Windows Vista Forums

E Sata with external hard drive
  1. #1


    PeterG Guest

    E Sata with external hard drive

    I have a problem I hope may be solvable with some help from others. My PC has
    an e sata port on the rear and my external hard drive works fine on USB but
    as soon as I connect to the e sata port the PC simply does not recognise its
    existence at all. I have tried updating drivers, setting bios for e sata etc
    all to no avail. Has anyone got a solution? I am running Vista Home Ultimate
    32bit with an MSI mainboard.



      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  2. #2


    will_s Guest

    Re: E Sata with external hard drive


    "PeterG" <PeterG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
    news:5BF77189-A55F-4B19-9614-BFF9EFB50655@microsoft.com...
    >I have a problem I hope may be solvable with some help from others. My PC
    >has
    > an e sata port on the rear and my external hard drive works fine on USB
    > but
    > as soon as I connect to the e sata port the PC simply does not recognise
    > its
    > existence at all. I have tried updating drivers, setting bios for e sata
    > etc
    > all to no avail. Has anyone got a solution? I am running Vista Home
    > Ultimate
    > 32bit with an MSI mainboard.



    Does it have an external power supply ? USB can power some external drives
    but am pretty sure esata needs a separate power supply.

    btw: I have an esata drive and it shows as a normal hard not as an external
    drive on my Vista Home Ultimate


      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  3. #3


    churin Guest

    Re: E Sata with external hard drive

    PeterG wrote:
    > I have a problem I hope may be solvable with some help from others. My PC has
    > an e sata port on the rear and my external hard drive works fine on USB but
    > as soon as I connect to the e sata port the PC simply does not recognise its
    > existence at all. I have tried updating drivers, setting bios for e sata etc
    > all to no avail. Has anyone got a solution? I am running Vista Home Ultimate
    > 32bit with an MSI mainboard.

    With the extent of problem description as given, there are a number of
    possible causes. Let me ask questions:
    1) Does the Device Manager show that the drivers are installed and
    indicate the device is working?
    2) Is the external SATA HDD powered?

    I can think of more questions but please answer the above as a starter.

    churin

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  4. #4


    PeterG Guest

    Re: E Sata with external hard drive

    The external hard drive has its own power supply. Upon connecting via USB the
    PC picks it up and shows it as an extra hard drive in MyComputer. When
    connecting via e sata the l.e.d on the mainboard lights up indicating a
    connection is present but the PC does nothing. I have tried all the usual
    tactics to get the PC to recognise the drive but to no avail. I even
    installed the driver files supplied intended for 98 and before setups and
    still nothing. It has me beat with my reasonable but limited technical
    knowledge.
    Peter G

    "churin" wrote:

    > PeterG wrote:
    > > I have a problem I hope may be solvable with some help from others. My PC has
    > > an e sata port on the rear and my external hard drive works fine on USB but
    > > as soon as I connect to the e sata port the PC simply does not recognise its
    > > existence at all. I have tried updating drivers, setting bios for e sata etc
    > > all to no avail. Has anyone got a solution? I am running Vista Home Ultimate
    > > 32bit with an MSI mainboard.

    > With the extent of problem description as given, there are a number of
    > possible causes. Let me ask questions:
    > 1) Does the Device Manager show that the drivers are installed and
    > indicate the device is working?
    > 2) Is the external SATA HDD powered?
    >
    > I can think of more questions but please answer the above as a starter.
    >
    > churin
    >


      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  5. #5


    bjr Guest

    Re: E Sata with external hard drive

    using a sata instead of an e-sata cable perhaps?

    PeterG wrote:
    > The external hard drive has its own power supply. Upon connecting via USB the
    > PC picks it up and shows it as an extra hard drive in MyComputer. When
    > connecting via e sata the l.e.d on the mainboard lights up indicating a
    > connection is present but the PC does nothing. I have tried all the usual
    > tactics to get the PC to recognise the drive but to no avail. I even
    > installed the driver files supplied intended for 98 and before setups and
    > still nothing. It has me beat with my reasonable but limited technical
    > knowledge.
    > Peter G
    >
    > "churin" wrote:
    >
    >> PeterG wrote:
    >>> I have a problem I hope may be solvable with some help from others. My PC has
    >>> an e sata port on the rear and my external hard drive works fine on USB but
    >>> as soon as I connect to the e sata port the PC simply does not recognise its
    >>> existence at all. I have tried updating drivers, setting bios for e sata etc
    >>> all to no avail. Has anyone got a solution? I am running Vista Home Ultimate
    >>> 32bit with an MSI mainboard.

    >> With the extent of problem description as given, there are a number of
    >> possible causes. Let me ask questions:
    >> 1) Does the Device Manager show that the drivers are installed and
    >> indicate the device is working?
    >> 2) Is the external SATA HDD powered?
    >>
    >> I can think of more questions but please answer the above as a starter.
    >>
    >> churin
    >>


      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  6. #6


    PeterG Guest

    RE: E Sata with external hard drive

    Miracle!!!! By doing exactly what the instructions with the hard drive case
    say, I plugged the esata cable in with the unit powered up and switched on.
    The system picked it up and installed it straight away. I have then tried
    turning it on and off and the only way it is picked up is by removing and
    re-inserting the e sata cable with the case powered up and switched on. So it
    doesnt always pay to do what instruction books say!! PS its a Vantec
    NST-360SU with a 500GB Western Digital sata hard drive, thanks for the help
    all that responded.

    "PeterG" wrote:

    > I have a problem I hope may be solvable with some help from others. My PC has
    > an e sata port on the rear and my external hard drive works fine on USB but
    > as soon as I connect to the e sata port the PC simply does not recognise its
    > existence at all. I have tried updating drivers, setting bios for e sata etc
    > all to no avail. Has anyone got a solution? I am running Vista Home Ultimate
    > 32bit with an MSI mainboard.


      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  7. #7


    PeterG Guest

    RE: E Sata with external hard drive

    I think I may have made an error in my last post. Anyway by powering up the
    external HD and then plugging in the esata cable it works fine. The Vantec
    instructions say not to do this!! It will only install doing this so I assume
    either a typo error in the instructions or I have a weird PC!! Thanks,PeterG

    "PeterG" wrote:

    > I have a problem I hope may be solvable with some help from others. My PC has
    > an e sata port on the rear and my external hard drive works fine on USB but
    > as soon as I connect to the e sata port the PC simply does not recognise its
    > existence at all. I have tried updating drivers, setting bios for e sata etc
    > all to no avail. Has anyone got a solution? I am running Vista Home Ultimate
    > 32bit with an MSI mainboard.


      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  8. #8


    Adam Albright Guest

    Re: E Sata with external hard drive

    On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:00:01 -0700, PeterG
    <PeterG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

    >Miracle!!!! By doing exactly what the instructions with the hard drive case
    >say, I plugged the esata cable in with the unit powered up and switched on.
    >The system picked it up and installed it straight away. I have then tried
    >turning it on and off and the only way it is picked up is by removing and
    >re-inserting the e sata cable with the case powered up and switched on. So it
    >doesnt always pay to do what instruction books say!! PS its a Vantec
    >NST-360SU with a 500GB Western Digital sata hard drive, thanks for the help
    >all that responded.


    I can beat that... I bought a external hard drive case for my E-SATA
    drive, Vista "saw" it, then say please insert disk.


      My System SpecsSystem Spec

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