Solved MSI 880gm-E41 BUOS backup and upgrade procedures AHCI SATA RAID driver

[loninappleton]

Last thing today. I have a screen shot made from the scratch Windows 7 install after a number of things through these days of upgrades to BIOS and MSI driver downloads.


With the BIOS now showing AHCI in Integrated Peripherals, my new scratch install
_without_ attempting to install drivers from the Win7 install process where it asks if you want to find any drivers gave this screen shot in Device Manager.

 

[wither 2]

For some reason, I thought you had activated ACHI in the BIOS before you previously installed Win 7. Now you've done it that way.

Just for information, when you extracted the files in the ati_system_drivers_mb\ folder to disc and ran the setup.exe, didn't it install the Catalyst installation manager?

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi,
1. Well done!



But it sounds you are still using some disk(s) with IDE storage controller ?
Do you use multiple internal hard disks ? Are all internal Hard disks using on board SATA II only ? ( You can use 6 SATA II + 2 IDE Devices. SATA II should be more efficient! )
Can you provide requested snap of Disk Management : VIEW > TOP > DISK LIST

2. Actually, This is primarily governed by BIOS setting. When you select the mode IDE/AHCI/RAID in BIOS, It starts looking for that particular driver/support in the OS/Installation. Now there are two scenarios :
(i) If you go for a fresh installation after making the change in the BIOS, the driver is automatically installed.
( The AHCI driver needed by you, is already there in the Win7 ISO. So, you do not/did not need to integrate anything in the ISO for that.The AHCI driver you are using in the newly installed Win7 OS, is a basic support driver which comes with Win7 out of the box. )
(ii) If one wants to just switch to AHCI from RAID/IDE without a reinstall, the work out is here : AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista
( To be very clear : You have migrated from IDE to AHCI & not RAID to AHCI )

3. Support Page : One should always go to the correct/exact support page.
For batch production, the drivers/devices are also designed/manufactured in batch. A single driver supports several devices & many models share the same devices.
But one may fall between the differences between two models or devices. There may be drivers which are not common/similar.

4. The driver you were struggling with, is basically a RAID driver & not an AHCI one. It is named 'AMD AHCI Compatible RAID Driver'.
(I don't know whether the big driver zip include any pure AHCI driver as i did not download it.)

5. I was offered 'AMD Catalyst Install Manager' during AMD Graphics driver installation but i simply opted out of it. But I am not sure whether it has some other purposes as well ? I am also not sure whether the Utility can be included with other drivers as well ? I never had any problems.

6. I am interested about the 'ATI Catalyst Install Manager'.
(i) Did you succeed to install it ? Does it show in Installed Programs ?
(ii) As said by sir wither 2, It seems to be like a Installer Program/Manager.
(iii) I fear it will interfere in some other AMD drivers' installations as well.
(iv) I assume that one can update the driver directly from Device Manager without Catalyst Install Manager. But it's more of a practical thing!
But if all works fine, you need not update that driver.

Thanks & Regards. ...

(((( SIMPLY GUESS WORK!
ATI Catalyst Install Manager should be required to install AMD related drivers/stuff, offered at the Support Page. It seems the AMD driver(s) on MSI site does/do not come with the proper installer support & ATI Catalyst Install Manager does it for them. It is a bad work from MSI.
I think installing drivers directly from Device Manager should not need it.
I also think that getting required drivers installers directly from AMD site should solve the problem.
I did not download the big driver zip. So, i can't tell about it )))

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi,
Last but not the least!

How it shows under 'Storage Controllers' in 'Device Manager' ?

 

[loninappleton]

Veneet,


A very detailed description of the areas of hardware I know little. With SSDs to use as boot loaders
down to $20.00 For Adata 120 and $31 for Adata 240GB I should roll over my several machines on my homenet.

The initail MSI 880gm right now has one SSD on the scratch Install plus USB and DVD drive.
You're right, mostly an IDE setup as use very old and often used gear. I have the several PCs mostly to practice with while one is used as stable. The MSI 760 motherboard.

