ATI AHCI Compatible RAID Driver

[Farel]

Thanks Prodgod, while we're waiting for a response any really tech savy folks have any ideas for a possible work around?

 

[walman01]

Yup, same laptop, same problem. I have tried everything to no avail. Called Dell and they WANTED TO SELL ME A NEW LAPTOP!!!!!!!!

 

[metalgirl2045]

I'e heard elsewhere that Dell are planning to release new drivers early next year. Stuck with Vista on this machine for a few more months it seems

Any thoughts on whether the RAID upgrade would be good idea? I don't know about the motherboard generally but the processor is AMD, would that mean an AMD RAID driver is safe?

 

[walman01]

I am not sure if that is a good idea or not. It is unacceptable that Dell wants to wait until early next year. Certainly there must be another compatible driver out there somewhere. Anyone want to be a guina pig?

Let me just say that I am a little miffed that Microsoft advertises the upgrade as being completely compatible with Vista drivers. Nothing could be further from the truth. I had a long list of stuff I had to UNINSTALL before I could even try the upgrade. Some of them were driver related. Some of them were application related. iTunes was one. Anyone know why that is?

 

[Farel]

I called Dell and they said that I should re-format and install vista -> Windows 7 and everything should be fine.... according to them the machine should be 100% compatible.

Anyone try a completely fresh reinstall w/ reformatting etc.?

 

[prodgod]

So they said to reinstall Vista then do the install of Windows 7? I wonder if it would work if I was to do a factory restore / reformat and then install Windows 7 as a clean install. I don't have the discs for Vista so this would be the only way it would work for me.

 

[stormy13]

Would I be correct in assuming that all of you in this thread with this problem all using a laptop?

If so what you are running up against is the same sort of thing that used to happen to users with laptops that had ATI Mobility video cards in them. ATI wrote all the drivers, but then they had to be modified by each computer manufacturer to take into account any bios/firmware changes that they made from the reference (video bios that is); sort of the same as the changes that Dell/HP/etc make to the standard bios, and why you can't use the motherboard manufacturer's reference bios on them. People in that situation always had to wait on the manufacturer to provide the driver update.

As for this,

I called Dell and they said that I should re-format and install vista -> Windows 7 and everything should be fine.

I think you'll find what Dell is trying to say is to install Vista, update all the drivers, then do an upgrade install of Windows 7; which in theory should allow 7 to install and have functioning drivers. For any of you that have tried this, when you started the upgrade install, did it flag the RAID/ACHI driver as incompatible before continuing?

 

[B3astiie]

That's exactly what is going on with my Dell Inspiron 1721 laptop.

The Advisor says everything is compatible, flags nothing, and says I should be able to do an upgrade.

But when installing 7, it flags the ACHI Compitable Raid Controller.

My topic here with also a conversation with Dell. This convo annoyed me.

http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/31174-windows-7-64-bit-6.html

 

[walman01]

I called Dell and they said that I should re-format and install vista -> Windows 7 and everything should be fine.... according to them the machine should be 100% compatible.

Anyone try a completely fresh reinstall w/ reformatting etc.?

Uh, yeah, that ain't gonna happen. I bought the upgrade specifically so I DIDN'T have to lose my application installation, files, etc. Dell should fix the driver issue. Period.

 

[Farel]

So they said to reinstall Vista then do the install of Windows 7? I wonder if it would work if I was to do a factory restore / reformat and then install Windows 7 as a clean install. I don't have the discs for Vista so this would be the only way it would work for me.

I had same issue so when I called dell I asked for the vista install cd... they're mailing it and all of the computers drivers in disk format =]

 

[DrO]

Solution

Hello everyone,
After about 3 days of struggling with this issue, I finally found a driver that works. It can be downloaded here: ATI Catalyst? Display Driver

Make sure to download the RAID driver with the release date of 10/22/09, revision number 9.10.

It worked for me and it should work for you too.

Good Luck!!

 

[Farel]

Oh thank the lord!!!! I'm going to try this when I get home I REALLY hope it works praise you!!! hahah

 

[walman01]

Hello everyone,
After about 3 days of struggling with this issue, I finally found a driver that works. It can be downloaded here: ATI Catalyst? Display Driver

Make sure to download the RAID driver with the release date of 10/22/09, revision number 9.10.

It worked for me and it should work for you too.

Good Luck!!

You are a GOD.

 

[B3astiie]

Hello everyone,
After about 3 days of struggling with this issue, I finally found a driver that works. It can be downloaded here: ATI Catalyst? Display Driver

Make sure to download the RAID driver with the release date of 10/22/09, revision number 9.10.

It worked for me and it should work for you too.

Good Luck!!

Did this work for anybody else?

And Dro did you do a clean install or update?

 

[Farel]

Just tried the driver and still no luck =(. I just did the update though, were u doing a fresh install?

EDIT: One thing I did notice however is that when I go to my drivers it's not saying that it's the 10/22/2009, how are you updating these drivers and being sure they're applying? The ATI drivers unzip into C:/ATI/drivers/ and then the Catalyst install manager starts and doesn't pick up any driver information... is this happening for everyone else?

 

[walman01]

Ferel, Yes, the same exact thing here. I have tried to manually install the drivers to no avail. Still the same problem.

 

[DrO]

Just tried the driver and still no luck =(. I just did the update though, were u doing a fresh install?

EDIT: One thing I did notice however is that when I go to my drivers it's not saying that it's the 10/22/2009, how are you updating these drivers and being sure they're applying? The ATI drivers unzip into C:/ATI/drivers/ and then the Catalyst install manager starts and doesn't pick up any driver information... is this happening for everyone else?

I did an upgrade from Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium (no clean install)

You have to manually install the driver in the Device Manager. Under Storage Controllers, select "ATI (or AMD) AHCI Compatible RAID Controller". You have to load "ahcix86s.sys" (date created 7/7/2009). It should be located in the following directory C:\ATI\Support\9-10_vista32-64_raid\Packages\Drivers\SBDrv\SB7xx\RAID\LH

To make sure it's loaded, when you go back to Device Manager, the driver should be newer the March 2009.

 

[B3astiie]

Okay you guys 1721 problem solve. I know exactly what to do, I have just did it and it worked.

It involved some of the stuff Walman told us about. I will be writing a step by step guide. Give me about an hour.

It worked with no problem at all.

 

[walman01]

Manually installing the driver did nothing for me. It is still listed as the old driver (8/16/2007). The version number is 2.5.1540.48. I can't get the new one to install. Oddly, the controller is now listed as AMD ACHI Compatible Controller and NOT ATI. Anyone? I am at a loss.

 

[DrO]

Manually installing the driver did nothing for me. It is still listed as the old driver (8/16/2007). The version number is 2.5.1540.48. I can't get the new one to install. Oddly, the controller is now listed as AMD ACHI Compatible Controller and NOT ATI. Anyone? I am at a loss.

walman01, what is the date of the driver you're manually installing?