Vista 32
ASUS P5KC Mobo
Intel Q6600 CPU
Antec 650 W PSU
Two SATA 320 GB internal drives connected to SATA slots 1 and 2 of 4
An external ASUS eSATA and USB2 enclosure with WD 640 GB SATA hard
drive connected to an eSATA port on the computer.

The external eSATA hard drive works fine after a reboot but after a few
hours it vanishes and cannot be found by Explorer or the Control panel
even though it has not been accessed to modify, delete or add files. A
reboot finds the drive and it works again for a while.

I have an eSATA backplate port connected to slot 3 on the mobo. The
mobo also has an integral eSATA port on the back. The problem occurs
when I connect the external drive to either of these ports.

The external enclosure also has a USB2 connection - if I use this the
problem does not occur indicating that the hard drive itself is OK.

Any suggestions?


--
alanho

On Tue, 27 May 2008 06:49:42 -0500, alanho
wrote:


Vista 32
ASUS P5KC Mobo
Intel Q6600 CPU
Antec 650 W PSU
Two SATA 320 GB internal drives connected to SATA slots 1 and 2 of 4
An external ASUS eSATA and USB2 enclosure with WD 640 GB SATA hard
drive connected to an eSATA port on the computer.

The external eSATA hard drive works fine after a reboot but after a few
hours it vanishes and cannot be found by Explorer or the Control panel
even though it has not been accessed to modify, delete or add files. A
reboot finds the drive and it works again for a while.

I have an eSATA backplate port connected to slot 3 on the mobo. The
mobo also has an integral eSATA port on the back. The problem occurs
when I connect the external drive to either of these ports.

The external enclosure also has a USB2 connection - if I use this the
problem does not occur indicating that the hard drive itself is OK.

Any suggestions?

Su if the integral eSATA port works just fine, there is no need to
use the backplate port, unless you actually need it.

Also, make sure both the external and internal eSATA cables are rated
at 3.0GB/sec.

The best external eSATA cable I've found so far is the SiiG
CB-SA0111-S1, for 12.99 from Amazon. When you buy a new Intel
Motherboard with eSATA on the motherboard, they supply the internal
cables, but no external cables.

I have yet to find an eSATA HD which INCLUDES an external SATA cable.
Firewire, yes; USB2, yes; eSATA, NO.

Here in Portland, I searched all over to find an external eSATA cable.
Even Radio Shack did not have any in stock. IN fact, I found only ONE
place which had a single one in stock, and he wanted almost $20 for
it. Needless to say, I decided to wait a few day and ordered one
online.

Why they are failing to stock these cables, I don't know. They SELL
eSATA drives, but NOT the necessary eSATA cables. Makes no sense to
me. Everyone I spoke with in my search told me that eSATA drives were
increasing in popularity, and they carried the drives, but when I
asked them why they didn't carry the necessary cables, they had no
answer.

It's not as if they are scarce online. Any large online retailer,
such as Tigerdirect, or CDW, carry them. Why don't the local builders
stock them?

They may be found cheaper (around $3.50 on some sites), but their
quality does not compare with the SiiG cables.

Also, last, but not least: I have found that if you are using a RAID
array, eSATA doesn't work very well.

Try setting your BIOS to emulate IDE on SATA drives, and you shouldn't
have much trouble.


Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original newsgroup and thread.
================================================== ======

Thanks for your informative response.

Please note that I have problems with both the backplate port and the
integral port. Hence this may point the finger at my eSATA cable which I
purchased from Maplins - which is possibly the UK equivalent of Radio
Shack. There was no rating on the packaging or cable so I have no idea
whether or not it is rated at 3 GB/sec. The mystery is the drive is
accessible for a few hours after a reboot and then vanishes for no known
reason. How then could the cable be at fault since the drive works OK
for long periods.

The backplate port came with its own internal SATA cable so I can only
assume it to be correctly rated. The integral port is attached directly
to the mobo - hence does not have an internal cable.


--
alanho

This is caused by the same issue as SATA optical drives/HDs disappearing
in Vista. It's not the cable, though it's worth trying another.

Microsoft theoretically is working on a fix..


--
Dospac

On Wed, 28 May 2008 00:37:43 -0500, Dospac
wrote:


This is caused by the same issue as SATA optical drives/HDs disappearing
in Vista. It's not the cable, though it's worth trying another.

Microsoft theoretically is working on a fix..

I noticed an hour ago on my own machine. Seems that each time I leave
the computer running (even sleeping) for several hours, the eSATA
drive disappears. If I look in Disk Manager, it doesn't appear. If I
look in Explorer or Computer, it doesn't appear.

IF I then unpower it, then repower it, and reboot, it appears once
more.

NOTE that my SATA drives (even the eSATA drive) are set to run in IDE
emulation.

You may be right about the cause. Thanks very much.

I'm glad to hear that Microsoft is working on the problem. That means
we may get a fix by the time Windows 7 is released to Beta testers.
He, he, he...


Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original newsgroup and thread.
================================================== ======

I knew as soon as I saw the title of your thread you were using an asus
board I had the same issue when I was running one myself. The best I can
remember there is a setting in your bios you have to change but I don't
remember what it was and I don't have my manual anymore to look at my
notes.. It is not a Vista issue mine done the same thing when I was
running XP.
Hope this helps


--
03hdfatboy

fatboy
*my baby...*
*raidmax smilodon dirk-tooth case*
*pc power & cooling 1200w psu*
*abit aw9d-max w*
*intel core 2 extreme qx6700 @ 3668.5 mhz*
*vigor gaming clt-m2i 92mm thermal electric cpu cooler*
*corsair dominator 4gb *
*ati x1950xtx + ati x1950cf*
*hauppauge wintv-hvr-1800*
*400 gb, 320 gb sata seagate barracudas*
*i-rocks e-sata w/500gb seagate*
*2 sony/nec optiarc 1(7170a) 1(ad-7191s)*
*acer al2216wbd *
*logitech g15 gamer & mx518 *
*creative labs 5.1 speakers*

To follow on the 03hdfatboy's advice, the manual should available on the
ASUS site for viewing or download. Although I get fed up with how long it
takes to get anything done on the ASUS site, you might have better luck.

"03hdfatboy" wrote in message
...

I knew as soon as I saw the title of your thread you were using an asus
board I had the same issue when I was running one myself. The best I can
remember there is a setting in your bios you have to change but I don't
remember what it was and I don't have my manual anymore to look at my
notes.. It is not a Vista issue mine done the same thing when I was
running XP.
Hope this helps


--
03hdfatboy

fatboy
*my baby...*
*raidmax smilodon dirk-tooth case*
*pc power & cooling 1200w psu*
*abit aw9d-max w*
*intel core 2 extreme qx6700 @ 3668.5 mhz*
*vigor gaming clt-m2i 92mm thermal electric cpu cooler*
*corsair dominator 4gb *
*ati x1950xtx + ati x1950cf*
*hauppauge wintv-hvr-1800*
*400 gb, 320 gb sata seagate barracudas*
*i-rocks e-sata w/500gb seagate*
*2 sony/nec optiarc 1(7170a) 1(ad-7191s)*
*acer al2216wbd *
*logitech g15 gamer & mx518 *
*creative labs 5.1 speakers*

Colin Barnhorst;730096 Wrote:
To follow on the 03hdfatboy's advice, the manual should available on the
ASUS site for viewing or download. Although I get fed up with how long
it
takes to get anything done on the ASUS site, you might have better
luck.

Their site is slow I can't for the life of me remember what it was.



--
03hdfatboy

*fatboy*

*my baby...*
*raidmax smilodon dirk-tooth case*
*pc power & cooling 1200w psu*
*abit aw9d-max *
*intel core 2 extreme qx6700 @ 3668.5 mhz*
*vigor gaming clt-m2i 92mm thermal electric cpu cooler*
*corsair dominator 4gb *
*ati x1950xtx + ati x1950cf*
*hauppauge wintv-hvr-1800*
*400 gb, 320 gb sata seagate barracudas*
*i-rocks e-sata w/500gb seagate*
*2 sony/nec optiarc 1(7170a) 1(ad-7191s)*
*acer al2216wbd *
*logitech g15 gamer & mx518 *
*creative labs 5.1 speakers*

03hdfatboy Wrote:
I knew as soon as I saw the title of your thread you were using an
asus board I had the same issue when I was running one myself. The best
I can remember there is a setting in your bios you have to change but I
don't remember what it was and I don't have my manual anymore to look at
my notes.. It is not a Vista issue mine done the same thing when I was
running XP.
Hope this helpsDisabling AHCI and keeping it set on IDE emulation?

This would require a re-install of the OS.

At any rate, I enabled the JMicron IDE controller on my board, the Asus
P5E, and hooked up an old 16X DVD-ROM. The disappearing drive act
doesn't happen with this.

Interestingly though, after doing some further google searching, it
seems as if the Intel Matrix Storage Driver might need to be installed
with RAID and/or AHCI enabled. I had originally not installed it
because the installer reported a newer version of the driver installed
already.

At any rate, I am going to re-attach the SATA DVD-RW I have sitting
disconnected in my case and see if that storage driver resolved the
problem. I'm skeptical but at least I know I can buy a better IDE
DVD-RW and get by w/my system without reinstalling the OS..


--
Dospac

Interesting... could this be a sort of "power management" issue?
To check this, the OP could "ping" the drive periodically (from a background
..bat file) so it won't idle down.
Also, does the eventlog show anything relevant?

Regards,
--PA


"Dospac" wrote in message
...

This is caused by the same issue as SATA optical drives/HDs disappearing
in Vista. It's not the cable, though it's worth trying another.

Microsoft theoretically is working on a fix..


--
Dospac