Can't install windows XP to a macbook pro with an Intel X25-M SSD
We just bought some new unibody macbook pro 2.8Ghz machines, (4GB ram)etc. We also obtained some of the new Solid State Drives (SSDs) from Intel, the X25M-80GB.
(part number: SSDSA2MH080G1C5)
After installing the SSD into the macbook pro, everything works.....in OSX. Installation of 10.5.5 went without problem, all updates/firmware applied, everything works fine.
The problems start when you try to install XP. We used the boot camp assistant, and created a 32GB partition, put in a XPSP2 disk, and start the installation.
Everything starts up nicely and goes to the blue/white text based installer for XP. It loads drivers, and then reaches the point where it would ask you to select a disk to install to (where you would normally see the three partitions, 1 being the FAT32 you select as C:).
However, what you get instead is an error message that: +"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer...."+ and then you have to exit.
If you use the original 320GB drive, everything works as expected, (nothing wrong with the laptop hardware, or the installation CD). If you stay in OSX, everything works as expected. (nothing wrong with the Intel SSD either)
To further add information, we also installed the Intel SSD into a Mac Pro (2008) as a second drive, booting to a windows installation (through boot camp) on the first disk. Windows boots fine, but there is no sign of the other drive AT ALL. (not a driver issue here - there simply isn't any hardware here as far as windows is concerned.)
That brought us to our conclusion that there is something awry in the BIOS/EFI
being presented to Windows, that doesn't support the Intel X25M drive at all.
However, there is no user customisation (or even access) to the settings or what's happening at that point in the boot cycle, so I'm unable to diagnose further.
Given the Intel SSDs are using their SOC (system on a chip), (I believe - but I could be wrong on that one) perhaps that just isn't supported by the EFI?
Would appreciate some advice on where to go from here? These SSDs cost about 1400AUD+ each, so we'd rather like to actually use them....
I suspect we're asking/requiring for an EFI update.
(to head off some questions: Yes, we've used different discs, and also different computers...The disk and hardware themselves are just fine. Also, the drive WAS formatted with a GPT paritition.)
Thanks!
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.5)