Can ESATA hot-plug???

[technology-sponge]

Hey

I know this is kinda a dumb question, but can you hot-plug with ESATA?

(ie, disconnect the drive without shutting down the computer?)

Also, if it is hot-pluggable, can it be switched off/removed as long as its not read/writing, or do you have to go safely remove hardware, eject?

All this is assuming I have a proper ESATA external disk, ICH8R motherboard and appropriate AHCI/RAID drivers installed and enabled.

 

[Shadow703793]

Yes. Thats why its called eSATA but even SATA can be hotpluged under certain motherboards and Vista.

 

[crimsonfilms]

It has to be remove hardware/eject in Windows XP. I am not sure with Vista.

 

[technology-sponge]

cool.

 

[timaahhh]

Hot swap FTW!

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Hot-swap functionality is dependent on the SATA driver for the controller in question. One would think that if a manufacturer implements eSATA compliance in their controller, that they would also implement hot-swap, but alas that isn't the case.

A prime example is the Intel ICH8R/9R south bridge. It is eSATA compliant, and in fact if you purchase an Intel motherboard, it even comes with a bracket that allows one of the internal SATA ports to become an eSATA port, so you can plug in an eSATA device. Of course, in Intel's infinite wisdom, they did not implement hot-swap in the ICH driver, so there is no Safely Remove Hardware icon in the system tray to allow you to actually hot swap the drive.

 

[pch]

What is the recommended way to connect and disconnect external eSata hard drives safely on a live system?

We have a Windows 2003 server that has an eSata hard drive connected to it and we want to be able to disconnect it safely without shutting it down all the time. The controller we are using is a SIIG eSata II-150 PCI.

According to the box, it states that it supports SATA hard disk hot-plugging.

We don't have an option in "Safely Remove Hardware" either. When we try to configure the drive so that we can optimize for quick removal, the section are greyed out and optimize for performance is selected.

Thanks,
Pch

 

[SomeJoe7777]

If there is no Safely Remove Hardware icon, you will need to talk to SIIG tech support to find out their recommended way to hot-swap the drive.

 

[Guest]

I think you have to install the Intel Matrix Storage Drivers to support the hot swap function.

 

[Xajel]

Yeh they can as the original SATA II can HotPlug, eSATA is just an external version of it...

I have ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe WiFi Motherboard and it has 6 SATA ports that is standard with the nForce 590 SLI chipset, and 2 additional SATA ports with dedicated Silicaon Image Sil 3132 SATA controller that has one port in the mobo and eSATA port in the back panel...
The first time I installed the mobo, I was chocked to see all my partitions in the 'Safely remove Hardware' even the system C: !!
I did some google search then I found that installing the SATA drivers that nVIDIA bring with it's nForce drivers package will enable the Hot-Plugging feature, but using Windows standard drivers wont, so I just removed the drivers and every thing is ok...
but the eSATA port wich uses the SI Sil 3132 chip still active, but only shows up when I connect a SATA drive to it

 

[Byteman3D]

You can hot swap any disk which can be converted to Dynamic Disk in Windows XP or Vista; either SATA or even IDE.

Just open the Administrative Tools in control panel, then Computer Management, and under Storage group open Disk Management.
You'll see all your disks listed with their capacity shown graphically.
Your disks are organized with numbers like Disk0, Disk1, Disk3. Right click on the area where you see those labels and select Convert to Dynamic Disk.

Read any instructions and warnings carefully if anything that won't suit your situation happens duing the process.
Your files will not be deleted by this conversion and nothing will be changed at all. Although this action is completely safe, I recommend to convert only the disks that you need to hot-swap; not all of your disks.

After all why would Microsoft not simply format all the disks as dynamic from the beginning, so that you can hot-swap any disk at any time? And you cannot boot your system from any volumes on the dynamic disk (except from the current boot volume).

Hot swapping an IDE dynamic disk is again done from Administrative Tools (Disk Management) and is simple. I don't remember the exact command but there are commands on the above mentioned menu to activate or deactivate (or stop) the volume.

To hot plug in you simply plug in and scan the disk from Disk Manager menu. I don't remember the exact procedure but you may need to Import Foreign Disk as well.
Look at the menus and try (but with care. READ ANY INSTRUCTIONS) Windows doesn't delete your data without a warning. SO READ!

It looks like a nightmare at first, as you hear speed up sound of the disk while the computer is operating, but as you scan and find your disk you feel a bit relieved.
As you see your files on explorer you feel totally relieved.

Plugging out the disk is a little more work. You have to remove the disk from some menu there. As you can no longer see the disk on disk manager window just plug out.

You'll be surprised how your computer doesn't get hanged by such an operation
Mine does get hanged even by plugging out the Ps2 keyboard.
But thanks to the great programming behind Dynamic Disk.

You may consider buying a hard disk box to easily plug in such an internal disk externally.

 

[rand_79]

I know at least on the intel ich9 controller the drive is detected when you boot the computer.

The computer wont see it if you plug it into the esata while in windows.


such has been my experience with vista and the intel ich9 controller

I do have all the drivers installed and the intel matrix software installed..


It simply wont see the esata until you reboot.

 

[mikrev007]

You can hot swap any disk which can be converted to Dynamic Disk in Windows XP or Vista; either SATA or even IDE.

No, you cannot. There need to be hardware support for it. IDE does not provide that support.

 

[Ignatowski]

I know at least on the intel ich9 controller the drive is detected when you boot the computer.

The computer wont see it if you plug it into the esata while in windows.


such has been my experience with vista and the intel ich9 controller

I do have all the drivers installed and the intel matrix software installed..


It simply wont see the esata until you reboot.

using the stock microsoft driver doesnt give you access to all the features.
ich9 and ich10 both support hot swap when the intel matrix raid manager/drivers are installed.

 

[wingbliss]

sorry, I have to bring this up due to many misunderstanding.

EVEN IDE CAN be hotswap much less eSATA. eSATA is hotswappable.

Download
http://mt-naka.com/hotswap/index_enu.htm
(remember to right click)

I have tried using this software to hotswap my IDE DVD-RW.
The original way is to go to device manager.

 

[Guest]

...The original way is to go to device manager.

This is the exactly what I do (ESata+USB drive):
1. set it to "Disabled" in device manager
2. power it down
3. and ... plug it out...

The other way around:
1. plug it in
2. power it up
3. enable it...

If there is a utility that does this Enabled/Disable for you - I'll be glad to know
The above utility does NOT disable the device, but removes (uninstalls) it.

 

[fusioncat]

YES! eSATA & eSATAp(eSATA+USB) CAN be Hotswap!

Use HotSwap!
http://mt-naka.com/hotswap/file/HotSwap!%205.0.0.0.ZIP

(YES, It DOES allows you to safely add & remove, please LEFT click on it.)

When you plug it back in. Simply RIGHT click & select "Scan new hardware changes".

It really doesn't matter whether its disabled or uninstalled, its transparent to end user. So long user can safely add remove. =)

Mirror:
http://esatap.sg/sw/hotswap5.zip
http://pcsg3.com/sw/hotswap5.zip

Colin Kee aka FusionCat
eSATAp Support Group
esatap.sg