SATA Hot Swappable

[gypsy3001]

Is SATA drives hot swappable?
I got a drive that I installed into an external SATA enclosure that I
made myself. It uses a standard SATA cable to a SATA PCI board with
both internal and external connectors. I use Windows XP. Is it ok to
unplug the drive while the computer is on? Or must I shut down the
computer every time?

Chieh

 

[Arno Wagner]

Is SATA drives hot swappable?

Hardwara and drive firmware: Yes.
Controller firmware (BIOS): Depends
OS: Depends. On Linux currently no, but it is being worked on.

I got a drive that I installed into an external SATA enclosure that I
made myself. It uses a standard SATA cable to a SATA PCI board with
both internal and external connectors. I use Windows XP. Is it ok to
unplug the drive while the computer is on? Or must I shut down the
computer every time?

You cannot damage the hardware. You can damage the data on the drive.
You need to tell your OS before you unplug a drive. On Unix that would
be u(n)mounting it. There must be some similar operation for
XP. Maybe configure it as a removable drive in device manager
and eject it before unplugging?

Arno

 

[Eric Gisin]

What model of SATA controller? Hot swap is an optional feature of SATA2+.

Proper support of hot swap should include the device in "unplug hardware" on system tray.