Integration of the Intel SATA AHCI or SATA RAID drivers by using nLite

Many users with such system have problems, when they try to install Windows XP (32/64 bit) or Windows Server 2003 (32/64 bit), because the Setup of these Operating Systems will not automaticly detect the hdd's, which are connected to the Intel S-ATA AHCI or Intel SATA RAID ports of the mainboard.
Furthermore the traditional F6/floppy method often fails due to bad floppy media or the lack of a floppy drive.

The easiest and safest solution is the integration of the Intel Controller drivers into a bootable 32/64bit XP or W2k3 CD by using a tool like nLite.

Here is the way how to do it:

Integration of the

Intel SATA AHCI or SATA RAID drivers

by using nLite

Guide for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (32/64 bit)

Informations regarding the possibility and necessity of loading/integrating the Intel Controller drivers:

• None of the Windows Operating Systems which were released before Windows 2000 (Windows 3.11, Windows 95/98 and Windows ME) do support the actual Intel SATA and RAID Controllers (no working textmode drivers available).
• Even Windows 2000 does not really work with the actual Intel Controllers. There are some old Intel S-ATA drivers for Windows 2000, but they do not support the modern features AHCI (="Advanced Host Controller Interface") and RAID.
• The current versions of Windows XP (32/64bit) and Windows Server 2003 (32/64bit) are able to detect actual Intel S-ATA Controllers during the OS installation and will handle them as "normal" IDE Controllers, if the BIOS S-ATA settings are set to "IDE mode". In this case you don't need to load/integrate any Intel textmode drivers, but you have to abandon the features AHCI and RAID.
• Users who are going to install XP or W2k3 and want to get advantage of the Intel S-ATA Controller features AHCI or RAID, have to enable them within BIOS prior to the OS installation and additionally have to integrate the appropriate Intel textmode drivers into the OS CD or to load them via F6/floppy during the installation. Otherwise Windows Setup will not detect the Intel S-ATA Controller connected hard disk drives.
• According to Intel only the actual Intel S-ATA Controllers for Desktop PC's (ICH6R, ICH7R, ICH8R and ICH9R) and Mobile PC's (ICH6M, ICH7M, ICH8M and ICH9M) are fully supporting AHCI, but obviously it is possible to get the AHCI features even with some ICH8 (look here and here) and ICH9 chipsets. If you are not sure, look into your mainboard/laptop manual or ask the support of the mainboard/laptop manufacturer.

Preconditions for a successful integration of the Intel S-ATA AHCI/RAID drivers:

• The S-ATA hdd's have to be connected to the Intel S-ATA ports of the mainboard.
  Important: Many Intel chipset mainboards have Intel and JMicron S-ATA connectors. Before you continue with your preparations, you should check, if the S-ATA cables of your hdd's are really connected to the Intel ports. If you are using the JMicron S-ATA ports, you have to integrate/load the JMicron textmode drivers (you can get them here). Otherwise Windows Setup will not detect your S-ATA connected hdd(s) at all.
• The mainboard BIOS should be up-to-date.
• Very important are the correct BIOS settings regarding the wanted Intel S-ATA mode.
  These are the options:
  IDE Mode = no Intel textmode drivers necessary, but no AHCI/RAID available
  AHCI Mode = Intel SATA AHCI textmode driver necessary, no RAID available
  RAID Mode = Intel SATA RAID textmode driver necessary, RAID array must be created
• The Power Management (ACPI) should be enabled within BIOS.
• The source for the processing with nLite should be a clean (not modified) and error free OS CD.
• Only for Intel RAID users: Before you are going to install the nLited OS onto an Intel RAID array, you should check, if the RAID has been correctly created and set as bootable by the "Intel Matrix Storage Manager Option ROM Utility". Furthermore the Intel RAID has to be set on the first place of the HARD DISK BOOT PRIORITY within the mainboard BIOS.

