Trying to Install Xp on Vista Machine - F6 SATA Issues!

Well this is probably the 9,645st thread about this topic but mine seems to be that much more difficult and weird.

So like everyone else I just bought a new computer with Vista 64bit already installed and after months of giving it a chance Im disgusted with its RAM performance especially compared to XP, and since im a 3d graphics artist this is HUGE for me and no way around it.

More specifically I have a Dell XPS630
Dual Core 3ghz Intel Processors
4GB RAM
512MB SL 9800GT Nvidia GeForce Card
Windows Vista 64bit SP2

I just bought a fresh brand new copy of Windows XP 64bit with SP2 which wasnt too cheap, and a floppy drive to boot. I also shrink volumed 200 gigs off my original 500 gig HD so i could have a Dual boot setup. The letter path has been changed to C accordingly too, so I thought I was ready...

Now ive read many of the threads relating to this big problem and have followed the steps. Im having the issue that a lot of people seem to have when I try and install my XP 64bit OS, everything is fine UNTIL i get to the "Starting Windows" prompt after all the other drivers have loaded, then BLAM Blue screen of death.

I tried locating the SATA 'autodetect' feature in the BIOS, and my BIOS doesnt offer that capability of turning it off or on, just autodetects the drive's hard drive space (500GB). So no good there.

So then I downloaded the SATA driver for my hard drive from the Dell Driver page (at least the closet to my exact model, model number for mine wasnt listed on Dell's site for SATA drivers). Then I uploaded the driver to my Floppy External Drive, ready to install in during the Windows Driver setup process by hitting F6, right?...

Well to no avail, I cant even get a response when I hit F6 when it prompts me "If you want to install a third party Raid...." The keyboard works fine, all the other F keys work, especially since I have to hit F12 to get to boot options and F2 for BIOS.

I feel like I got a curse or a bum dell machine somehow, since I cant see anyone else with my little roadblock. Never had an issue with the machine at all (had it 6months and still have warranty)

If i cant get the F6 prompt to even act at all, is there anyway to get my SATA drivers onboard so I can get XP to install?


Im getting pretty peeved at windows after 13 years of solid backing from me...

Anyone who helps me fix this issue and has a paypal account can expect $30 bucks from me for sure, thats nothing considering how this is holding up my workflow and freelance work!

There are some reports of the XPS 630 with more than 2gb ram having problems installing XP 64, so give 2 gigs a try. If it works , then add the other ram later.

Windows XP 64bit

That was a very poorly supported OS in relation to drivers. You would have been better off to have gotten Windows 7 64 bit.

...or good old XP 32-bit.

Update:

I finally got past the BSOD after the driver installations. I formatted the partition and was ready to start copying windows files onto the fresh partition, and now Im hitting a new roadblock. I get a screen with a prompt asking for me to enter the Disk with the Nvidia RAID Drivers on it into the Floppy Drive, and it asked for the Nvidia ACHI Driver (SCSI) the second time I tried it . I cant bypass this since it only gives me the option of quitting all setup installation if it cant recognize my drivers.

Weird thing is I do have the floppy disk in when it prompts me for the drivers, ive downloaded the latest and correct drivers from Nvidias site copied the ide_sata drivers to one floppy (1mb) and the sata_raid drivers to the second floppy. None of these work when im prompted to insert the correct floppy, I just hit Enter and nothing happens...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BipolarBill

...or good old XP 32-bit.

---

just out of curiosity what are the caps that 32bit doesnt recognize RAm, 3 gigs, 4 gigs? processor speed?

http://www.crucial.com/support/recognize_memory.aspx

No limits on CPU speed.

It sounds like the floppy drive itself has failed.

Make sure that when you extract the drivers to the floppy that there is a proper list of folders and files on the floppy. There should be a TXSETUP.OEM file visible. Don't just copy the download to the floppy. It may be zipped.

Also, the TXSETUP.OEM or the .INI must be the first file on the floppy.
Put both files on the floppy, in the order the setup file is looking for them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bruceb

Also, the TXSETUP.OEM or the .INI must be the first file on the floppy.
Put both files on the floppy, in the order the setup file is looking for them.

---

not really sure how to put files "in order" -- how would i know if it isnt checking the files in right order


As for the floppy drive failure, it detects fine in every other aspect, and can see and access all of the drivers I copied to the floppy easily enough, just that one screen within the installation that gets me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BipolarBill

It sounds like the floppy drive itself has failed.

