[HOWTO] Boot Macs with Intel Chipset in AHCI Win7 Vista XP Linux

[dude8]

Hello,

does this guide to enable AHCI work on the newest MBP 2012 (non retina), also? Did anyone test this?

[johnmatrix]

I am having trouble getting this to work on my 13" 2011 Macbook Pro (8,1) with an SSD. I have Mountain Lion installed, and Windows 8 x64 RTM installed.

 

The registry keys in Windows 8 are set properly, by default they were all "0".

 

I then tried using AHCI Enabler application in Mountain Lion, but it can't find my Windows volume so that won't work.

 

I've also tried the sh script, it successfully patched the MBR. It results in Windows 8 crashing on bootup and restarting.

 

I attempted manually patching the MBR using the Mountain Lion boot disc and the patchedcode.bin, it results in Windows 8 crashing on bootup and restarting too.

 

Am I missing something here? any help would be greatly appreciated. I have read something about forcing an AHCI driver update in Windows beforehand, I'm not sure exactly what to do here as I can't find the steps, could this be the culprit?

 

Thanks.

 

EDIT: Got it working, and it was because I hadn't forced the driver update before patching the MBR.

 

Go into device manager, select the SATA device and change the driver to 'Standard SATA AHCI Controller', then boot into the OSX startup disc and patch the MBR. In the first post in this thread, this step is only for Windows XP... it seems Windows 8 requires it too.

[ahmed kamal]

dear johnmatrix , what about sleep ? working ? and bootcamp control panel working too ?

 

thanks .

 

note : i installed windows 8 x64 rtm in efi mode but bottcamp control panel not working but sleep is ok .

[seekigloo]

I seem to have encountered a major problem (with my machine as much as anything) after using the script. I have a MacPro 1,1 and bought a sata BD writer. I connected it to the spare sata connectors and it came up fine in OS X but invisible in Win7. I used the script and it found the drive after a reboot.

 

However I have a serious problem. When I tired to boot back to OS X using the bootcamp control panel it reboots straight to windows. If I try to open the control panel proper it tells me I may not have access rights to do so. I tried using the 'OPTION' key during boot-up to select boot disk but as I use a 'non-officially supported' graphics card I don't see anything at all to let me select the correct partition. My last resort was to try and boot of the last OS X DVD ROM I have but that just got spat back out at me. I can see the OS X boot disk in windows.

 

My next stage is to reset PRAM and see if that makes a difference but if that doesn't work I'm seriously stumped. Help/advice would be most welcome.

[ludacrisvp]

I seem to have encountered a major problem (with my machine as much as anything) after using the script. I have a MacPro 1,1 and bought a sata BD writer. I connected it to the spare sata connectors and it came up fine in OS X but invisible in Win7. I used the script and it found the drive after a reboot.

 

However I have a serious problem. When I tired to boot back to OS X using the bootcamp control panel it reboots straight to windows. If I try to open the control panel proper it tells me I may not have access rights to do so. I tried using the 'OPTION' key during boot-up to select boot disk but as I use a 'non-officially supported' graphics card I don't see anything at all to let me select the correct partition. My last resort was to try and boot of the last OS X DVD ROM I have but that just got spat back out at me. I can see the OS X boot disk in windows.

 

My next stage is to reset PRAM and see if that makes a difference but if that doesn't work I'm seriously stumped. Help/advice would be most welcome.

It has been mentioned several times in this thread that it disables the boot camp control panel.

I would either do some blind guessing via the option key and write down how many arrows left/right it takes to boot whichever OS you want or do what I do and keep the original Mac graphics card in slot 1 and put the windows card in slot 2 then during boot you have video out via the Mac card. You might also try using a dvi to VGA adapter with your current card as I thought I recalled reading that some of them had output. Also as noted in this thread several times the 2 unused SATA ports work fine in osx but are disabled in windows. This is 50% of the reason this modification exists.

[seekigloo]

Well I managed to get back to OS X using the PRAM reset and the OS X install disc. Lucky me. Don't know if I feel brave enough to get back into windows now lol. There are a couple of problems that I still need to address, probably one is to see if there is a 3rd party windows app for selecting the OS X boot disk. I had tried the various fixes for the control panel that people were saying worked but nothing happened for me at all, that's why I was getting a little worried.

