This Nerd Heard…

Ok, I know I was going to hack up my Apple TV but I got a little side tracked.   I needed to backup my original drive just in case something went wrong.  So, I decided I wanted to be able to boot my linux setup with AHCI and sata in order to get the fastest drive speed possible. The problem was that AHCI mode was causing my Windows XP install to blue screen.  So, I decided before I touched my Apple TV, I’d rather get my desktop working the way I wanted it to. After all, I use it more than my Apple TV!

I found several web sites that indicated that I could make some modifications to my current XP install and get it to boot in AHCI mode but none of them seemed to work for me.  So, I decided that I needed to slipstream the appropriate drivers into my Windows install.  The problem was, I wasn’t sure which drivers were the appropriate choice. Do I use the JMicron jmb363 driver, or something else?  None of the websites I found dealt directly with the P5K-E, so I wasn’t having much luck.

Here’s what you need to do.  Pop your XP disk into your drive and copy all of it to your hard drive.  I made a directory on my C: drive called XPCD. Go into that directory and create a directory called ‘$OEM$’. Inside of that, create the directory ‘$1′.  Now create a ‘Drivers’ directory inside of that, and finally create a directory for your AHCI drivers.  At this point you should have something like “C:\XPCP\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\AHCI\”.

If you need the drivers, you can download them directly from Intel. At the time of this writing, my driver file was iata87enu.exe.  You’ll need to extract them from the command-line using a command like below:

iata87enu.exe -A -P C:\IntelDrivers\

The correct files will then be in “C:\inteldrivers\winall\Driver” or “C:\inteldrivers\winall\Driver64″ for the 64-bit version of XP.   You’ll need to copy the files inside that directory into the “C:\XPCP\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\AHCI\” directory.
Next you’ll need to go into your I386 folder (“C:\XPCD\I386″) and modify your TXTSETUP.SIF file so that it knows what PCI device to associate your new driver with. You’ll need to add the following information:

[SourceDisksFiles]
Iastor.sys = 1,,,,,,3_,4,1

[HardwareIdsDatabase]
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2922&CC_0106 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&CC_0104 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829&CC_0106 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2822&CC_0104 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2821&CC_0106 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2682&CC_0104 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2681&CC_0106 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C3&CC_0104 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C6&CC_0104 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C1&CC_0106 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106 = “iaStor”
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2653&CC_0106 = “iaStor”

[SCSI.Load]
iaStor = iaStor.sys,4

[SCSI]
iaStor = “Intel(R) ICH9 SATA AHCI Controller (Desktop/Server/Workstation)”

Those headers already exist, so you can just paste in your text below the appropriate file in the SIF file.

After you’ve done that, you’ll need to make a CAB file of the actual driver to put into th I386 folder so that Windows can load it on first boot.  Open up the command line and type:

MAKECAB C:\XPCD\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\AHCI\iaStor.SYS C:\XPCD\i386\IASTOR.SY_

Now, since you’ve gone through the effort of making a custom Windows XP CD, you might as well make life a little easier on yourself. After all, who wants to have to type in that damn product key every time they install? Create a file called “WINNT.sif” inside of your I386 folder.  Inside this file we will A) tell Windows where to find the ICH9 driver to install during setup and B) place our Windows product key for an easier install.

[Data]
AutoPartition=0
UnattendedInstall=”No”
MsDosInitiated=No

[Unattended]
OemPreinstall=Yes
OemPnPDriversPath=”DRIVERS\AHCI”
FileSystem=*

[UserData]
ProductKey=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Now that you’ve done all of this, you must create a bootable ISO that you can burn to CD.  The easiest way to do that is to use the CDIMAGE tool from Microsoft.  You can download it here, with a pretty GUI front end.

Once your ISO is created, I recommend that you try to install it using a virtual machine.  You can get VMWare server for free now.  If it installs there without a hitch, you’re ready to give it a try on your P5K-E motherboard. Good luck.

There are a bunch of other things you can do while you’re at it, too. You can slipstream in the latest Windows service packs, software updates, and even have it install applications for you.  There is a very excellent guide called MSFN’s Unattended Windows.

**Note** The links provided above are offered by third parties and not by myself.  I do not make any guarantees or warranties about the availability, legality, and functionality of those files.  You should always use extreme caution when running executables from unknown and/or untrusted websites.  I highly recommend you backup all crucial data before attempting to reinstall your operating system.  You follow these instructions at your own risk.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 4:38 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.