads
The  attachment "boot.zip" contains the Modified Stage1, Stage2 and Menu.lst  that are needed for the GRUB installation to work properly on the Mac  Pro.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There are several methods that you can use to setup your system.
I will go through Vista and XP for those that are already installed.
It is possible to install fresh versions of the OS by loading the install disc
through grub and providing the drivers for the AHCI controller via USB
for Vista or slipstreamed in XP or Vista.

1. Load Live CD
- Run Partition Editor
- Create a small FAT32 Partition at the beginning of the drive
- I chose to make a 100mb partition and formatted it to FAT32
- This re-sized and moved my XP partition down the drive by 100mb - this took about 45 mins

2a. Reboot into XP (if using Vista skip this step and use step 2b)
- Force the installation of the AHCI mode driver over the Legacy driver
- Open device manager
- Under IDE / ATA section open properties for the "Intel� 631xESB/6321ESB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 2680"
- Update the driver for 2680 with one labeled 2681 (ESB2 SATA AHCI Controller)
- You will need to uncheck the box that limits you to only known supported drivers for your hardware
- Once installed it will require a restart
  - Attempting to restart into XP after this will leave you with a BSOD  and instant reboot, this is caused because XP is loading the AHCI  driver and it is failing to load because the hardware is still in  legacy mode.

2b. Vista only
- Run Regedit
- Navigate to "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci"
- edit the "Start" key and change the value from what it is to "0"
- this will tell Vista to check for AHCI on next boot and install the AHCI driver if it is in AHCI mode

3. Load the Live CD again
- Copy the provided stage1, stage2, menu.lst to the following location on the 100mb partition
/boot/grub/
- Time to install GRUB bootloader

4. Open Terminal - enter following commands

sudo grub --device-map=/dev/null

- This will tell GRUB to ignore the built in device map of grub and that you will define a new one.

device (hd0) /dev/sda

- This maps your first hard drive as the device "hd0" in grub - keep in mind that GRUB counts up from 0
- grub will echo the command to confirm it was accepted.

find /boot/grub/stage1

- This will echo the location of the stage1 file - ex: (hd0,2)
-This would translate to hard disk 1 partition 3 for normal people
- You will use the (hdX,Y) for the next step

root (hd0,2)

- This tells grub where to obtain the stage1, stage2, menu.lst files from

setup (hd0)

- installs grub bootloader to MBR of first hard drive in system
- it will echo if the installation has succeeded or had errors

quit

- to quit grub

exit

- to close terminal

5. Restart and remove Live CD

6. From rEFIt Menu choose boot Linux from HD (the Penguin icon)

7. It will load Grub then show a boot menu for
- Windows XP in AHCI Mode
and
- Windows Vista in AHCI Mode

8. Fully install the Intel drivers from the link provided above in each OS that is booting in AHCI mode for proper performance.

9. Take it from there and enjoy having 6 Sata ports that have the proper performance with NCQ enabled

--------------------------------------------------------
You may need to edit the "menu.lst" file for the appropriate locations of the operating systems on your machine.

On my system I am using an IDE drive for my XP install and that is also where grub is installed to.
I have 4 hard drives installed 1 IDE, 3 SATA.
I have 1 OS installed on each of their own physical drive.
On your system you might not be using /dev/sda because that is most likely going to be your Mac OSX drive
Chances are you will use /dev/sdb for the second sata bay in your case.

 AHCI_working_in_vista.JPG   130.25K   817 downloads
 AHCI_working_in_XP.JPG   110.17K   452 downloads

Edit reason:
Swapped this post to beginning with the 4th post to have the HOWTO be the beginning for the topic.

For some reason this topic will not notify me via email about replies so if I don't respond to questions right away that is most likely the reason.
I do however check back often.

Edited by ludacrisvp, 05 October 2011 - 07:09 AM.

[Dynatnt1]

ludacrisvp,
I downloaded your drivers and followed your instructions for the update. My IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers still read the Intel Serial ATA storage controller. Shouldn't it
change to AHCI? I am trying to add a blu-ray burner to my extra sata port on my mac pro running Vista.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Toby

[ludacrisvp]

Dynatnt1, on Sep 28 2008, 11:16 PM, said:

ludacrisvp,
I downloaded your drivers and followed your instructions for the update. My IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers still read the Intel Serial ATA storage controller. Shouldn't it
change to AHCI? I am trying to add a blu-ray burner to my extra sata port on my mac pro running Vista.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Toby

It would only change to AHCI mode if you are booting from a modified grub boot loader.
I am working on making it work on mine then I will make a step by step tutorial for those who need it.
I started to work on one but got interrupted by college and work, I should have more free time this week and should be able to come up with something that works if its possible for the early 2008 model to boot into ahci mode. Only a few people attempted it on the original mac pro and it is very poorly documented.
You will need modified stage1 and stage2 grub files and I havent been able to get it working yet.