 

I'd love to have the 2nd graphics card in the MP, however I don't have enough of the 6 pin molex connectors for both as my current card eats them all up.

 

Maybe I should just get a new MP as all the optical drives are SATA and the only real reason I needed the AHCI issue resolved was so that the BD drive was active in windows...

 

Thanks for the script and everything though, I'm certainly not ungrateful for that.

[seekigloo]

Hmm, I wonder if my problem is the following:-

 

 

*** Report for internal hard disk ***

 

Current GPT partition table:

# Start LBA End LBA Type

1 40 409639 EFI System (FAT)

2 409640 123775847 Mac OS X HFS+

3 123775848 125045383 Mac OS X Boot

 

Current MBR partition table:

# A Start LBA End LBA Type

1 1 125045423 ee EFI Protective

 

MBR contents:

Boot Code: None

 

Partition at LBA 40:

Boot Code: None (Non-system disk message)

File System: FAT32

Listed in GPT as partition 1, type EFI System (FAT)

 

Partition at LBA 409640:

Boot Code: None

File System: HFS Extended (HFS+)

Listed in GPT as partition 2, type Mac OS X HFS+

 

Partition at LBA 123775848:

Boot Code: None

File System: HFS Extended (HFS+)

Listed in GPT as partition 3, type Mac OS X Boot

 

I'm guessing it isn't right.

[lalithkr]

Successfully Enabled AHCI on MacPro Eight-core 2009 Nephalem (MacPro 4,1) running bootcamp and Windows 7 64bit.

 

Processors: 2.26Ghz Quadcore Xeon (Eightcore)

Chipset: Intel ICH1010R SATA AHCI controller

 

Successfully updated Standard AHCI 1.0 Driver to Intel ICH1010R SATA AHCI controller driver.

 

Enabled AHCI in Windows 7 64bit using the regedit method. / microsoft fix method

Used AHCI Enabler.dmg by Johnsocks (thanks) in OSX. (Make sure to disconnect all other NTFS drives other than the BOOTCAMP one.)

 

Then downloaded Intel ICH10 family AHCI drivers / Intel Matrix Storage Manger for the chipset.

This updates the Standard AHCI 1.0 driver to the Intel driver.

 

Good to go.

 

Hopefully this helps/confirms/saves time to anybody trying to do this for this configuration.

 

Thanks again to everyone involved. Helped solve some pro audio related issues when dealing with large track counts.

[glocker_1]

I have a Mid2010 MacPro (5,1) running Lion, Bootcamp4, and Win7-64. I followed all the regedit steps and was able to use AHCI Enabler to patch my MBR. I was able to get one of my two ICH10 controllers to update to the ICH10R AHCI drivers. However, the other Intel controller is still just ICH10 with the PATA drivers. So my two DVD drives and my first two hard drives (HD slots 0 and 1) are now sata/ahci. However the last two hard drives (HD slots 3 and 4) are still "IDE" drives.

 

Any ideas on how to get the second controller to update also?

 

thanks,

 

dave

 

 

[mrhaugland]

Hi,

 

I got my Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD a this week, and installed Win8 via Bootcamp 5. Thereby I enabled ACHI using this guide. Only I didn`t find the listed subkey, so I changed the ones under instead:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci\
Locate the Error Control entry which should have a value of 3. Right-click on the entry name, select Modify, change the value from 3 to 0 and click OK.

 

Everything worked alright, and Samsung Magician shows that ACHI is enabled.

 

However, as a lot of the posters here, my computers freezes after being in sleepmode. Its just stuck on the picture you have to press enter to get rid off in order to enter password (except the clock and date isn`t showing). A couple of times the computer BSOD`s. The only thing working is moving the mouse arrow around.

 

I have tried both Standard ACHI drivers and Intels drivers, same result with both of them.

 

I am sorry if someone has postet the answer to this before, I have briefed trough the forum post, unable to find anything.