1. Preparation:

What you need is the actual version of

1. nLite (you get it here) and
2. the suitable (=extracted) Intel textmode drivers you want/need to integrate.
   The choice of the correct textmode driver depends mainly on the OS you are going to install, whereas the exact name of the Intel Controller of your mainboard is less important for the driver choice, because the actual "Intel Matrix Storage Manager" package (look here) is supporting all common INTEL ICH6-9 SATA AHCI and SATA RAID Controllers. Only users with an Intel ICH5 SATA RAID Controller have to use an other older driver package.
   What you need for the later integration are the extracted necessary Intel S-ATA Controller drivers. Since the original Intel textmode driver packages have a big size and are not easy to extract, I recommend to download one of the small driver packages I have already prepared for integration purposes.
   a ) For Intel ICH6/7/8/9 S-ATA AHCI and RAID Controllers:
   • If you are going to install the 32bit version of Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, you should download and unzip this already prepared actual 32bit Intel Controller driver package and unzip it.
   • Users, who want to install the 64bit version of Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, should download and unzip the latest 64bit Intel Controller driver package from here.
   
   b ) For Intel ICH5R S-ATA RAID Controllers:
   • If users with an Intel ICH5 Controller are going to install the 32bit version of Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, they should download and unzip this already prepared package with the newest 32bit textmode drivers for ICH5 chipsets.
   • Users, who need the latest 64bit textmode drivers for Intel ICH5 Controllers, because they want to install the 64bit version of Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, should download and unzip this already prepared package.
   
   Attention: Look into your mainboard manual, if your S-ATA hdd(s) are connected to any of the above mentioned Intel ICH5/6/7/8/9 ports. If your mainboard has an other (legacy type) Intel SATA AHCI/RAID Controller, you should integrate the Intel AHCI/RAID driver you will find within your mainboard driver CD.

2. Processing with nLite:

1. Copy the content of the clean source CD (XP, XP x64, W2k3 or W2k3 x64) onto your hdd.
2. Run nLite and point to the directory where you have copied the OS source.
3. You can use all nLite options, but you have to use the tasks "Integrate Drivers" and "Create Bootable CD".
4. When you come up to the task "Drivers", hit the "Insert" button, use the "Single driver" option and point to the content of the driver package you have downloaded and extracted at first step. Click onto one of the shown INF files (it doesn't matter which one).
5. If you have integrated the actual Intel Matrix Storage Manager drivers (supporting ICH6-9 Controllers) you will get the following "Storage Device Textmode Driver" popup window with a big variety of different Intel Controllers:
   nLite_Popup_Intel_Textmode_Drivers.jpg ( 68.68K ) Number of downloads: 377
   
   At this point you have to decide, which Intel Controller(s) you want to get installed by clicking onto the suitable Controller(s).
   Important:
   a ) Make sure, that the "Textmode driver" Mode is enabled.
   b ) You can and maybe have to highlight more than 1 Controller.
   Have a look into your mainboard manual to find the exact name of your S-ATA Controller and search for it within the list.
   Click onto the Intel SATA Controller(s), which is/are suitable for your mainboard BIOS settings regarding the Intel S-ATA ports (SATA RAID or SATA AHCI), your mainboard chipset (ICH6, ICH7, ICH8 or ICH9) and your system ("Desktop"=PC, "Mobile"=Laptop, Server or Workstation).
   Tip:
   If you are not sure, which of the listed Controllers are the suitable one(s) for your chipset, enable all of them (Windows Setup will find and install the correct driver).
6. Use the other options of nLite, if you want. It is a good idea to additionally integrate the Intel INF files drivers named Intel® Chipset Device Software as normal device (=PnP) driver. You can download these INF drivers here.
   Tip: Download the actual package named "Update INF Utility - Zip Format" and unzip it with a tool like WinRar or 7-Zip. The INF files (needed for the chipset driver integration) are within the folder named "All". You can take any of them (nLite will copy them all).
7. Let nLite create the ISO file and burn it as bootable CD.
8. Have fun!

3. Additional advice for the later OS installation:

• Don't hit F6 and don't insert any driver floppy during the installation using the CD with integrated Intel Controller drivers. Otherwise Windows Setup won't find the drivers at all!

Author: Fernando (www.msfn.org)