[Discussion] Loading eCS on a Dell XPS 210

[Tim Cardozo]

> Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 07:31:49 -0800 (PST)
> From: IRA N SAXE <isaxe at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [Discussion] Loading eCS on a Dell XPS 210
> To: POSSI Discussion List <discussion at lists.possi.org> 

> My limited understanding is that SATA (IDE) or PATA (AHCI) describe 
> the BIOS on the PC's motherboard.? Thus, eCS installation fails at the 
> point where eCS takes over the access to the CD that is attempting to 
> install eCS.??Thus, the only cure is for eCS to support the AHCI 
> BIOS.??Regards, Ira Saxe??
Actually, PATA is IDE and only IDE.  SATA, on the other hand, is often 
configurable - in the BIOS - to use the AHCI mode or the "IDE" mode.  
The procedure for setting the SATA mode is roughly described in the 
Service Manual for your XPS 210.  You can read that at the following URL:

<http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps210/en/SM_EN/syssetup.htm#wp1054375>

Scroll down to where it discusses "SATA Operation" under "Drives" in the 
"System Setup" screens.  A snippet from that document shows:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SATA Operation        Defines the SATA modes. You can set the SATA 
controller to AHCI or ATA mode.

(ATA default)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After making that change to your BIOS you should be able to install eCS 
on your XPS 210.

Tim Cardozo