 

I am on a MacBook Pro 15" Mid 2010, running Intel C2D 2,4Ghz.

[titan87]

Hi,

 

I got my Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD a this week, and installed Win8 via Bootcamp 5. Thereby I enabled ACHI using this guide. Only I didn`t find the listed subkey, so I changed the ones under instead:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci\
Locate the Error Control entry which should have a value of 3. Right-click on the entry name, select Modify, change the value from 3 to 0 and click OK.

Everything worked alright, and Samsung Magician shows that ACHI is enabled.

 

However, as a lot of the posters here, my computers freezes after being in sleepmode. Its just stuck on the picture you have to press enter to get rid off in order to enter password (except the clock and date isn`t showing). A couple of times the computer BSOD`s. The only thing working is moving the mouse arrow around.

 

I have tried both Standard ACHI drivers and Intels drivers, same result with both of them.

 

I am sorry if someone has postet the answer to this before, I have briefed trough the forum post, unable to find anything.

 

I am on a MacBook Pro 15" Mid 2010, running Intel C2D 2,4Ghz.

 

i have exactly same problem with Samsung SSD 840 500GB, everything runs well, but wake up is impossible from sleep, i can only move with mouse pointer for a while than BSOD comes :/

[AtlantisX]

Hi All,

 

I'd like to say thanks to all the posters regarding AHCI mode under Windows 7 on Mac Pros.  I have AHCI working now with my 2010 Mac Pro 5,1 and I'm seeing a significant speed boost for my SSD dedicated to Windows 7 Enterprise 64-Bit. 

 

I did run into an issue though where the SATA ports for drive bays 3 and 4 do not show any drives attached.  I'd like to be able to use all six ports if possible.  Is there any way to enable those two ports or am I stuck in combo mode under AHCI with Windows 7?

 

My Drives are:

 

Optical Upper:  Apple stock DVD burner

Optical Lower:  4TB HGST Hard Drive (for non-boot use; HFS+)

Bay 1:  1TB HGST Hard Drive (for non-boot use; NTFS)

Bay 2:  512GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD  (Windows 7 Enteprise 64-Bit Boot; NTFS)

Bay 3:  1TB HGST Hard Drive (for non-boot use; HFS+)   <<Does not show up under Windows 7>>

Bay 4:  512GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD  (MacOS X 10.8.4 Boot)  <<Does not show up under Windows 7>>

FYI (and unrelated to my Mac Pro post) -  I've checked the 2012 MacBook Pro (Retina) and 2012 11" MacBook Air and found that both seem to have AHCI enabled by default under Windows 7 Enterprise 64 Bit... Both are using the same chipset for storage.

[ludacrisvp]

My 3,1 is able to use all 6 SATA ports in windows.

Not sure why the 5,1 would be any different.

 

I've run 8 internal drives off of my Mac in the past, 2 PATA, 6 SATA.

 

Did you install the newer intel storage AHCI drivers or keep the stock Microsoft ones?

[AtlantisX]

I am using the Intel Storage Matrix v8.9 drivers.  For the drives that show up (optical upper optical lower, bay 1 and bay 2), performace is better under AHCI.  I do seem to recall that the SATA controllers are different in the 5,1 (ICH10R) vs. an older ESxxx controller but not sure if that matters in this case but I suspect it might in terms of patching the MBR.   I did see a post somewhere (I can't seem to find it again) that mentioned a code change to the MBR patch to disable combined mode under the AHCI on the 5,1.  I used patchedcode.bin to patch the MBR but not sure if it was the latest version floating around out there or not or if there is a version for ICH10R Mac Pros.

 

Any thoughts?

[AtlantisX]

Anyone?  or am I the only one on the fourms with a Mac Pro 5,1? 

[tuckshoprn]

Hello everyone,

 

I have a Mac Pro 2,1 and have tried enabling ahci on my windows 7x64 drive (separate drive), but when i use the ahci enabler, i get "unsupported chipset" - intel ESB2 AHCI

 

The forum post said it should work with all mac pro models, i know mine is quite old, but does anyone have a solution?

