Dell xps 420 and Ssd question

[larry d]

Hello, Does my xps 420 have the capability with it's bios to run the ssd in AHCI ? I can not find the setting. Here is a pic for my Samsung 840, thanks for any help.

 

[larry d]

bench

 

[CaptainCrazy]

Have you enabled AHCI in the BIOS for that particular port?

 

[carwiz]

According to Cnet's specs for the XPS 420 (I couldn't get to Dell for some reason), your PC has 5 SATAII ports (3Gb/s). While it won't make the best use of a SSD (6Gb/s), it will sill be much faster than a HDD.

As CC noted, Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) should be enabled. Keep in mind that if you "cloned" your system disk onto the new SSD, you can't simply enable AHCI in the BIOS or the system won't boot because the driver isn't present. You must follow this procedure to enable AHCI on an old install: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61869-ahci-enable-windows-7-vista.html

If you are fresh-installing Windows to the new SSD, turn on AHCI in the BIOS first then install Windows. The required driver will be loaded during the install.

 

[larry d]

Ok, So I did the suggested reg changes but they were already set to 0. I'm not quite sure the bios supports ahci. I was reading a bit on it and someone (outside of dell) added to the existing bios since dell would not support the xps 420 because of it's age. I am not sure of all of this being it came from the internet. I did download the hacked bios BUT I AM SCARED TO DEATH TO FLASH IT!!! I sure hope you folks can help me. Also I never saw a option in the bios for ahci ??

 

[carwiz]

I wouldn't use a hacked BIOS. An error can brick the system. What are the choices shown in the current BIOS?

Forgot to mention:
There's usually three choices for SATA Mode. This option may be under the Configuration Tab of the
BIOS.

IDE = Compatibility mode
AHCI = Advanced SATA features
RAID = Multi-Drive volumes (Also enables AHCI)

 

[larry d]

All I see is RAID autodetect/ata and RAID ON

and it says my ssd is controlled by raid bios.

 

[carwiz]

RAID would normally include AHCI even though you're not running a RAID set up. What I'm not sure of is whether your motherboard controller may be too old to support it. I can't get to your manual so that would be the place to check for sure.

 

[larry d]

Thank you Carwiz, I will check it out and maybe even try Samsung for help.