Make sure that when you extract the drivers to the floppy that there is a proper list of folders and files on the floppy. There should be a TXSETUP.OEM file visible. Don't just copy the download to the floppy. It may be zipped.

---

the folder contents i am putting on the floppy is just the drivers from the win64>IDE_Sata folder. I also unzipped the contents first then copied the drivers to the floppy. here's a pic of the drivers i have loaded to the floppy

I just tried installing 32 bit xp and the same issue happens after checking the hard disks after it formatted my partition...
Get the :
Please Insert Disk into Drive A with
Nvidia ACHI Driver (SCSI)
and hit Enter when ready
So I hit enter and still absolutely no response, no try again, no signal from the computer or floppy that it is at least scanning for the drivers, nada

Are you sure there is no IDE mode for the SATA ports? That would get you around this F6 problem altogether.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Midknyte

Are you sure there is no IDE mode for the SATA ports? That would get you around this F6 problem altogether.

---

Ive checked many many times, and believe me I want it to be there! My Bios has the IDE/SATA Configuration tab under the Advanced Features Tab.

Under the IDE SATA Congif tab is a list of the storage controllers, including the four SATA ports, but when I select them the next screen shows one single line :

IDE Auto Detection : [Enter]

When I hit Enter it just autodetects the size of the HDD, no way of changing the achi or IDE.


As for the floppy disk issue, i had Floppy Disk disabled under the Integrated Peripherals section of my BIOS, and when I enabled it and restarted it I got the :
Floppy Disk Fails (40) message


Although even when i had the floppy disk disabled all this time I could use it (external USB floopy drive). Is it a matter of me installing drivers for MOBO for the floppy disk integration? your thoughts?

for what its worth my BIOS version is 1.0.13...

Not sure if there is a way to update my BIOS and get more IDE options?

The IDE Mode selection may be in another section of the BIOS.

You should realize changing the AHCI setting will effect Vista and require a reinstall. You should check Device Manager -IDE Controller properties which should reveal if AHCI is enabled.
Probably the only way to overcome this problem is to slipstream the drivers into a XP CD using nLite.
http://www.msfn.org/board/integratio...rs-t51140.html

You might checkout http://www.my630i.com/index.php

I would opt for Windows 7 , better ram performance like XP , better experience than XP , but alas you've went a bought XP.

Well with no avail with setting the BIOS settings for the IDE/Sata config and checking all the other settings, no luck.

I opened up my pc and checked the motherboard to see what my IDE access was, and it looks like the hookup for the IDE is blocked partially by the videocard. Really suprised DELL failed with the design there. So I cant hookup a new IDE hard drive to get past the SATA issuem unless an adaptor (SATA to IDE converter) would somehow overide it, but i doubt it.

Im wondering if I should just install my xp64bit on an external hard drive ...any ideas people

check the pic attached for my motherboard..


still ready to chuck 30-40 bucks at the right answeree

cheers!

How much space is between the connector and the video cards?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Train

How much space is between the connector and the video cards?

---

the cards actually overlap the edges of the iDE port
the space where the face of the port is in relation to where the card hangs over the board is:
1/8th - 1/4inch

Checked several of my ribbons, 3/8th of a inch after plugging in.

If you have a open PCI slot, you can use a Ultra 133 TX2 ATA-133 PCI Controller Card
I use the NON-Raid ones to add 4 more IDE devices.

Have you tried slipstreaming the drivers yet ? Also check the latest bios udate, I believe it stated in the notes about fixing the hidden SATA settings.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rocketmech

Have you tried slipstreaming the drivers yet ? Also check the latest bios udate, I believe it stated in the notes about fixing the hidden SATA settings.

---

I havent tried slipstreaming, if that is using something like Nlite to get it on the install cd. just the floppy disk sata driver route..
Gonna try it out today though, we'll see..

the bios update should be the latest, the dell website lists mine (1.0.13 version) as the latest BIOS to date, with no directions for SATA/IDE configuration. I may be wrong and would love it if i was and someone could point it out so i could fix this

Since this is Windows XP, I would suggest using AutoStreamer to do the slipstream as it is easier to use than
N--Lite ... You should begin the process with an XP CD with SP2 or SP3 already in it. Then run Autostreamer and
follow the steps to add in your SATA drivers. When done, burn the to a cd and do the installation.

You can get it here: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownloa...oad-13918.html

Easy to use, just watch what the screen says to do.

