Install AHCI driver on HDD or SSD w/o Windows?

[21stHermit]

How might I acquire and install a current AHCI driver on either my HDD and/or a M.2 SSD without Windows? I can "talk" to my HDD by inserting it into a USB enclosure and read the files, all seems well. If I can get the HDD booting, I should be able to read/write to the M.2 in the laptop.

My Google searches all yielded AHCI solutions that required Windows running, I don't have that.

Why you might ask? Well both drives have Win 10 installed and I used to be able to boot from either via F12 at boot. Last time I tried, I got no a bootable drive notice. My conclusion is that the AHCI driver was corrupted or is nonexistent. I'm assuming the AHCI driver is the key to seeing the drive, correct me if I'm wrong.

My conclusion is Microsoft bricked my computer via one of their crazy updates. All I had to do was enable F12 in BIOS.

Thanks for looking.

 

[damian101]

That can't have anything to do with a missing driver. Or rather, not a Windows driver (it's integrated into the kernel anyway I believe).
The UEFI firmware of course also needs drivers to read the devices, but let's just hope you don't have corrupted firmware (very unlikely).
Are those two Windows installations UEFI or Legacy BIOS ones? Maybe you disabled CSM in your firmware settings? You won't be able to boot Legacy BIOS bootloaders then.
UEFI boot works quite simple: The motherboard searches for EFI System Partitions on the connected drives (one or two in your case), which contain the bootloaders (or a part of it). Those EFI System Partitions are just FAT32 partitions with a special flag, you can mount them and edit the files on them, you can of course also reformat them.
Some motherboards let you manually add UEFI boot entries from the UEFI settings.
Defective bootloaders, Legacy BIOS and UEFI, can be recreated from a Windows ISO. I've done it a few times.

 

[21stHermit]

Are those two Windows installations UEFI or Legacy BIOS ones? Maybe you disabled CSM in your firmware settings? You won't be able to boot Legacy BIOS bootloaders then.

I found a YouTube video that suggested switching between UEFI and Legacy. I tried both, neither helped.

After that you lost me.

Thanks for posting.

 

[21stHermit]

So how could enabling F12 cause this? All I did was enable F12 > F10 > Enter. Then No bootable drives. Then I disabled F12 > F10 > Enter, still no bootable drives.

How could something so simple brick my laptop?

 

[Shmee]

Hard to say what the issue is, but it sounds like it is a UEFI setting set wrong, that or somehow one of the Windows system partitions were corrupted. That said, what is the exact hardware here? Many modern m.2 drives, though not all of them, use NVMe, not AHCI.

Finally, why are you trying to have two boot drives with windows 10? Is one an older drive that you are trying to recover data from? I guess I don't really understand the order of events and the goal here.

 

[ElFenix]

your uefi is messed up. it's not a driver issue as that's something that exists within windows.

 

[21stHermit]

Thanks for the reply.

Hard to say what the issue is, but it sounds like it is a UEFI setting set wrong, that or somehow one of the Windows system partitions were corrupted. That said, what is the exact hardware here? Many modern m.2 drives, though not all of them, use NVMe, not AHCI.

This is an Acer laptop with a Intel i3. It came with a 1TB HDD. I upgraded it in July to add the M.2 and 16GB RAM. This is the M.2: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TYGQJ45/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

After the upgrade I would use the F12 BIOS feature to dual boot until I had the M.2 as my primary drive and the HD for files. The M.2 preformed fast and faultlessly for 5-months until I attempted to use F12 again. Somehow F12 was disabled, this is where I suspect a Microsoft "upgrade."

Finally, why are you trying to have two boot drives with windows 10? Is one an older drive that you are trying to recover data from? I guess I don't really understand the order of events and the goal here.

I was after some info on T-Bird not on my M.2 that required the HD boot. Since I had repeatedly booted off the HDD before, I perceived no issue.

As soon as I enabled F12 in BIOS and did F10 enter I got the no bootable drives message. Needless to say, disabling F12 did not help.

If you have a test or change to suggest, I'm all ears. Thanks again.

 

[21stHermit]

your uefi is messed up. it's not a driver issue as that's something that exists within windows.

What is a "uefi" and how do I fix it?

Thanks

 

[mindless1]

Load bios defaults, then pull the (mainboard and pack) battery to clear CMOS if that doesn't work? Or there might be two solder blobs to short together, usually near the battery.

 

[ElFenix]

What is a "uefi" and how do I fix it?

Thanks

uefi is a new and improved bios. basically, it's an operating system that performs a few basic checks and then tries to start your real operating system. the way it works nowadays is that windows and uefi are tied together pretty tightly so it's quite a bit less robust than old fashioned bios was.

i'd try the troubleshooting guide dell put together:

How to Repair the EFI Bootloader on a GPT Hard Drive for Windows Operating Systems | Dell US

www.dell.com

assuming you don't want windows to boot from the hard drive, i'd unplug it while fixing the uefi. just makes things simpler with the drive letters and all.

edit: some maybe helpful videos:

 

[21stHermit]

uefi is a new and improved bios. basically, it's an operating system that performs a few basic

I spent the last 10-days trying to use the Dell How-to. Got as far as Fixboot > Access Denied. Tried to understand the Access Denied video you linked, didn't happen.

Long-Short:
Today I was on the Acer forum and the replier asked me to install the HDD and post a pic of the BIOS > Boot screen. When I got there at the top of the boot stack was "Window Boot Manager".

