eSATA - problems help please

Trackerman

Trackerman

Trackerman

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10 Oct 2008
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I have a new 1TB Seagate FreeAgent Pro (the one with eSATA).
It works well on USB but not in eSATA.

After following many hints and tips on the web (eSATA seems to be very problematic) I now have it recognised in XP, but it’s still not working well…

Even though the drive is recognised by XP… the drive seems to stop and re-start whenever I try to read or write large (> 1mb) files.
The orange light also dies away when this happens.
The only way out is a re-boot of XP.
This then results in the blue-screen CHKDSK running….
So I assume the problem is corrupting the drive data.

Things I have tried so far.
1. Update motherboard BIOS to latest (P5B Deluxe)
2. Checked eSATA cable is correct one, plugs into the socket with no interference from the plastic shroud.
3. Updated the JMicron driver on Motherboard.
4. Set the FreeAgent sleep timer on never.

What else could be causing the problem?
Any and all ideas are really appreciated because I’m pulling my hair out !!!!

Many Thanks in advance.

PS, I have three other SATA internal drives that work well.

Ray
 
Thanks,
Zia- The cable is eSATA to eSATA, the motherboard has an eSATA port on the rear.

Nightmare99- I've tried all modes, RAID, AHIC and ISA, with no difference.
When I use RAID mode the JMmicron application just lets me use the drive as Non-RAID.
When I use AHIC or ISA the JMicron application reports that it can't see any RAID drives, this is to be expected I guess.

In all three modes XP can "see" the drive and infact I can transfer small amounts of data. But whenever I try to copy over a large file like an AVI movie.... it just hangs FreeAgent... after that happens the drive needs CHKDSK run on it to clear the errors.
 
The motherboard is a ASUS P5B Deluxe Wifi version...

By the way, when I loaded the latest BIOS, my overclocking failed and now I can't get anywhere near the speed I had on the old BIOS, but anyway that for another thread....
 
Good idea Fobose... I will first try eSATA to SATA directly to the Motherboard.
If that works then I can go for the adaptor....

but my guess is that the SATA from the MB will not be hot-plugable...
 
Tried it last night, but ran into a problem...
I would need a eSATA to SATA cable to perform the test, there is a difference between eSATA and SATA, the latter has a small notch at one end.
I tried to open the FreeAgent but there are no screws and I hate to snap it open while it's still under warrantee.

By the way, for an external high speed connector the eSATA design is a POS, I can't beleive it passed acceptance testing... both firewire and USB are far better mechanical designs.

I'm really ****** at Seagate, I paid extra for the eSATA, then it came without a eSATA cable and when I finally get a cable it does not work!
The drive seems to have several eSATA problems according to threads I've read.
 
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