 

From system report:

 

Intel ESB2 AHCI:

 

  Vendor: Intel

  Product: ESB2 AHCI

  Link Speed: 3 Gigabit

  Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit

  Description: AHCI Version 1.10 Supported

 

I am running mountain lion, so maybe it is reporting the wrong chipset?

 

Kind regards,

 

Andrew

[marckan]

I have a mac mini (3,1) early 2009, with MPC79 chipset. It has installed Windows 7 x64 trought bootcamp (with MBR) without bootcamp drivers.

I have used Windows 7 x64 drivers, in this case the certificate nvidia drivers:

 

**************************************************************************************************************

Version: 15.58 ^WHQL Release Date: 2011.05.02 Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit Language: English (U.S.) File Size: 70.9 MB  

 

 

*nForce 7 series:
780a SLI, 760i SLI, 750a SLI, 740i SLI, 740a SLI, 730i (Geforce 9400/9300), 730a (GeForce 8300/8200), 720i, 720a (GeForce 8100), 710a

 

*Release highlights, Windows Vista/Win7 64-bit Driver Versions:

• Ethernet Driver (v73.20) WHQL
• Network Management Tools (v73.16) "Sedona"
• SATAIDE Driver (v11.1.0.43) WHQL
• SATARAID Driver (v11.1.0.43) WHQL
• RAIDTOOL Application (v11.1.0.43)
• SMBUS Driver (v4.74) WHQL
• SMU Driver (v1.71) WHQL
• Installer (v7.57)

****************************************************************************************

My question is: ¿Could be able to install SATAIDE Driver?, I saw this driver has AHCI mode.

 

 

Thanks a lot.

Sorry for my english.

Greetings to all.

[gonenutsbrb]

Hey guys, awesome thread so far.  Any updates on Windows 8 helping with the bootcamp panel?  Also, I haven't been able to determine from reading if the bootcamp control panel being disabled affects the use of function keys or two finger right-click.  Do these things still function and you just cannot access the control panel?

 

Running a MBP 8,2 with a Samsung 840 EVO 500GB.

 

Thanks for the help!

[TD_Trader]

Here is a BETA of the new AHCI Enabler tool. It is designed to replace the script used previously. This has been tested with all Intel chipsets used so far by Apple. The program also includes the ability to backup and restore your MBR. I recommend you do this, since this program is still BETA. Use at your own risk!

 

Please provide feedback via this forum, whether it's bugs, feature requests, complaints, or praise!

 

AHCI_Enabler.dmg

 

I tried using the AHCI Enabler.dmg file, but it won't work in Mavericks 10.9

 

I keep getting the following error:   "AHCI Enabler" can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.  

 

I have a 2008 Apple Mac Pro (3,1) running OS X 10.9 Mavericks and Windows 8.

 

My first hard drive has OS X 10.9 Mavericks on it.  My second SATA hard drive has Windows 8 on it.

 

I installed a SATA Blu-Ray burner (in one of the DVD-drive slots) and connected it to a SATA port on the motherboard.  I need to enable AHCI in order to get the Blu-Ray burner to work properly in Windows 8.

 

Is there any way that I can run the AHCI Enabler.dmg file, and why am I getting the "unidentified developer" error anytime I try to open/run the AHCI Enabler.dmg file?

[TD_Trader]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

To get around the following error:  "AHCI Enabler" can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.

 

I did the following:

 

1) Right-click (or control-click) AHCI Enabler application and choose "Open".

2) Click the "Open" button at the next dialog warning to launch the app anyway.

 

 

This seems to be a "Gatekeeper" security error in OS X 10.9 Mavericks.  

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I have a 2008 Apple Mac Pro (3,1) and I'm trying to use all 6 SATA ports in Windows 8.  

 

My 3,1 is able to use all 6 SATA ports in windows.

Not sure why the 5,1 would be any different.

 

I've run 8 internal drives off of my Mac in the past, 2 PATA, 6 SATA.

 

Did you install the newer intel storage AHCI drivers or keep the stock Microsoft ones?

 

Is there an updated version of the AHCI Enabler App that works properly with OSX 10.9 Mavericks and Windows 8 Pro (64-bit)?

