Latest SATA drivers for T60 are from 2005???

[arrangeit]

Hello Fellow Thinkpaders,

I'm considering trying an SSD in my T60 and thought it might be a good idea to update the SATA drivers in advance. I downloaded the most recent Intel Matrix Storage Manager version 8.9.2.1002 from Lenovo and ran it. The driver update package could not locate an better (i.e. updated) driver for the T60 SATA.

This would seem to indicate the most recent driver is version 7.0.0.1020 from 23/05/2005.

Is this correct? There have been no SATA driver upgrades for 6 years?

Thanks in advance for any pertinent info.

Cheers,
arrangeit

PLEASE SEE SOLUTION IN POST #5

[ZaZ]

You should use the Intel Rapid driver for a SSD. Install it during the installation.

[garnet]

I have a t60 with SSD. Whay is it better to use the intel driver? Any particular improvements over existing lenovo driver?

[arrangeit]

You should use the Intel Rapid driver for a SSD. Install it during the installation.

@FredGarvin

This install is recommended for the ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI Controller. The SATA controller on my T60 2007 is shown as 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family). An ICH7 MDH type driver was in the Matrix Storage Manager version 8.9.2.1002, but the driver update app showed it as not recommended. When I forced the driver update to install...I got a blue screen on reboot. Have you tried this on a T60?

@garnet

What is the driver version on your SATA controller?
In your BIOS, is your SATA mode AHCI or Compatibility?

Thanks for the responses.

[arrangeit]

Solution for others that may have this situation. This came courtesy of jdhurst

I have never tried it, but a quote from WiKi is as follows:

"Enabling AHCI in a system BIOS will cause a 0x7B Blue Screen of Death STOP error on installations of Windows XP where AHCI/RAID drivers for that system's chipset are not installed. Switching to AHCI mode requires installing new drivers before changing the BIOS settings."

So...

1) Install the Intel driver package as per FredGarvin's post and force the driver to update to the ICH7M/MDH driver.

2) Reboot directly into the BIOS.

3) Go to Config > Serial ATA (SATA) > set to AHCI > save BIOS settings. Reboot to OS (XP Pro in my case).

4) Windows will now find the SATA controller with updated drivers and request a reboot.

Cheers,
arrangeit