The stable one did not like trying to simply change the IDE to AHCI and hung up in the same manner.


The upgrade process did however show in the BIOS that USB 3 is now available and that is good for aconversion to SSD for loading OS and programs.


i'll get the screen shot if you wish. For multiple questions it's easier brake them up
to single queries.


And can someone fix my spelling error in the subject where it says BUOS?

 

[loninappleton]

I guess these are the post game notes and that is fine. I don't know how much of it works or is supposed to work for best efficiency.


Here is a screen shot of the 880gm E41 with everything on it. I think I am now using all of the
SATA ports still working on this old board-- 3 of 6.


Perhaps I can get some guidance as to how best to utilize the SSD. It appears it is recognized

as standard ATA. The HDD shown on system is a 320 WD Blue.

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi,

1.The stable one did not like trying to simply change the IDE to AHCI and hung up in the same manner
If all the things are working well, I won't suggest.
Anyway, If you want to do it on Vista or Win7, you should follow here : AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista
For Win8 & Win10 :
Enable AHCI in Windows 8 and Windows 10 after Installation | Tutorials

2. And can someone fix my spelling error in the subject where it says BUOS?
Go to the first post, click Edit & Go Advanced. There you can edit the Title.

3. I think I am now using all of the SATA ports still working on this old board-- 3 of 6. Perhaps I can get some guidance as to how best to utilize the SSD. It appears it is recognized as standard ATA. The HDD shown on system is a 320 WD Blue
(a) USB does not use IDE,SATA,AHCI,RAID, etc.
(b) The Disk Management's requested snap can offer some help.
(c) BIOS can make the things clearer.
(d) You can know it by physical inspection of pc internals. Your motherboard has 6 SATA II ports. Your motherboard has 1 IDE port that can be used for 2 IDE devices.
(e) It's sure that something is still using IDE controller :
May be that something is on SATA II port & using backward IDE settings on it.
May be that something is directly on IDE port itself.

4. For guidance over SSD, I can only offer this link : Kindly school me on new SSD best practices

Thanks & Regards. ...

 

[loninappleton]

I see that I mispoke about IDE vs ATA devices above. Everyone caught that no doubt.
Just gave a read- through the School Me thread and I'll follow up with that and find the Utilities they
mentioned.

My SSD is listed as ATA. Is that all and no 'conversion' to AHCI drivers which I suspected would be the concluding step in all this? Example: in Device Manager to open the SSD and redirect it to an AHCI operation driver (a step I nevr could understand with other hardware) and shown as such in the Device Manager.

The School Me thread from above is good though. Thanks.

 

[loninappleton]

I had to remark on this: Changing the BUOS to BiOS was not my fault. I found that when doing the
edit, Cap I was replaced on screen with Cap 'U.'

Perhaps it interferes with some control key but I feel less negligent now and just used loer case "i".

 

[loninappleton]

From the School Me thread I ran the AS Benchmark shown in the screen shot.It has a notation about identifying as AHCI which is reasuring but still not sure if that is the performance advantage.



How does my $21.00 Adata perform by comparison? In other SSD's I see the performance shown in IOPS. Just curious. I'll continue on with the recommendations.

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi,

1. My SSD is listed as ATA. Is that all
No, It is not all. ATA may stand for PATA ( IDE ) or SATA! But believing that you have switched well to AHCI in BIOS & its reflection in Device Manager thereafter, ensures it.
It seems at least one device is still using IDE!
So, to make it pretty sure, I again ask you to go to Disk Management Window, Navigate VIEW>TOP>DISK LIST & share the snap.
BIOS can also tell about it.

