On Board E-SATA Crashes computer

psd99

psd99

psd99

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hi all

I got an Asus p5e3 motherboard and when I try to connect my SATA caddy via the onboard esata port it always crashes my computer.

I've also tried my cosmos one on the front I connected it into sata port 5 but it doesn't do nothing when I connect my caddy.

could it be the cable?
Does anyone know how to get it working?
 
I'm going to guess your bios is set to treat sata devices as enhanced IDE. As such, and since esata is functionally identical to sata, it is also considered as enhanced IDE. This does not support hot-plug, so don't plug it in or unplug it while the computer is running.

So, turn off computer, plug in drive, turn on and see if theres any luck. If so, the issue is probably the above, and you need to change to AHCI in the bios. Depending on operating system, it might refuse to boot. XP will definitely be unhappy, probably vista will to. Linux stands a reasonable chance of not caring. To avoid this, you'll need to install appropriate ahci drivers, then change to ahci mode at which point all problems should be solved, and every sata device can now be unplugged at will.

If conencting and disconnecting while powered down does not fix things, the next thing to check is that all esata devices require an additional power lead. This might connect to the mains or to one or even two usb ports depending on device, but the drive must be powered.

Finally I'll say that I've had somewhat hit and miss results trying to use esata on XP anyway, if recognised the drive is normally fine but it is frequently ignored when connected. Good luck
 
thanks I didn't know that esata wasn't plug and play what a great design flaw that is then.
that defeats the object of esata IMO. people want to use it because they don't wish to open the PC up.

I will check my bios any ideas where it will be? If I change to AHCI will this affect anything else?

It is vista 64 ultimate I use on this machine. I already got the caddy connected to the mains it does power up for sure.
 
RJC said:
What motherboard are you using, as smometimes the E-SATA are on a different chip.
Click to expand...

It is an Asus P5E3

I tried the ICHI thing and it gave me this message:

NTDLR missing...

HEART IN MOUTH MOMENT FOR A SECOND


but now it is back to IDE and working.

so any other suggestions?
 
Thanks for that, just looked at your opening post, you already mentioned the make/model.

Looking at the Asus website the E-SATA uses the Marvell controler, have you installed the drivers for this.
 
yes but I am unsure if they are going to be different from the marvell RAID drivers

good point let me see the CD......
 
Hello again. Esata is plug and play, but you have to be using ahci rather than the antique enhanced ide (otherwise it is not plug and play). Changing to ahci will prevent windows booting unless you first install the appropriate ahci drivers. As said above,

'it might refuse to boot. XP will definitely be unhappy, probably vista will to. To avoid this, you'll need to install appropriate ahci drivers, then change to ahci mode in the bios'

I apologise if that is unclear. It is unreasonable to expect hardware to function properly with inappropriate drivers.
 
hi there so there is def no chance I can install drivers from the CD I got with my motherboard?

mmm it didn't work when I changed it to ACHI in BIOS when you say install appropriate drivers do you mean in Windows Vista?


BTW I can remember once the esata drive did work but it was very sluggish.
 
If you are using windows vista, then google 'vista change ahci driver'

Yeah, you have to tell vista how to use the ahci mode or it'll fail to boot. You do this by finding the drivers for it, theres a fair few guides online

Is it behaving itself when not hot plugged? If not then the problem may well be elsewhere and the change to ahci might not achieve anything
 
JonJ678 said:
If you are using windows vista, then google 'vista change ahci driver'

Yeah, you have to tell vista how to use the ahci mode or it'll fail to boot. You do this by finding the drivers for it, theres a fair few guides online

Is it behaving itself when not hot plugged? If not then the problem may well be elsewhere and the change to ahci might not achieve anything
Click to expand...

hi there is no driver on my cd that I got with the mobo damn shame

this esata stuff isn't that great

now will that be a generic driver or a specific one for my caddy?

when not hot plugged? what do you mean?

it crashes the computer when hot plugged esata but not via usb
 
You don't need esata drivers, windows will (certainly should) install these for you. It might need an internet connection for this.

You need to change to ahci mode in the bios for the computer to be able to hot swap sata drives in general, including esata. Ahci is a different way for the operating system to access hard drives compared to 'ide mode'.
http://expertester.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/how-to-enable-ahci-without-reformating/ seems to cover it, I googled 'change to ahci vista', its a fairly straightforward process to go through. If you just change in the bios, then your computer will fail to boot with an error message about not finding a file.

This link, or other similar ones, allow you to change to ahci mode without stopping your computer booting, at which point being in ahci mode will sort out esata problems.

I think esata is excellent, its ludicrously quick compared to usb :)

Good luck!

esata is hot swappable under vista only if you are running in ahci mode
 
Looking the ASUS website the E-SATA runs off the Marvelle controler and not the Intel controler, would above still need to be done.
In the past I needed to install different drivers.
 
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generally they work better in AHCI mode, do the switch, then format your pc, and ensure all latest drivers for chipsets / controllers are installed, then report back.
 
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