Thinkpads Forum

Hi
has anyone had any experince with rebuilding this model that has vista pre-installed>? i want to put xp on it, but it bluescreens before the "F8" options. i have tried making changes in the bios section, but nothing here makes any diffrence?

im wondering if i would need to maybe download a driver for the sata disk, and maybe use the F6 option to add it?
Any suggestions welcomed.
damien`

LithiumKid1976 wrote:i have tried making changes in the bios section, but nothing here makes any diffrence

What changes did you make in the BIOS?

I'm having the same issues and did some research on the internet and found here about disabling the AHCI.

After reading this I went into the BIOS and from Devices -- ATA Drives Setup I disabled the entry for SATA AHCI. This will turn off AHCI for the SATA connections and they'll revert to IDE compatibility.

Now, while still in the BIOS, you'll have to go to Startup and include the IDE CD & IDE HDD (initially they are excluded). Once I done this I was able to install XP onto the hard drive.

I tried to install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager software, but with AHCI & RAID disabled I wasn't able to install it. I went back into the BIOS to enable AHCI (and RAID) but I wasn't able to boot from the HDD.

It looks like you'll have to have the AHCI disabled to install and from from XP.

- Jon

hi jon
Sorry about that, i should have replied earlier, got this sorted about a week after posting.
basically i made the following changes. (had to contact lenovo for help)


1. under Bios, enter into the “devices” Section
2. choose the “ATA Drives Setup”
3. under Here make sure the settings are set as follows
a. External Sata Port: = Enabled
b. Serial ATA: = Enabled
c. Native Mode Operation: = Enabled
d. SATA RAID Enabled: = Disabled
e. SATA AHCI Enabled: = Disabled
f. Hard Disk Pre-Delay: =Disabled

Once i set them to this, i was able to install xp on it.

hope this helps.
Damien

Do these machine's have floppy drives? If so all you need to do is load the SATA driver onto that floppy using a program that you should be able to find on Intel's site, With that done, insert you XP cd and boot from it and then press F6 (might be some other F key) to load that driver, and the boot process will continue. Now the XP install should be able to see your drive and install to it.

The machines i got, didnt have a floppy drive. i went down that route initally, but when that didnt work, i contacted the suppliers of Lenovo, who told me to make the changes i mentioned above. once i made these changes i was able to build the M58 with the xp image.

So I am having the same issue as mentioned before. I have tried the BIOS settings as mentioned as well. I can get it to work, but it seems as though the BIOS resets the boot order. I have also installed the AHCI drivers and use the defualt settings in BIOS, it goes to the Windows splash screen then reboots, no BSOD, no errors, just a continuous loop. Anyone see this? thanks!

Dan