Advanced Host Controller Interface

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a hardware mechanism that allows software to communicate with Serial ATA devices such as host bus adapters. The specification details a system memory structure for computer hardware vendors, in order to transfer data between system memory and the device.

The AHCI protocol was announced by Intel in a May 2003 press release.

Note: Enabling AHCI mode in BIOS may cause problems with any already installed operating system, and may require re-installing the OS. Microsoft Windows requires a separate device driver diskette for installation on AHCI-enabled disks, using the F6 Installation method. Failure to do so will spawn a 0x7B BSoD STOP error. Switching to AHCI requires installing new drivers before changing BIOS settings. Some later versions of Windows XP Service Pack 2 include limited AHCI/SATA support

Note: Enabling AHCI mode in BIOS may also cause Windows set up failure, with the according error message "set up could not detect hard disk drive...". To fix this error, disable AHCI in your BIOS or press F6 at the beginning of setup to use a floppy driver which is created from the mainboard CD.