NEVER seen that before, so F10 and it booted from the HDD. I'm writing this reply from the "dead" E5. It's been dead for 5+ weeks.

Can you explain what happened?

Also, will WBM allow me to have the M.2 first?

Thanks for your help.

 

[ElFenix]

have you ever reset the uefi to defaults? you've got something with a pulse right now so if you haven't done so i wouldn't try doing that just yet. just wondering if you have.

WBM should allow you to choose between multiple installed windows operating systems, but having to hit the hard drive to select windows on the SSD is a kludge. can you test the SSD to make sure it works?

 

[21stHermit]

have you ever reset the uefi to defaults? you've got something with a pulse right now so if you haven't done so i wouldn't try doing that just yet. just wondering if you have.

Can't say yes, not sure I know how to set uefi to default.

What I know and think I know: I did F9 in BIOS, that resets the BIOS in an ACER to default. My guess is that doing F9 also brought up Windows Boot Manager which is set to the HDD by default. So when I reinstalled the HDD after F9, WBM found the HDD and booted. Now boots every time.

Went into BIOS and made the M.2 the first boot drive, followed by WBM, then the HDD. Booted from the HDD.

WBM should allow you to choose between multiple installed windows operating systems, but having to hit the hard drive to select windows on the SSD is a kludge. can you test the SSD to make sure it works?

This is the bad news: WBM can't find the M.2. File Mgr sees the M.2. I opened msconfig boot tab and only the HDD appears. So I can't select the M.2 in it to have WBM boot from the M.2.

The M.2 take less than 1/10 the time of the HDD to boot. So sure do miss it.

Been using an ancient XP laptop, boots faster than the Acer HDD but many websites I visit refuse to open.

My suspicion is that I'll have to figure out Fixboot from your earlier post.

Perhaps I should reinstall Win 10 onto the M.2 via my recovery USB. That's how I first transferred the OS to the m.2.

 

[Shmee]

Easiest way to fix this is a fresh install onto the SSD. It may be wise to physically remove the HDD when doing so, then put it back in later.

 

[21stHermit]

Easiest way to fix this is a fresh install onto the SSD. It may be wise to physically remove the HDD when doing so, then put it back in later.

Tried that at least twice in the past weeks, failed ~75%. No clue why. Also downloaded a Win 10 iso onto a USB, that also failed.

Seems I should reinstall BIOS to eliminate any Win 10 upgrade crud.

 

[ElFenix]

I did F9 in BIOS, that resets the BIOS in an ACER to default.

ok so yes you did do it. your "BIOS" isn't a BIOS, it's a UEFI and has been for about 5-6 years now.

does the SSD work?

 

[Shmee]

Tried that at least twice in the past weeks, failed ~75%. No clue why. Also downloaded a Win 10 iso onto a USB, that also failed.

Seems I should reinstall BIOS to eliminate any Win 10 upgrade crud.

This sounds like the SSD is suspect. What kind of error did you get during the install, if any?

 

[21stHermit]

ok so yes you did do it. your "BIOS" isn't a BIOS, it's a UEFI and has been for about 5-6 years now.

Oh didn't know that. What is the practical implication in this context?

does the SSD work?

Yes, when I boot from the HDD. File mgr sees the SSD, opened it and saw many Win OS files and a 4.7GB Win iso. Also inserted it into a M.2 USB box and had no trouble reading everything.

Perhaps I should format the SSD in the USB box and start over with either the recovery USB or the Win 10 iso?

 

[ElFenix]

Oh didn't know that. What is the practical implication in this context?

makes it a lot more difficult to fix stuff that doesn't work. regular old BIOS would do its few checks then look for any operating system on the boot block of the various drives connected in the order specified in the bios. UEFI has bits of the operating system itself stored in with the firmware on the board.

Perhaps I should format the SSD in the USB box and start over with either the recovery USB or the Win 10 iso?

delete all partitions, pull the hard drive out, and start over might work. it's about all that hasn't been tried so far.

 

[21stHermit]

makes it a lot more difficult to fix stuff that doesn't work. UEFI has bits of the operating system itself stored in with the firmware on the board.

That supports my belief that Windows updates would have no problem messing with UEFI, all for the greater good of course.

If BIOS doesn't exist, then the Acer BIOS upgrade/patch is in fact a UEFI upgrade, yes?

I opened regedit today and added a line for NO AUTOMATIC WINDOWS UPDATES, There's a Google link to a How-to for everything.

If I get the M.2 working, you can bet it'll get the same line.

 

[21stHermit]

Success !!!

I reinstalled the latest Acer BIOS (which isn't BIOS) it was already on my HDD. Then inserted the Recovery USB, set Boot to the USB, booted and waited. Hung at 77% for at least 5-min, then proceeded to install Win 10.

Now I have weeks worth of work to get Windows were I had it. Good news, F12 works, In BIOS it shows WBM(HDD) and WBM(SSD). Defaults to the SSD. I'm writing this from the HDD.

I did not format or delete anything on the SSD.

Thanks for all the help.

I'll come back later (days?) to answer any questions.

 

[21stHermit]

Success . . . But!!!

I can't see the HDD when I boot from the SSD. If I boot from the HDD I can see the SSD. Tried diskpart > list disk and the HDD does not appear.

Had this problem when I first installed the SSD, solved by reinstalling Windows. PITA

 

[21stHermit]

Re-installed Win 10, this time from the windows iso on a USB drive. This time I checked that my HDD was there, it was.

Don't know why I have to install windows twice?