Swift 3 SF315-51G-56EK: Changing SATA mode to AHCI

A_Pop
A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
edited February 2021 in Swift and Spin Series
Hey. 
I'm trying to change SATA mode to AHCI on my Swift 3 (SF315-51G-56EK), in order to use it with other OSs (right now, I have some troubles with the drive in another OS and I'm trying to find out whenever it's RAID that's causing these problems). 
I already tried the method that has been mentioned here on quite a few posts, which consists of pressing CTRL+S on Main tab of the BIOS to display additional option. Said option doesn't appear for me, don't know if I'm doing something wrong or my laptop doesn't support this? 
So, my question is, is it possible to change the mode to AHCI and if so, how; or my laptop simply doesn't support this option?

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Answers

  • Leostat
    Leostat ACE Posts: 3,043 Pathfinder
    Looking at some older posts it looks like this unit is meant to auto switch between the two modes (  https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/support-product/7306?b=1 ) and a few other people have mentioned the key combo hasnt worked. Is the drive not showing in the other os you are trying to install?
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    Yeah, noticed one of BIOS updates said something along those lines. Was wondering whenever I could set it myself aswell?
    The drive is showing in the other OS, it's just that I'm trying to use AHCI for (hopefully) better performance of the drive in all of the OSs installed.
  • Leostat
    Leostat ACE Posts: 3,043 Pathfinder
    Gotcha, it doent look like your able to im afriad :(. Is it linux? If so try

    lspci | grep -i sata

    Should show you the mode of the controller
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    Ran the command you provided, returned: 
    RAID bus controller: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] (rev 21)
  • Leostat
    Leostat ACE Posts: 3,043 Pathfinder
    Weird, does your laptop have two drives? I wonder why its selected raid mode :s
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    Unfortunately not. I only have a single ~240GB Intel SSD. But I do currently have it separated into two partitions on this single drive . 
  • Leostat
    Leostat ACE Posts: 3,043 Pathfinder
    Looking at this : https://superuser.com/questions/417857/how-to-find-sata-controller-version-on-ubuntu-laptop-do-i-have-sata-1-2-or-3 

    SmartCTL may be able to tell you if its the mode slowing the drive down, i would have thorugh the raid controller would support everything the AHCI one does though :)
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    Thanks! Yeah, I'd suppose it does as well, but there are (if I remember right) some OSes, which work better (or work only) under AHCI mode rather than RAID, which was the main reason for my decision to change it. But if it's not possible, then I guess I don't really have any choices 😅
    It is interesting tho, that some similar models of laptops (some 51's ones, as well as 52G's) supported that additional function, while mine doesn't. Guess I just stumbled across that one model which doesn't support it heh 
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 33,937 Trailblazer
    When you run the Intel Rapid Storage Technology manager software in Windows, what does it show for the status?
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    billsey said:
    When you run the Intel Rapid Storage Technology manager software in Windows, what does it show for the status?
    I actually removed IRS software from Windows as user in one of the posts said it could be causing problems. I have now reinstalled it and this is what it says: 

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 33,937 Trailblazer
    Check the Manage tab to see if your HDD is setup as a RAID0 or as JBOD. You've already got Optane disabled.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    billsey said:
    Check the Manage tab to see if your HDD is setup as a RAID0 or as JBOD. You've already got Optane disabled.
    This is all it says: 
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 33,937 Trailblazer
    It sure looks like the Intel stuff is completely out of your way. That means you should already be in AHCI mode
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    This is what BIOS says though:
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 33,937 Trailblazer
    Go to the Advanced tab and select SATA Configuration. What does it show there?

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    Not at the laptop at the moment, but on the advanced tab I only have two options listed: Intel VTX and Intel VTD. And as said, I already tried pressing CTRL+S on main tab (if I didn't do anything wrong), but no additional options appeared. 
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    edited February 2021
    Here's the image of Advanced options of the BIOS: 

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 33,937 Trailblazer
    Odd, they must have removed that for some reason... Which version of the BIOS is installed? We might have to go through Intel's support to get the RAID removed.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • A_Pop
    A_Pop Member Posts: 17 Troubleshooter
    Currently I have the latest one available installed, version 1.06. 
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 33,937 Trailblazer
    OK, lets go through each screen in the BIOS. You've shown the first two, take pictures of the rest of them.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.