cant get my eSATA to work

[Rif]

Im new to this tech forum stuff so please bare with me. I recently
purchased an external enclosure that allows an eSATA connection, and
USB II along with a Western Digital 250 GB hard drive. My system
stats. are: AMD 64 X2 dual core 3800, 2gigs of OCZ platinum ram, Abit
KN8sli Mobo, Nvidia 7600gs with nothing overclocked and I also have 3
sata Maxtor harddrives, 2 in a 0 stripe raid and a 3rd just plugged in
straight to the sata conn. onboard. Oh and before you ask no I couldn't
fit this last hard drive in the case, I used the last open bay to run
all my cables through!The problem I am having is every time I connect
to eSATA Windows gets boged down, or locks up on me. When I first
connected using eSATA Windows did detect the hard drive and it showed
up in "my computer" but when I attempted to format the hard drive first
using partition magic 8.0 and then XP's disk manager my system crashed.
The only way I was able to format and use the external HD was to go
through the USBII option. Although I can use it now I'm not able to use
it the way I intended (video editing). On my Mobo I have 3 sata
connections with #4 being the only one left available. I checked the
website for the external case manufacturer (Vantec), and Abit and
couldn't find any help.

 

[Anna]

Im new to this tech forum stuff so please bare with me. I recently
purchased an external enclosure that allows an eSATA connection, and
USB II along with a Western Digital 250 GB hard drive. My system
stats. are: AMD 64 X2 dual core 3800, 2gigs of OCZ platinum ram, Abit
KN8sli Mobo, Nvidia 7600gs with nothing overclocked and I also have 3
sata Maxtor harddrives, 2 in a 0 stripe raid and a 3rd just plugged in
straight to the sata conn. onboard. Oh and before you ask no I couldn't
fit this last hard drive in the case, I used the last open bay to run
all my cables through!The problem I am having is every time I connect
to eSATA Windows gets boged down, or locks up on me. When I first
connected using eSATA Windows did detect the hard drive and it showed
up in "my computer" but when I attempted to format the hard drive first
using partition magic 8.0 and then XP's disk manager my system crashed.
The only way I was able to format and use the external HD was to go
through the USBII option. Although I can use it now I'm not able to use
it the way I intended (video editing). On my Mobo I have 3 sata
connections with #4 being the only one left available. I checked the
website for the external case manufacturer (Vantec), and Abit and
couldn't find any help.

Rif:
First of all...
When your eSATA external HDD is disconnected from the system, there's
absolutely no problem, right? The system boots without incident and
functions without any problems whatsoever, right? The only time there's a
problem - the only time - is, as you've indicated, when your eSATA external
HDD is connected and powered up, right?

We'll assume your answers to the above are in the affirmative. If they
are...

1. The WD 250 GB is a SATA HDD, right?
2. I assume that Vantec enclosure came with a cable that has the eSATA
connector on one end for a connection to the enclosure and a "regular" SATA
connector on the other end. Is that right? What model is it?
3. So in connecting the device to your PC you're running that SATA data
cable with the "regular" SATA connector connected to one of your
motherboard's SATA connectors. Is that right? If not, describe the
connection.
4. Naturally you power up the enclosure when it's connected and you're
planning to use it, right?
5. You're absolutely certain you've connected it correctly to your PC in its
eSATA mode? And that the USB data cable is not connected at that time?
6. When you say your system "gets boged down" when the SATA enclosure is
connected what exactly do you mean by "boged down"? And when you say the
system "locks up on me" what precisely happens? The moment the SATA external
device is connected to your PC and powered up the system freezes and you're
"dead in the water"? What?
7. And when the eSATA device is connected & powered up is it listed in the
"Disk drives" section of Device Manager? If not, have you invoked the "Scan
for hardware changes" sub-menu option in that section? And is the drive
shown in Disk Management with a drive letter assignment?
8. Have you tried connecting the device to another SATA port on your
motherboard? Same problem?
9. Have you tried installing that WD SATA HDD as an internal HDD? Works OK?
What about installing one of your other SATA HDDs in the eSATA enclosure?
Same problem? If so, any chance you're dealing with a defective enclosure
(at least with respect to the device's SATA connectivity).
Anna

 

[Rif]

"Rif" (e-mail address removed) wrote in message

Im new to this tech forum stuff so please bare with me. I recently
purchased an external enclosure that allows an eSATA connection, and
USB II along with a Western Digital 250 GB hard drive. My system
stats. a AMD 64 X2 dual core 3800, 2gigs of OCZ platinum ram, Abit
KN8sli Mobo, Nvidia 7600gs with nothing overclocked and I also have 3
sata Maxtor harddrives, 2 in a 0 stripe raid and a 3rd just plugge
in
straight to the sata conn. onboard. Oh and before you ask no
couldn't
fit this last hard drive in the case, I used the last open bay to run
all my cables through!The problem I am having is every time I connect
to eSATA Windows gets boged down, or locks up on me. When I first
connected using eSATA Windows did detect the hard drive and it showed
up in "my computer" but when I attempted to format the hard driv
first
using partition magic 8.0 and then XP's disk manager my syste
crashed.
The only way I was able to format and use the external HD was to go
through the USBII option. Although I can use it now I'm not able t
use
it the way I intended (video editing). On my Mobo I have 3 sata
connections with #4 being the only one left available. I checked the
website for the external case manufacturer (Vantec), and Abit and
couldn't find any help.
--
Rif-


Rif:
First of all...
When your eSATA external HDD is disconnected from the system, there's
absolutely no problem, right? The system boots without incident and
functions without any problems whatsoever, right? The only time there'
a
problem - the only time - is, as you've indicated, when your eSAT
external
HDD is connected and powered up, right?

