external Seagate 1tb connection problem with eSata?

Keltik THC · 29 Jan 2009 at 21:51

i just purchased an esata cable to finally speed up my external HD after using USB 2.0 and firewire with no issue, when i plug it in using eSata the lights on the external HD go on and it sounds as if its ready to go but Vista wont pick it up, someone mentioned it might work if i leave it connected and then re-boot, but my pc just seems to stall when loading through the bios at

"marvell 88se61xx adapter - BIOS version 1.1.0.l7sa initializing.."

i installed the drivers that came with the Seagate HDD so im a bit confused as to why it wont work with eSata..

anyone have any ideas?

ChrisLX200 · 29 Jan 2009 at 21:58

Do you have the SATA ports set to AHCI in BIOS? You need that for hot plugging, but it should still pick it up at boot without. I have to mention that I've got a WD MyBook which I cannot get to work with eSATA either...

Keltik THC · 30 Jan 2009 at 11:00

ChrisLX200 said:
Do you have the SATA ports set to AHCI in BIOS? You need that for hot plugging, but it should still pick it up at boot without. I have to mention that I've got a WD MyBook which I cannot get to work with eSATA either...

i'll double check my bios tonight, but i thought it would have worked when re-booting too... i think i might try and re-install my Marvel drivers as i think that may work if my bios is sticking at that 'marvell adapter..' part.

ive heard a lot of people with problems with esata, i just assumed it would be as easily hot-swappable as USB or Firewire... but i guess not.

ChrisLX200 · 30 Jan 2009 at 11:24

It's a bit early to be sure but... I just installed the latest Intel ICH10 and Matrix Storage Manager drivers yesterday, and **** me the MyBook works via eSATA now. Hot plugs fine, no dropping offline (yet), and well, I'm just supprised is all. Probably too good to last!

Managed to benchmark the MyBook via eSATA:

TJM · 31 Jan 2009 at 00:31

The eSATA connection on Seagate's externals is a joke. Google it - there have been all sorts of problems since they were introduced. The only thing to do (if you must have it hooked up via eSATA) is buy one of those enclosures and pull the 1TB drive out of its casing. eSATA works fine through them.

ChrisLX200 · 31 Jan 2009 at 01:09

Well the MyBook *was* too good to last - on re-boot it lost it, spent an enjoyable hour getting more and more frustrated as it simply would not connect again. Tried every variation of boot sequence for powering the devices up, and attempts to hot-plug again, just doesn't see it. I was nearly mad enough to pull the drive and bin the enclosure, but calmed down a bit now. It still works using USB/Firewire I suppose.

I did read that early attemps at building eSATA interfaces (which I think this is) did not supply a high enough power signal for the connection. A better/shorter cable might help.

Keltik THC · 31 Jan 2009 at 12:06

TJM said:
The eSATA connection on Seagate's externals is a joke. Google it - there have been all sorts of problems since they were introduced. The only thing to do (if you must have it hooked up via eSATA) is buy one of those enclosures and pull the 1TB drive out of its casing. eSATA works fine through them.

ChrisLX200 said:
Well the MyBook *was* too good to last - on re-boot it lost it, spent an enjoyable hour getting more and more frustrated as it simply would not connect again. Tried every variation of boot sequence for powering the devices up, and attempts to hot-plug again, just doesn't see it. I was nearly mad enough to pull the drive and bin the enclosure, but calmed down a bit now. It still works using USB/Firewire I suppose.

I did read that early attemps at building eSATA interfaces (which I think this is) did not supply a high enough power signal for the connection. A better/shorter cable might help.

im gutted, in my ignorance i just assumed it would all be as easy as USB and firewire... and yeah, after googling and looking around it seems that eSata is a joke on external drives for some reason. Also, the 1394 connection on my new mobo (p6t) has a different number of pins from my cable so im stuck with USB at the moment before i waste another £10 on a cable.

anyone know if Sata to eSata is any better or would i get the same issues?

TJM · 31 Jan 2009 at 12:22

Keltik THC said:
anyone know if Sata to eSata is any better or would i get the same issues?

This is how I ran my Seagate 1TB and it made no difference. The problem is with the eSATA interface on the drive casing itself.

Don't bother contacting Seagate support. The best they will do is send a replacement drive with the same firmware and the same problem. They claim to have fixed the eSATA issue in early 2008 and refuse to revisit it.

ChrisLX200 · 31 Jan 2009 at 15:07

Keltik THC said:
anyone know if Sata to eSata is any better or would i get the same issues?

I don't think the problem lies at the computer end, I think it's the cable and interface of the external enclosure. I'm tempted to buy a more recent enclosure to see if the issues I have with the MyBook have been addressed, having bought 2 PCIe SATA cards (with eSATA) and an eSATA Expresscard I have a fair bit invested. [The Mybook doesn't work with any of those on 3 different computers].