Sata Installation Problem with Vista and AHCI

[Demi]

Hi all,
I have an Intel DG965RY motherboard & chipset and am having major problems trying to install Vista (32 bit) with AHCI for my SATA-II drive. I can install Vista and the drive fine using the BIOS SATA IDE Setting (though the UDMA does not seem to be what I expected) but whenever I change the BIOS setting to AHCI, I get problems upon installing. I am using Vista 32-bit, and it's my understanding that I do not use the F6 method for installation, but merely Select the "Load Driver" button during the Vista installation. I downloaded the files as per the Intel site and have put them onto a floppy. However, when I click on "Load Driver", the only way I can see any items is to unselect the "only show compatible drivers for your hardware" checkbox. So my first question is why are there no "compatible" items shown in the first place?

According to the Intel site, the DG965RY chipset supports transfer rates of up to 3Gb/s and AHCI. In addition, the AHCI option appears in the BIOS (though there is no RAID option). So, based on this information, I would have expected to be able to take advantage of AHCI. So this is as far as I have been able to get.

Do I need to do something else? Have I missed something? Between the mobo, the BIOS, Vista, Drivers and the AHCI Controller, I'm lost and have no idea what to do or try next.

I am out of ideas! Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

[Curt]

F6 and browsing for the drivers is the same thing really. It is just presented differently in Vista than XP. Verify that you are using the Vista 32bit driver and have the latest BIOS update.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...ng&PrdMap=2800