here is a copy of my chat with acer support - it seems I am out in the cold unless I purchase a restore usb drive from them instead of installing windows 8 prof that was downloaded straight from microsoft ---
Chat
Status: Disconnected
Srinivas: Hi, my name is Srinivas. How may I help you?
Srinivas: Hi .
Palmer: Hi, I am trying to get ahci to work on my netbook... unfortunately it seems it is incompatible. Is there anyway to get this to work with windows 8?
Srinivas: I understand that you are experiencing an issue with the AHCI in your netbook.
Srinivas: Let me see what best can be done today.
Palmer: that is correct. windows 8 fails to boot unless it is in IDE mode which is cutting my read and writes in half
Palmer: thanks
Srinivas: You are welcome.
Srinivas: May I confirm that the system is able to turn on, however, unable to boot to the Windows?
Palmer: that is correct.. unless I use the IDE settings in the bios in which case it boots fine.. but then the speed is reduced; If I install windows 7 AHCI works fine... it seems there are no working drivers for my amd chipset and ahci that works in windows 8
Srinivas: Thank you for confirming the issue and for the information.
Srinivas: May I know the current operating system running in your computer?
Palmer: windows 8 professional 64 bit
Srinivas: Okay, did you ever alter the factory shipped operating system?
Palmer: the factory shipped os failed to boot and I could purchase a copy of windows 8 professional for less money than the recovery disks from acer so I did clean install.. however I had the same problem using the OEM version of windows 8 - as have many other users after searching google so it seems to be a wide spread issue
Palmer: i did a clean install of windows 8 professional
Srinivas: I understand, .
Srinivas: May I place the chat on hold for 3 minutes, while I check and provide you the information?
Palmer: sure, no problem... thanks
Srinivas: You are welcome.
Srinivas: Thank you for staying online. I really appreciate your time and patience.
Palmer: no problem
Srinivas: , I have checked my records and see that the you have to just set your BIOS to the AHCI mode and install Windows 8 as normal. You do not need to do a "pre-install" of the AHCI drivers.
Srinivas: My best advice is to purchase the recovery discs and install the OEM version of the operating system.
Srinivas: Because your model is not tested with the Windows 8 Professional operating system.
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Palmer: that would be the normal procedure.. but I tried that 3 separate times with 2 different hdd's - you may want to try to do a clean install of windows 8 on the aspire 725 using ahci to replicate the issue so it can be fixed b/c windows 8 fails to recognize the ahci controller
Palmer: I attached a screenshot of my device manager ... it does not recognize ahci - this was after doing a clean install with ahci enabled in the bios
Srinivas: I understand.
Palmer: I am using IDE mode now, but i honestly feel that new drivers must be written in order for this to work
Palmer: there are pages upon pages in forums with no solution to this problem
Palmer: granted i cannot even install the drivers as windows 8 fails to recognize the hardware that needs the driver in the first place
Srinivas: , have you formatted the hard drive, before installing the Windows 8 professional/
Palmer: yes, i even updated to the latest firmware for the ocz vertex 4 128 gb drive
Srinivas: Alright.
Srinivas: I really appreciate your efforts to isolate the issue.
Srinivas: , as the system is not shipped with the Windows 8 professional operating system, the particular issue is beyond my scope of support.
Palmer: no problem - i realize this probably will have to be fixed via future updates - I mainly wanted to make sure the issue is reported
Palmer: the same issue occurs using the os that shipped - is it possible to research that end as I feel that drivers that work on the OS that shipped will work for professional - honestly there aren't many differences between the operating systems - just a few added features in professional
Srinivas: , we are here to support the system hardware components with the factory shipped operating system.
Srinivas: If the issue is same with the factory shipped operating system also, then we have the option to re-install the same using the recovery discs.
Palmer: I wonder if it can merely be reported so that acer can replicate the problem using windows 8 (non professional) and work on a fix, as it is.. I can use my laptop.. but would likely not purchase another acer product
Srinivas: If after installing the operating system using the recovery discs also the same issue persists, then we have the option to take the system for repair.
Palmer: it is not an isolated problem with "just my computer" taking my system for repairs would be unnecessary in any event
Srinivas: Acer endeavors to provide its customers with best combination of features, but unfortunately some of the components of the products can fail during the course of use and such instances are taken care under the standard warranty.
Palmer: I do not plan on sending in my system - my question is... can the issue be reported and investigated on acer's end
Palmer: any installation of windows 8 using ahci on this model of laptop will have the same problem
Palmer: most do no know enough to care or report it -
Palmer: I appreciate your help, but it seems this is going nowhere - have a good evening
You have disconnected.
[edited for privacy]
United States