Anna responds...
BeasleyM:
1. Specifically, how are you connecting your SATA external HDD to the eSATA
port on your notebook? Are you using an external eSATA enclosure or just a
bare drive?
2. We'll assume if you're using an eSATA external enclosure it's
non-defective. And we'll similarly assume the enclosed SATA HDD is likewise
non-defective.
3. When you say "the drive can be added using the Disk Management utility on
the control panel.", you're really referring to the XP Disk Management
utility, aren't you, not the "Disk drives" section in the Control Panel,
right? I assume the drive is listed in the latter, right?
4. So when you say "the drive can be added..." I take it you're indicating
that you were able to assign a drive letter to the device because one was
not originally shown? Or what are you indicating when you say "the drive can
be added..."?
5. If this is truly a situation where you have a SATA-to-SATA data
connection through the eSATA port on your notebook, the system will treat
that drive as a "normal" *internal* HDD, just like any other internally
connected fixed HDD in your system. Exactly the same.
So it's really not clear (at least to me) exactly what your problem is with
this drive. Presumably it's "hot-pluggable" & "hot swappable", roughly
similar to a USB external HDD. There is no need to "turn off write caching".
The "Enable write caching on the disk" item in Control Panel is ordinarily
checked for this device. Just treat the eSATA external HDD as if it is a
fixed, internal HDD with the added advantages of being "hot-pluggable" &
"hot swappable" as previously noted. This provides substantial advantages
over a USB external HDD in that its performance is substantially superior
and it is a *bootable* device.
BTW, I would be interested in learning the make/model of your notebook.
Anna
Bill Drake said:
Hi, BeasleyM. First of all , it is completely normal to have to
use the Disk Management Utility to partition and format the
drive when first installed. The drive comes unformatted from
the manufacturer, so the steps you took to get the drive
recognized by Windows are completely normal and correct.
However, once the drive can be "seen" by Windows - it is
automatically mounted at startup or whenever the drive is
connected to the system. Again, this is normal and correct.
Regardless of the above, there are issues with *any* external
drive that is seen by Windows as equivalent-to-an-internal
hard-disk when you try to *disconnect* the drive from the system
while Windows is still running. This is also normal and correct,
as there are specific housekeeping functions which *must* be
performed before any equivalent-to-an-internal-hard-disk drive
can be unmounted.
Things to check:
1. Windows XP will automatically add USB, Firewire or eSATA disks
to the list of drives monitored by System Restore. This plays
merry hob with the ability to remove the drive while Windows is
running. Go to Control Panel/System/System Restore and untick
the external drive from the list of drives that System Restore is
using.
Note: Changing system parameters will cause System Restore
to automatically add any external drive back onto the list
of drives that System Restore monitors. Personally, I find
this a complete PITA, and I routinely disable System
Restore as a result. However, this means I am then utterly
dependent on *other* means of recovering from driver or
software install problems. I use Ghost for backups to take
the place of System Restore. I do NOT recommend disabling
System Restore if you do not have a reliable and proven
backup strategy in place before you disable System Restore.
2. Norton Utilities Protected Recycle Bin automatically adds its
monitoring functions to any equivalent-to-an-internal-hard-disk
drive added to the system. This includes USB, Firewire and
eSATA external hard disks. In order for the drive to be removable
while the system is running, the Protected Recycle Bin support
must be disabled for the external hard disk.
Fortunately, the Norton Utilities Protected Recycle Bin is a little
smarter than Windows System Restore. Once you disable this
beast for the selected drive-letter - it *stays* disabled. To make
this change, right-click on the Recycle Bin, select Properties and
remove the checkmark on the appropriate drive letter so that
the Norton Recycle Bin enhancements are disabled for that drive
letter. Leave the enhancements enabled for all permanently
installed Hard Disks.
With the above modifications in place, you should then be able to use
the "Safely Remove Hardware" item in your System Tray to properly
dismount the eSATA Hard Disk while Windows is running.
Note: I have found that there are times when Windows does not
properly respond to the first request to dismount the target
drive letter. If this happens, try again. Recent Windows
updates have improved this particular glitch, so this may not
occur for you - but I have had long periods where I had to
tell Windows to dismount the drive, accept the first failure and
then tell Windows to dismount the drive a second time before
the "Safe to remove Hardware" item would appear in my
System Tray.
Best I can do for now. <tm>
Bill
Bill's comments as they apply to the "hot-plugging" capability of SATA HDDs
are not entirely correct, and I will get to that in a moment.
However, he *is* correct when he indicates that the SATA HDD must be
partitioned & formatted before it can be "seen" in the system as a
functioning HDD. I had assumed that the OP was working with a commercial
eSATA HDD which had been partitioned/formatted by the manufacturer of the
eSATA enclosure. I also assumed the OP was aware of this requirement. It is
possible the OP had purchased an eSATA HDD and had installed a new SATA HDD
in that device and failed to partition/format it. His or her post is unclear
re this. So conceivably this may account for his/her problem.
Now as to Bill's other comments re the functioning of a SATA HDD in the
system as related to its "hot plugging" capability.
1. It's a safe presumption I would think that the SATA HDD in question is a
SATA-II (SATA-IO) HDD and not an older SATA I HDD. I mention this because my
comments will apply to SATA II HDDs. Some SATA I HDDs did not have
"hot-plugging" (or "hot-swapping") capability although I have to add that
we've worked with many SATA I HDDs and virtually all had this capability.
However, SATA I HDDs were not *required* to meet this specification.
2. However, all SATA-II HDDs, by specification, have "hot-plugging"
capability. The other part of the equation is that the motherboard must also
support this capability. Virtually every motherboard that I'm aware of
manufactured over the past few years meets this specification.
3. The fact that a motherboard comes equipped with an eSATA port - as
apparently is the case with the OP's notebook - is "ipso facto" evidence
that the "hot-plugging" capability is supported by the system.
4. In any event, the OP's external SATA HDD installed in an eSATA external
enclosure is "hot-pluggable". Presumably the OP is using (or intends to use)
the device as a secondary HDD for backup/storage purposes. However, as I
indicated in my original post to the OP, the SATA HDD is potentially
bootable with an XP OS
installed on it.
5. There are certain similarities between this external eSATA HDD and a USB
external HDD in that each is "hot-pluggable". With specific respect to the
eSATA external HDD, there is no need to invoke any "Safely Remove Hardware"
icon when removing the drive from the system. As a matter of fact with most
motherboards the SRH icon will *not* even appear with reference to a
SATA-connected HDD since the system basically treats the SATA-connected HDD
(SATA or eSATA) as an internal HDD.
The bottom line in all this is that the user can safely disconnect an eSATA
HDD from a running system without invoking any special procedure. In this
respect the process is similar to a USB external HDD. Similarly, an eSATA
HDD can be connected to the system while the system is running. In either
case there will be no physical damage to the disk nor will there be any loss
or corruption of data as some consequence of this "hot plugging" capability
in all normal situations.
Anna