[ludacrisvp]

During my attempts to enable all 6 SATA ports inside windows vista I stumbled upon newer drivers for our chipset.
The ones from Apple's bootcamp are dated in the middle of 2006.
I found some for us that are dated from Jan 30, 2008 with a higher version number than the 2006 drivers.
Hopefully they will help in the pursuit of 6 SATA ports in windows.

They will have to be manually installed from device manager if you are not booting in AHCI mode.
They are Digitally Signed and 64 bit compatible.
Choose your
Intel® 631xESB/6321ESB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 269E
and
Intel® 631xESB/6321ESB/3100 Chipset Serial ATA Storage Controller - 2680
Right click on them
Update Driver Software
Browse My Computer For Driver Software
Browse to the extraction point of the new Intel Drivers
Hit Next
It will then install the newer version and then tell you to restart.

The drivers are intended to be used on a SuperMicro Board that is very similar in design to the Mac Pro
They are both using the 5400 Seaburg chipset and have the same controllers.

I have attached the drivers here for easy access.
 InfInst.zip   555.01K   254 downloads - Use "InfInst.zip" for manual install.
Direct download for Intel drivers - Use this for auto install, only works if using AHCI Mode

[snappy2]

Hi ludacrisvp. I'm about to do this to my Mac Pro in order to see the SATA Blu-Ray on ODD Port 5 but before I do a quick question if I may..

I have four internal SATA HDDs.
Bay 1 is MacOS X boot drive,
Bay 2 is partitioned thus: First partition is HFS+, second partition is Vista 64
Bay 3 is spare drive (currently HFS+ but can be erased)
Bay 4 is spare drive (currently HFS+ but can be erased)

In my case what would be the correct nomenclature for the relevant disks and partitions in grub and for the menu.lst file.

Thanks for the walkthrough!

[ludacrisvp]

snappy2, on Oct 23 2008, 01:19 PM, said:

Hi ludacrisvp. I'm about to do this to my Mac Pro in order to see the SATA Blu-Ray on ODD Port 5 but before I do a quick question if I may..

I have four internal SATA HDDs.
Bay 1 is MacOS X boot drive,
Bay 2 is partitioned thus: First partition is HFS+, second partition is Vista 64
Bay 3 is spare drive (currently HFS+ but can be erased)
Bay 4 is spare drive (currently HFS+ but can be erased)

In my case what would be the correct nomenclature for the relevant disks and partitions in grub and for the menu.lst file.

Thanks for the walkthrough!

It should be rather similar to mine already for booting XP settings

Add 1 small partition for the boot loader it can be about as small as you want but I would have it at least 15MB just in case, I made mine larger in case there was some small files i wanted to backup there.

So bay 2 would look like
1st partition 15mb fat32, 2nd hfs+, 3rd Vista 64
inside the partition program each should be labeled
/dev/sdb1 - this will be the HFS+
/dev/sdb2 - this will be the Vista 64 NTFS
/dev/sdb3 - this will be the FAT32 grub boot loader

/dev/sdb
###################################
#........#..................#........................................#
#.sdb3.#......HFS+.....#..............Vista 64................#
#........#.......sdb1.....#..................sdb2.................#
###################################

Just make sure that the partition you add puts it at the beginning of the drive.

If you use the partitioning program from the live cd it does a non-destructive re-size of the partitions

For your Grub code you would have it like this

	 sudo grub --device-map=/dev/null
	  device (hd0) /dev/sdb
	  find /boot/grub/stage1
	   - this should echo (hd0,2) if you copied the grub info to the 15mb partition and did re-size from Ubuntu
	  root (hd0,2)
	  setup (hd0)
	  quit
	  exit

Make the menu.lst with the following contents, or just use the one provided above and remember to boot from the one labeled "Windows XP AHCI Mode"

	 # foreground/background text_color highlighted_color 
	  color green/black white/black
	  
	  # Set a timeout, in seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
	  timeout 20 
	  
	  # Default entry; Count from 0
	  default 0 
	  
	  #Entry
	  title Snappy2's Vista
	  root (hd0,1)
	  makeactive
	  chainloader +1

[snappy2]

Hi ludacrisvp - thanks for the informative reply and I finally understand what this is all about now

One last question before I edit the partition table on sdb2.

This is the live CD partition editor and I already have an existing fat32 partition on both disks...?
 partitioneditor.jpg   134.54K   143 downloads

What do I modify?

[resipsa]

Hi ludacrisvp,

First, I want to say thank you for putting the time and effort into this.

So I have a couple quick questions.  Will the grub stages that you patched only work with the version of grub included with ubuntu hardy (8.04.1)?  Also, does it matter specifically if grub is installed on a fat partition, considering refit is able to see ext2 partitions just fine?