Link on how to use:

http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/u...streamer.shtml

well some good news and bad news...

i tried slipstreaming with nlite and it worked. Got the complete installation process completed, but when windows xp64 restarted to load for the first time it BSOD's and restarts right after the windows xp64bit loading flash screen. And it does the same thing when i boot to safe mode

Something to know, is that I am going for a dual boot and still have my vista 64 os loaded on its original partition (C drive) and have xp 64 on my other partition (D drive)

Looking into dual boot managers now to see if this is causing the BSOD which im pretty certain is the culprit, which should be my last hurdle for this installation process

any thoughts?...

So I ficed the OS bootloader through a tutorial i found (www.dreamincode.net/forums/showtopic26756.htm), where i edited the Boot Config Data Editor and everything completed successfully. I rebooted and got to the OS loader screen with both XP and Vista displayed, and then after I start the XP OS and the splash screen begins to load the OS, it hits the BSOD and reboots before I can even see the error code.

My Vista OS still works fine, but no luck with the XP disc that is brand new(completely legit) The install seemed to go fine after i slipstreamed the drivers for the SATA and ethernet onto a CD, finished formating, copying windows files, reboot then went through basic protocol of setting timezone, networking, computer name, etc., then reboot to start windows xp for the first time and BOOM, i get the BSOD during the splash screen..

wondering if a complete formatting of the whole drive and just putting xp on, since thats all i need at this point might fix it..


Any ideas?

Well I stopped the auto restart feature so i could get the error code from the BSOD

Im getting this:


*** STOP: 0x0000007b, (0xfffffadf90a0f3c0, 0xfffffffc0000034, 0x0000000000000000,0x0000000000000000)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103

I don't see Dell posting any x64 drivers, just the x32 for XP, but maybe I'm missing it. There may be a reason for that...

I would try chkdsk from the Recovery Console first, if that doesn't help then a Repair Install. Your slipstream disk should include all the drivers for your system when trying the Repair Install. Yep, you have to make another.

How to Repair Install XP

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rocketmech

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103

I don't see Dell posting any x64 drivers, just the x32 for XP, but maybe I'm missing it. There may be a reason for that...

I would try chkdsk from the Recovery Console first, if that doesn't help then a Repair Install. Your slipstream disk should include all the drivers for your system when trying the Repair Install. Yep, you have to make another.

How to Repair Install XP

---

yeah, dell doesnt list any 64bit sata drivers for xp, but i checked the device manager and the manufacturer for my sata storage controller is actually Nvidia, and a little more research showed me it was the nvidia nforce 650i controller, so i went to nvidia and got the appropriate drivers but no luck. I think Im gonna just try a 32bit install slipstream till i get 64 working......ah Fun Fun!

just to clarify there is no reason to hit F6 when it prompts for third party raid driver installation, etc., right? It didnt go to BSOD like it used to if i didnt hit F6 so i figured the sata driver installed fine during the installation process. Its almost like it took the driver fine during setup but once the GUI was trying to load it wasnt working then...

someone helping me at techguy forums told me that my error message broke down to this:

0x0000007B=Unmountable Boot Volume
0xfffffffc0000034=STATUS_OBJECT_NAME_NOT_FOUND

which seems to match the microsoft troubleshooting page you posted

Just a quick point::

In any windows multiboot system and especially one involving Vista or Windows 7
you must always install the Oldest Operating System first, then the newest one.

So you should start with a clean drive, that has no boot record or os on it.
Install and get XP up and running the way it should. Then install Windows 7 or Vista
and let it create the boot menu. Boot records are not the same in Vista / Windows 7
as they were in XP

Also try these steps to see if the dual boot can be fixed:

At this stage you can now boot into Windows Vista, but no longer boot into Windows XP.

2. To enable the Windows Vista boot manager to boot Windows XP you need to type in the following 4 commands. If you can access your Windows Vista disk from Windows XP then open a command prompt window and navigate to the Windows Vista SYSTEM32 folder.

If Windows Vista is on the C: drive:

Type C: then press <Enter>
Type CD \windows\system32 then press <Enter>

Type each of the following four lines then press <Enter>

bcdedit /create {ntldr} –d “Previous versions of Windows”


C: is the drive letter of the boot partition, this is normally C:

bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr

bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} –addlast
3. If you cannot access the Windows Vista bcdedit file then re-boot into Windows Vista and run 2, above.

You now have a working Vista / XP dual boot system.

And also see this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919529