Resolved Ahci

Most cloning softwares aren't crazy about cloning from a large drive to a smaller one.

 

No - that cannot be done due to the fact that many files will be in use by Windows.

However you can make an image of the disk and load that to a new drive using something like Acronis True Image Home.

 

I have/had a problem with ACHI which will not allow my computer to boot if enabled despite the driver being loaded.

In researching the issue I learned that ACHI must be enabled in BIOS before installing the OS. As I had no intention of a re-install I left matters as they are with a bookmark to brain for the next install, whenever that might be

I really cannot give a definitive answer here.

 

Since I recently installed a system with the SATA hard disks running in IDE mode (default in the BIOS and I didn't think ... ...), I went google on the issue and found KB922976 which describes how to enable the AHCI drivers in the registry prior to changing the mode in the BIOS. If the AHCI drivers aren't enabled, the computer will blue screen on reboot after making the change in the BIOS.

I haven't tried this "fix" but in your case, I would make it run in AHCI mode prior to migrating/cloning to the SSD drive.

By the way, the owner of this computer is dumber than me so ... ... he hasn't noticed but if he does, I hope that I know the solution.

 

Christer

Thanks for reminding me of that KB which I had visited before

On a re-read I now have AHCI running - the KB is not necessarily wrong, but .....

The first sub key was already set to 0 - I may have changed this in my previous attempt to enable AHCI

The second subkey was set at 3 - reset to 0

I also had to set the JMicron Storage Controller to AHCI - not sure if this option was present last time around or I simply did not look there.

Initially had to reset the Boot Order to HD > CD-Rom ...... in order to boot up at which point the AHCI drivers loaded. Then reset the Boot order to the preferred CD-Rom > HD ....

Will now check if the second sub key needed changing or not by restoring the value to 3

Watch this space

 

Ok - you can stop holding your breath

Restored the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV
value to 3 and all is OK.

I must have missed the option in the JMicron Storage Controller to set it to AHCI mode on earlier attempts to enable AHCI

One downside of AHCI is that it makes the drives hot pluggable so the Safely Remove Hardware icon is now ever present and lists my 3 hard drives - I think I can live with that - or hide the icon.

 

Pete,
you're welcome ... ... !

Was that set in the BIOS or in the registry?

Strange but if it works with the desired boot order after that, I'm all for it ... ... !

Repeated question, was that set in the BIOS or in the registry?

Definitely annoying. Since hotswapping isn't needed for "fixed" drives and NCQ only gives marginally improved performance, I would try to find out if IDE mode can be chosen for the controller to which the "fixed" drives are connected and if AHCI mode can be chosen for the eSATA controller or a different SATA controller, leading to an external connector (on the case).

I don't know if the eSATA connector provides power to the drive or not but there must be some difference compared to a SATA connector.

 

In the BIOS. My mobo - see My System, utilises a jMicron storage controller rather than the Intel Matrix Controller.

I think the boot order issue was that after setting AHCI in the BIOS the existing boot order was followed and clearly the DVD drive which was first in the order was not seen as bootable, especially as it was empty or not as a hard drive.

With the OS hard drive set as first on the list the computer booted up and AHCI drivers loaded for all the controllers as seen in Driver install progress window.

Once those drivers were loaded I reverted to the normal boot order and all was well.

Incidentally there is now a further (brief) screen before Windows loads announcing that there is no bootable media in the optical drive - Windows then loads from the HD.

 

Pete,
thanks for clarifying!

I still wonder if you have to set all controllers to AHCI mode or to IDE mode? The MB I'm considering for my new, long overdue, build has one controller for six SATA_2 drives, another for two SATA_3 drives and a third for two eSATA drives. The internal hard disks will be SATA_2 but any external hard disk might be SATA_3 and end up in an eSATA enclosure for which I would appreciate hotswap capability.

 

Grump642,
you're welcome ... ... we're glad we could help!

I made a mistake in mixing a potential SATA_3 drive with an eSATA enclosure ... ... which would be degrading it to the SATA_2 performance of the eSATA controller. Anyway, that's one for the future since I haven't seen any SATA_3 drives yet.