We'll assume your answers to the above are in the affirmative. If the

are...

1. The WD 250 GB is a SATA HDD, right?
2. I assume that Vantec enclosure came with a cable that has the eSAT

connector on one end for a connection to the enclosure and a "regular
SATA
connector on the other end. Is that right? What model is it?
3. So in connecting the device to your PC you're running that SATA dat

cable with the "regular" SATA connector connected to one of your
motherboard's SATA connectors. Is that right? If not, describe the
connection.
4. Naturally you power up the enclosure when it's connected and you'r

planning to use it, right?
5. You're absolutely certain you've connected it correctly to your P
in its
eSATA mode? And that the USB data cable is not connected at that time?
6. When you say your system "gets boged down" when the SATA enclosur
is
connected what exactly do you mean by "boged down"? And when you sa
the
system "locks up on me" what precisely happens? The moment the SAT
external
device is connected to your PC and powered up the system freezes an
you're
"dead in the water"? What?
7. And when the eSATA device is connected & powered up is it listed i
the
"Disk drives" section of Device Manager? If not, have you invoked th
"Scan
for hardware changes" sub-menu option in that section? And is the driv

shown in Disk Management with a drive letter assignment?
8. Have you tried connecting the device to another SATA port on your
motherboard? Same problem?
9. Have you tried installing that WD SATA HDD as an internal HDD? Work
OK?
What about installing one of your other SATA HDDs in the eSAT
enclosure?
Same problem? If so, any chance you're dealing with a defectiv
enclosure
(at least with respect to the device's SATA connectivity).
Anna

Ok, I'll try to answer all your questions. First off everything yo
asked in your first paragraph I can answer with a yes!
Now I'll go down your list, (answered in order)
1. yes
2.yes; Nextar nst-360su
3.yes
4.yes
5.yes. No I dont have the eSATA and USB connected at the same time.
6. As soon as I turn on the enclosure in eSATA mode the system freeze
up when I try to view my files using explore. My cursor wont even move.
As soon as I power off the device everything goes right back to normal.
If I boot up my system with the enclosure on it takes forever to get
past the bios post.Thats the boged down part I was refering too.The
system will eventually boot up but it takes forever and then as soon as
I try to use the drive thats when everything starts to freeze.
7. Yes the drive does show up in device manager and it is assigned a
drive letter.
8. Yes I tried another sata port and I got the exact same results
9. Yes I hooked the WD drive as an internal drive and it worked fine,
and yes I put a different drive in the enclosure and it reacted the
same way.

So, I guess this thing is just busted and I'll have to return it? I
thought maybe there was a bios setting or something I had to turn on
that I wasn't aware of . Oh well, Thx for the help anyway

 

[Airman Thunderbird]

Had a similar problem with an external enclosure and a new drive.
Discovered that formatting the drive before hooking up the external
enclosure solved it.
BTW, if you have the extra SATA connector in the system, but no drive
slot, think, well, inside the box?, anyway, had that problem, too.
Solved that by sticking a velcro strip on the drive and mounting it to
the bottom of the case. Yeah, I'm weird like that.

 

[Anna]

Ok, I'll try to answer all your questions. First off everything you
asked in your first paragraph I can answer with a yes!
Now I'll go down your list, (answered in order)
1. yes
2.yes; Nextar nst-360su
3.yes
4.yes
5.yes. No I dont have the eSATA and USB connected at the same time.
6. As soon as I turn on the enclosure in eSATA mode the system freezes
up when I try to view my files using explore. My cursor wont even move.
As soon as I power off the device everything goes right back to normal.
If I boot up my system with the enclosure on it takes forever to get
past the bios post.Thats the boged down part I was refering too.The
system will eventually boot up but it takes forever and then as soon as
I try to use the drive thats when everything starts to freeze.
7. Yes the drive does show up in device manager and it is assigned a
drive letter.
8. Yes I tried another sata port and I got the exact same results
9. Yes I hooked the WD drive as an internal drive and it worked fine,
and yes I put a different drive in the enclosure and it reacted the
same way.

So, I guess this thing is just busted and I'll have to return it? I
thought maybe there was a bios setting or something I had to turn on
that I wasn't aware of . Oh well, Thx for the help anyway

Rif:
Well it most certainly sounds like you have a defective unit on your hands.
You said you checked with Vantec re this problem. Did they mention anything
about any firmware update for the unit or give you any insight as to what is
causing the problem? I suppose not.

Since you say the unit is a recent purchase I assume you can return it to
the vendor for refund or exchange. Or you can RMA it back to Vantec. Were I
you I would pursue either of those courses.
Anna