 

After running the AHCI Enabler (Beta), it shows the following NTFS Volumes found:  disk0s1 (BOOTCAMP)

 

Disk To Modify: /dev/disk0  (grayed out)

Windows Version:  Unknown (I'm running Windows 8 Pro 64-bit)

Chipset: Intel ESB2 AHCI

 

I am unable to click the "Modify" button, because it's grayed out, and at the top it says "Unable To Locate Code Block".

 

What do I do now?  How do I get this AHCI Enabler working with Windows 8?  The AHCI Enabler App doesn't seem to recognize the Windows Version (Windows 8).  It says "Unknown" for the Windows Version, and it doesn't allow me to click the "Modify" button (the modify button is grayed out).  Does the AHCI Enabler not work properly with Windows 8?  After I select "disk0s1 (BOOTCAMP)" as the NTFS volume, why can't I click the "Modify" button?  Why does it say "Unable To Locate Code Block"?

 

How do I get this AHCI Enabler app to properly modify my Windows 8 MBR to enable AHCI?  Is there an updated version of this tool that recognizes Windows 8 and works properly with Windows 8 version?

 

Thank-you,

Mark

[gonenutsbrb]

I tried using the AHCI Enabler.dmg file, but it won't work in Mavericks 10.9

 

I keep getting the following error: "AHCI Enabler" can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.

Is gatekeeper disabled in your security settings of system preferences? Try looking for the radio button that says something like "allow apps from any developer". I don't know the exact wording off-hand.

[TD_Trader]

Is gatekeeper disabled in your security settings of system preferences? Try looking for the radio button that says something like "allow apps from any developer". I don't know the exact wording off-hand.

 

Yes, I've just disabled gatekeeper.  ("Allow apps downloaded from:  ANYWHERE")

 

I'm able to run the "AHCI Enabler BETA" now, but I'm not sure if I have a very old version of the AHCI Enabler App (2010?) and if a newer version exists?

 

The old version that I am using, doesn't seem to recognize my Windows 8 Version (Windows 8 Professional 64-bit).  For Windows Version is says:  "Unknown".

 

The only NTFS Volumes found are "disk0s1 (BOOTCAMP)"

 

Disk To Modify:  /dev/disk0

Windows Version:  Unknown

Chipset:  Intel ESB2 AHCI

 

But I can't click the "Modify" button because it's grayed out.

 

Any ideas as to what I can do/try next?  Is there a new/updated version of the AHCI Enabler Beta?  (something newer than 2010?)

 

Thank-you,

Mark

[tuckshoprn]

This is what i get when i try to run ahci enabler on my mac pro 2,1 running OS X 10.9 (13A603)

Anybody know how to get past this.

It also does the same on OSX 10.8

I assume since i have an older mac pro, that the chipset is supported as others seem to have got it working?

[tuckshoprn]

Just tried ahci enabler on my mid 2010 macbook pro running 10.9, same message except its a different chipset, Nvidia MCP89 AHCI

 

Any help welcome

[Hookly]

Thanks to you guys for all the work put into this a few years back.  I'm sad to see this topic has quieted down.  Has anyone picked up the reigns and kept AHCI alive?

 

My System:

Mac Pro 2008

Mavericks 10.9 & Windows 7 64 ultimate

Bay 1: SSD - 1 partition: OS X (10.9)

Bay 2: SSD - 2 partitions: 1-HFS, 2-NTFS (Win7.64) 

 

The AHCI Enabler app works, however it detects the Windows Version as XP.  No biggie maybe.  I also tried the script (1.0) and modified it to force detect Windows 7.

 

Both the app and the script are able to modify the MBR.  So far so good.

BUT... The modified MBR prevents Windows from booting.

 

A disk read error occurred.  Press ctrl+alt+del to restart.

 

I was able to restore the MBR with the backup, and Windows boots (without AHCI).  Why won't the modified MBR work?

It can't be that the modified MBR is incompatible with NTFS as a partition instead of an entire drive, could it?  So many Windows installations are partitions.

Could it be that Mavericks made changes to EFI, GUID, or MBR?