SATA drives hot-pluggable or not?

[ITM]

I've just bought an external adapter for a SATA interface on eBay, in
order to use a hot-swappable external drive. In the item description
it says:
"This kit enables you to connect any Serial ATA hard disk drive
externally, for easy portable data backup and hot-swap capability! It
comes with both an attractive aluminium front panel and a PC backplate
so you can connect the drive either at the front or back of the PC"

However on the box it says "Warning: shutdown computer before
installing SATA devices".

So now I'm confused: are SATA drives hot-swappable or not if used in
this way with an external connector?

TIA
Ian

 

[dOinK]

In my experience, once you have the connections on your motherboard, the
SATA drives themselves (even internal ones) are hot-swappable (I've tried).
The warning may be related to installation of the connections (if you need
any), e.g. a PCI card to which you may connect your external drive.

dOinK

 

[zibby]

I've just bought an external adapter for a SATA interface on eBay, in
order to use a hot-swappable external drive. In the item description
it says:
"This kit enables you to connect any Serial ATA hard disk drive
externally, for easy portable data backup and hot-swap capability! It
comes with both an attractive aluminium front panel and a PC backplate
so you can connect the drive either at the front or back of the PC"

However on the box it says "Warning: shutdown computer before
installing SATA devices".

So now I'm confused: are SATA drives hot-swappable or not if used in
this way with an external connector?

TIA
Ian

good luck on that one. I have same SATA removable case with key to power
down HDD.
With Asus P4800E mobo, turning off HDD while XP is running will cause it to
freeze.
Hard reboot (power off, power on) is only option for BIOS to recognize HDD.

I think only server mobos support hot swap SATA or PATA drives.

 

[Jetro]

Hot-swap is a part of SATA specifications but all the components involved
must properly support it, i.e. the hard disk, enclosure, and
controller/adapter/host.

 

[ITM]

Hot-swap is a part of SATA specifications but all the components involved
must properly support it, i.e. the hard disk, enclosure, and
controller/adapter/host.

My SATA card supports SATA specification 1.0 - does anyone know
whether hot-swap is part of the v1.0 SATA spec?

 

[Jetro]

I am afraid it's not; ask the manufacturer. BTW, is this adapter just a
cable extension?

 

[Guest]

Normally hotswap requires a supported hotswap enclosure. If you do not have a
proper hotswap enclosure, the manufacturer normally will not responsible for
any damage done while testing with hotswap.
FYI. You musn't test hot swap with a good working condition drive because
while the drive is still spinning with activity going on, it will cause
damage and bad sectors. The proper way is when a dead drive is found, you can
plug out and plug in a new drive for replacement while online.

Hope this help.

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

good luck on that one. I have same SATA removable case with key to power
down HDD. With Asus P4800E mobo, turning off HDD while XP is running
will cause it to freeze.

There's a difference between a HD that is removed or added, and one
that is left in place but powered off.

S-ATA is NOT hot-swappable at the hardware level, if:
- you use legacy power connector

S-ATA won't be hot-swappable at the software level if the OS is lazy
about disk access (i.e. delays write-back in particular) and is
unaware that the HD is not "fixed".

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