SATA AHCI Mode Bios Setting. What Does it do?

AHCI is the acronym for the Advanced Host Controller Interface. It is a new interface specification that allows the SATA controller driver to support advanced features like Native Command Queuing and Hot Plug.

Many SATA controllers can enable AHCI either separately or in conjunction with RAID support. Intel recommends choosing RAID mode on their motherboards (which also enables AHCI) rather than the plain AHCI/SATA mode for maximum flexibility, due to the issues caused when the mode is switched once an operating system has already been installed.

AHCI is fully supported out of the box for Microsoft Windows Vista and the Linux operating system from kernel 2.6.19. NetBSD also supports drivers in AHCI mode out of the box in certain versions. OpenBSD has had an ahci driver since OpenBSD 4.1. FreeBSD supports AHCI as well. Older operating systems require drivers written by the host bus adapter vendor in order to support AHCI.

Bios Setting

Common Options : Enabled, Disabled

This BIOS feature controls the AHCI function of the SATA controller.

When enabled, the SATA controller enables its AHCI features when the computer boots up.

When disabled, the SATA controller disables its AHCI functions when the computer boots up.

If you would like to make use of the SATA controller's AHCI features, you should enable this BIOS feature. But please note that enabling this feature requires you to load the SATA controller driver during the Windows XP installation routine.

If you do not intend to use the AHCI features, it's recommended that you disable this BIOS feature. This allows you to use the native Windows XP driver. You won't need to load the SATA controller driver during the Windows XP installation routine.

Please note that changing this BIOS feature after installing the operating system may cause a boot failure. You may be required to reinstall the operating system.

Tags: ahci,bios,drivers,freebsd,openbsd,kernel

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