How to enable AHCI for HP ENVY TouchSmart m6-k015dx Sleekbook

[fliersrr]

Hello,

I upgraded my hard drive to a SSD and that is done. Laptop works fine.  Installed the Samsung SSD software and it says I need to Enable AHCI to get the SSD running at full potential.

I searched the BIOS and do not see anyplace to change this.  I then went to the Device Manager in Windows 8.1and I do not see any ATA/SATA controller.  All I see is a RAID controller. RAID controller in a laptop? 

Can someone tell me how to enable the AHCI?

Thank you.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Because your notebook is a consumer notebook there is no way to change the BIOS setting to AHCI.

The BIOS is defaulted to RAID on your model series because some models come with one of those hybid drives with a SSD cache and for some technical reason those have to be configured in RAID 0 mode in order for the setup to work right.

It is my understanding that if you install the latest Intel RST driver, that is supposed to provide TRIM support for SSD's starting with the Intel Series 7 chipset, and yours has the series 8, so it should have full support for using an SSD even in RAID mode.

[fliersrr]

 

Your are correct.  Thank you.

Here is the RST and a very fast benchmark of the SSD in RAPID mode in the HP Envy laptop. Could not be happier. Even with the warrning of not being in AHCI mode, the benchmarks are double the projected goal. WOW!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[HWBryan]

When you close the performance test portion of the window, does it also show besides the AHCI message that the SATA interface cannot be determined?  I also show that the speed is at 3 Gbps and yours shows 6 gbps?  I have a dv7-7398 17" laptop.  I have configured everything on the drive including overprovisioning.

[starrynighter]

Similarly, I have an

HP ENVY dv7-7304tx

now succesfully running a Samsung 840 Evo SSD as the primary disk (second disk is the original spinning disk), and Samsung Magician software tells me I need to enable AHCI mode which is not possible in the BIOS.

Does this have the same or similar solution to that provided here?

Cheers.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Your model has the same drive controller configuration as the model in this thread.

Accordingly the info here pertains to your situation as well.

[Bill-S737]

Hi Paul,

I have an Envy dv6t CT7300 Quad edition, now upgraded to a 512Gb Samsung 850 Pro SSD, which works--though NOT at speeds posted above. Only about 15% faster than Seagate 750Gb hybrid it replaced.

Same issues on AHCI (no option in BIOS).

Appears to be same hardware in device manager (if I made/posted a picture, it'd be identical to that in this thread).

My question is about the latest Intel RST driver.

I get an error when I try to run Intel Storage manager now, though Device manager claims it's:

   a) working fine, &

   b) the latest driver available.

So, how do I pick a compatible driver? It looks like the one here might be it. Before I take the next step & install it, your thoughts?

Also, what do I need to do after installing it?

Many, MANY thanks!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, the third driver on the list should work from the Intel link you posted.

You shouldn't have to do anything after the driver/software is installed.

If you get an error after installing that RST driver unfortunately, I would not know what to do about it.

[Bill-S737]

MANY, many thanks, Paul.

It worked, & problem now solved for me, too.

Installing this driver also fixed my problem with RST's error message on startup.

And both the Magician benchmark & RST management console confirm the SSD is working as expected.

Fixing all the issues did have one side effect, however.

I gained a new appreciation for how fast this notebook already was since the day HP sold it to me with one of Seagates SATA 3 Momentus hybrid HDDs in it. Seagate's benchmark suggest's only a 10-15% performance bump from a typical SSD. And I'm achieving about a 15-20% bump.

I might have gone with a less expensive SSD or even foregone it if I'd realized that the blazing speed I hoped for---I largely already had. LOL