UPDATE: I got it working with the ubuntu 8.10 rc (although I'm not entirely sure how). To answer my own questions:  1) the version of grub on on the ubuntu 8.10 amd64 iso works fine.  2) the stages can be on an ext2 partition.

UPDATE:  After several hours and many stupid mistakes on my part, I'm finally triple booting OS X, Ubuntu 8.10, and Vista x64 with AHCI working.  (Now I just need to avoid breaking it).

Thanks again.

[resipsa]

Snappy2

Those fat partitions are the efi partitions that are created when you format a disk using the guid partition scheme.

I know that's not particularly helpful, but I'm curious about how to handle those partitions as well.  Although things went well with linux, it all went to hell when I tried to triple boot with Vista.  So, I'm wondering if I should format a disk using mbr rather than guid, and try yet again.

Good luck and don't drive yourself too crazy.

[ludacrisvp]

resipsa, on Oct 24 2008, 08:20 PM, said:

Snappy2

Those fat partitions are the efi partitions that are created when you format a disk using the guid partition scheme.

I know that's not particularly helpful, but I'm curious about how to handle those partitions as well.  Although things went well with linux, it all went to hell when I tried to triple boot with Vista.  So, I'm wondering if I should format a disk using mbr rather than guid, and try yet again.

Good luck and don't drive yourself too crazy.

The 200mb partitions are called EFI System Partitions and GPT Protective Partitions. Yes they are a part of the GUID partitioning scheme and are part of the EFI standards. However they are not being used by Apple in any way at this point in time. This is why the OSx86 group doesn't need them, some have made them and are using them for their own purposes (storing kexts and other files for when they update their OS X install version ex: 10.5.2 to 10.5.5) You may be able to access them in Linux (Ubuntu) but they are hidden partitions and will not show up in Windows or OSX.

Well Vista cannot use a GUID disk alone it would have to be hybrid GUID - MBR or just MBR for it to work.
I would just have it be setup for MBR for the installs with Vista.
If you wanted to format the disk from inside osx you could just change format options from GUID to MBR and make your 3 partitions that way (assuming you still want to have HFS+ and Vista partitions).
OSX will let you format that disk with MBR.

@snappy2
It looks to me like you are in the area for Installing the Live CD to your hard drive. This is not the partition editor you want to be using. IIRC there should be an editor under "System" - "Administration" that will be the one you want to use, as it supports non-destructive partition editing.

[resipsa]

You did a much job at explaining it ludacrisvp.  

I actually did decide to format the disk I am using for Vista MBR, and it worked far better.  Vista is up and running with ahci.  Thanks for the links to the drivers.

Quote

It looks to me like you are in the area for Installing the Live CD to your hard drive. This is not the partition editor you want to be using. IIRC there should be an editor under "System" - "Administration" that will be the one you want to use, as it supports non-destructive partition editing.

If you're using an ubuntu live cd, you can also just type

sudo gparted

to bring up the partitioner too.

[ludacrisvp]

Quote

Will the grub stages that you patched only work with the version of grub included with ubuntu hardy (8.04.1)?

No, they should work with other versions as well. I just linked to that one version because it was what I used.
The requirement is that it is GRUB version 0.97 for the patched files to work correctly.

Quote

Also, does it matter specifically if grub is installed on a fat partition, considering refit is able to see ext2 partitions just fine?

No it doesn't matter if you put it on FAT or EXT2, I chose FAT because it would allow windows and mac read and write access to the drive without extra software. You could even access it via a bootable USB device that loads DOS if you needed to.

[Dynatnt1]

Hey Ludacrisvp,
Thanks for figuring this out. I am a little hesitant to do the grub boot loader steps. I don't want to screw up my whole computer. Is there a way to do this without the grub steps?
Can I just install the new drivers and Vista will see the extra ports?

Thanks

[ludacrisvp]

Dynatnt1, on Oct 26 2008, 04:25 PM, said:

Hey Ludacrisvp,
Thanks for figuring this out. I am a little hesitant to do the grub boot loader steps. I don't want to screw up my whole computer. Is there a way to do this without the grub steps?
Can I just install the new drivers and Vista will see the extra ports?

Thanks

Unfortunately no, there is not a way to do this without the Grub boot loader, and again no the new drivers will not allow Vista to see the extra ports because they are essentially disabled in the BIOS that doesn't really exist (it is emulated).
The reason is this:
Apple decided to have the emulation BIOS module of the EFI firmware put the SATA controller in Legacy mode.
This mode allows a max of 4 Sata ports and 1 IDE channel.
What the Grub loader essentially does is to tell the SATA controller to go back in to AHCI mode after it is told to go into Legacy mode by the EFI's emulated BIOS.