2. It has a notation about identifying as AHCI which is reassuring but still not sure if that is the performance advantage
Actually, An SSD should run better under AHCI, Still, you have to decide/compare whether there is any improvement in the performance at all! You should observe the system stability as well.
(a) Run the SSD under IDE in the same installation on the same machine & run different tests.
Then run SSD under AHCI in the same installation on the same machine & run different tests.
Compare the test results & get your truth.
(b) It is also possible that you get some good/exciting numbers in the results but the system is less stable. So, along with the good results, you have to also take in account the stability of the overall system. You can only find that by observation for some days.

3. A New Thought : We thought ATI Catalyst Install Manager is problematic but i doubt one can run/install RAID driver on IDE/AHCI but I am not sure about the locking!

Thanks & Regards. ...

 

[loninappleton]

Veneet,


Earlier I misunderstood your request for the disk managment screen.


I have it attached. We see some things here that look incomplete, but please advise on what you meant at 'a device using IDE.'

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi,
Thanks, Your snapshots made the things clearer.

1. I have edited point 1 in my last post.

2. We see some things here that look incomplete
What are those ?

3. what you meant at 'a device using IDE'
Its now clear that a device is using IDE & that is your CD/DVD drive. It is plugged in a IDE port itself ( Two IDE devices can be attached to your MB in all & one is already connected : CD/DVD Drive )
Its clear that SATA II ports ( 6 ports ) are set to AHCI now.

4. I think you totally missed one point. When you changed BIOS to use SATA II ports as AHCI, you had to reinstall the OS. If you follow the links, you won't need to reinstall OS & you will be switched to AHCI without any problem with the same installation.

( Additionally, I think you are planning to switch to SSDs on mass level, You can migrate OS from HDDs to SSDs easily with Macrium Reflect Free. But first you have to switch to AHCI with HDDs & then migrate OS from HDDs to SSDs with Macrium.
If you are ready/easy to make a fresh install on SSDs, just switch to AHCI in BIOS & then make a fresh install on SSDs itself. )

Anything else ? Please let me know.

Thanks & Regards. ...

 

[loninappleton]

Yes time to close and thanks for your patience. In long threads I don't catch everything. I just reread most of this and have bookmarked the "school me" thread to go over.

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi,
Just to mention :
IDE & SATA Hard Disks are much different. For eg. Max Data Transfer Rate for an IDE hard disk may be up to 133 mb/sec where a SATA hard disk can support up to 6gb/sec. Yours SATA II supports 3gb/sec with hard disks.
your situation is much different than above. Both of your disks are SATA disks which are connected to SATA ports. It is only that you were using them as IDE devices with IDE drivers in the OS. So, I can't tell what exactly would be the difference!
Your BIOS allows to use SATA disks as IDE, SATA AHCI or SATA RAID.
The traditional IDE disks which are connected to IDE ports can't be used as AHCI/RAID (SATA )
You have 6 SATA II ports which can entertain 6 SATA drives while you have 1 IDE port which can entertain 2 IDE devices. One IDE device is already there as CD/DVD Drive.

Thanks & Regards. ...

 

[loninappleton]

Updated M/board drivers, now I have Unknown Device in the Windows Device Manager


This link addresses the question on an MSI board about unknown things in Device Manager
just as I see them and in the screen shot. It's what happens after a BIOS update. What is needed is go into Device Manager then select whatever HD I have and ask for a driver. I'm hoping Win7 can do this
without one of those "have disk" prompts which I've always had problems doing.



I was going to closebut I think it belongs in this thread.

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi,

1) What is the exact model & make of problematic pc & its motherboard ?

2) What is/are the hardware ID(s) of the unknown device(s) in the device manager ?

Device Manager - Finding Unknown Devices

3) What is the Installed BIOS version ?
Run this .bat file & let it load the information. Look for installed BIOS driver version.

View attachment SystemInfo.bat

Let me know.

Thanks & Regards. ...

 

[loninappleton]

There are a lot of good steps here. Things I didn't know so I'll sort it out and then give
any findings.

 

[wither 2]

You might want to either edit that or remove it since it shows your product key.

 

[loninappleton]

can't edit a screen shot. I'll just take it down.