The Mac Pro starts up in AHCI mode then booting anything other than OS X puts it in Legacy mode, Grub is used to put it back in AHCI mode before that other OS has a chance to look at the hardware.

The patch writes a bit of code to the PCI controller configuration space to override the value given by Apple for booting an alternative OS.

You will have to boot through the Grub every time you boot into windows and want AHCI support.
Power on --> rEFIt --> Linux (grub) --> Windows XP/Vista/2003/2008/MCE
It only adds a few seconds to your boot time before windows loads.

[Dynatnt1]

Oh I see. I just get worried messing with my partition table for my computer. When you say create a 100 mb partiton on your drive, do you mean the mac drive or my vista drive? They are two seperate drives.
I might attempt this in the future, when I have more time in case something goes wrong. Can I have your email address in case I have any questions in the process?

Thanks

[ludacrisvp]

Dynatnt1, on Oct 26 2008, 06:07 PM, said:

Oh I see. I just get worried messing with my partition table for my computer. When you say create a 100 mb partiton on your drive, do you mean the mac drive or my vista drive? They are two separate drives.
I might attempt this in the future, when I have more time in case something goes wrong. Can I have your email address in case I have any questions in the process?

Thanks

I can understand how it can be worrisome.

I too have them on separate drives, in fact I try to avoid multiple OS on any single drive.

I am referring to the Vista drive for the 100mb partition.

NOTE: You can always restore your MBR using the Vista install disc if something does go wrong.
Boot from the DVD and hit next on the first install screen then choose "Repair your computer"
Then open the command prompt and type "bootrec /fixmbr" and "bootrec /fixboot"
Then restart, this will restore the Vista boot loader to the MBR if you are unable to get grub to work.

My email is my user name here at hotmail . com

Its nice to see that people are finding my efforts at making this as painless to setup as possible useful.

[MacAddictG4]

ludacrisvp, on Sep 15 2008, 05:35 AM, said:

Windows XP/Vista x86/x64 Intel Matrix Storage Manager Drivers - Direct from Intel Website

When I try to install these drivers in XP I get an error saying:

This computer does not meet the minimum
  requirements for installing the software.

  Setup will exit.

  
Anyone solve this, or know why I would have this issue? I have an early 2008 Mac Pro and can boot XP direct or through grub, but cant find the proper AHCI drivers.

[ludacrisvp]

That sounds to me like you are not booting in AHCI Mode.

The Intel Matrix Storage Drivers and Management Console will only install on those machines that are booting in an AHCI or RAID configuration.
I have not looked in to the RAID portion at all due to missing components in the emulated BIOS, it was attempted by some individuals that determined it will not work because you are not able to setup the array.
Attempting to install this on a non-AHCI/RAID machine will fail to meet the applications requirements for installation that is why the installer exits.
It will only work once you are in AHCI mode that is why you will force install the driver then do a full install of the management console after you are in AHCI mode.

When you boot XP through AHCI without the drivers being installed from what I have read results in a BSOD.
This is why for XP you can force the installation of the newer AHCI mode drivers over the top of the old SATA controller (2680) with (2681).
If you force the AHCI mode driver installation and reboot not in AHCI mode then  Windows will BSOD, I have experienced that personally before I got Grub to work properly.
Once the hacked version of grub was working properly then XP booted up right away and it even let me do the normal install of the matrix storage manager.

See step 2a for the force installation for XP. or post #4 might help too.
I would bet that your issues lie inside a bad install of grub.
If you don't tell grub where the modified stage1, stage2, menu.lst are by using the root (hdD,P) command it will install the versions of those files that it has inside the linux CD you have booted from. This was also another issue that I had when creating this guide.

[MacAddictG4]

Thanks for the quick reply. From post 4 I was able to successfully update my device drivers with no problems using the zip file (the updated 2680 drivers).

I think my issue seems to be that I don't have the 2681 drivers on my system? When I go to update the drivers and uncheck on the show only compatible hardware box, I still cannot find the 2681 drivers.

I was under the impression that the installer package that won't open is what installed these drivers for me so that I could select them. Should they be on my XP system already? If so, any suggestions on how to find them? It's XP Pro 32 bit, and I did install and update the boot camp drivers to the latest version (hopefully that is not a problem).

As far as grub, basically I performed a normal install of it with Ubuntu and it resides on my linux root partition at /boot/grub. After the normal install, when it was up and running and would boot linux or Windows properly from the grub prompt, I backed up and replaced the stage1 and stage2 files with those that you provided. Everything will still boot correctly, and I imagine I am in AHCI mode for Windows, though the installer package still won't open, nor can I locate the 2681 drivers...

[ludacrisvp]

The stage1 for grub gets installed into the MBR of the disk, so just replacing those files without re-installing grub will not re-write the modified grub stage1 to the MBR where it is needed for the booting process for the ahci mode.