[SOLVED] e-sata issues

[Laughinkidda]

Challening one this one .. been Googling and asking around .. hoping someone here can help.

So I have two Sata enclosures, two completely different makes. Both work via USB and both have e-sata ports. Obviously e-sata being faster I want to use them.

My MB (TUF gaming X570-plus) doesn't have e-sata so I bought a PCIe card which has been picked up by windows and installed no issues but everytime I turned the boxes on, they light up and then shut down as if nothing is connected. Connect USB again and they work fine.

I assume the issue was the PCIe card so I sent it back and got a more expensive card. Card again is installed no issues, but the cages will not stay on, they start to boot, I assume detect no data connections and shut down.

I have zero clue what to do now.

Anyone got any ideas? I've read around the forum and the posts on this topic just mention that it's plug and play ...

 

[helpstar]

Which PCIe cards exactly did you get and which exact eSATA enclosures?

Power is connected to the enclosures? E sata will need an extra power source while USB might work without extra power

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

these external drive enclosures convert the drives connection from e-SATA to USB.
are you using a secondary USB > e-SATA conversion cable to then connect the enclosures to the e-SATA PCIe ports?

the enclosures should be connected to a motherboard USB port, which would completely bypass the PCIe e-SATA card and make it obsolete.

 

[Laughinkidda]

Which PCIe cards exactly did you get and which exact eSATA enclosures?

Power is connected to the enclosures? E sata will need an extra power source while USB might work without extra power

Range pro - Card Pcie Ide and Esata 3.0 - Raid - High Low pro - Marvell 88SE9128

Power connected to both, they both power up with no cables connected and then shut down.

Startech SAT3540U2E
Icybox IB-3640SU3 4BAY DAS USB3 ESATA

these external drive enclosures convert the drives connection from e-SATA to USB.
are you using a secondary USB > e-SATA conversion cable to then connect the enclosures to the e-SATA PCIe ports?

the enclosures should be connected to a motherboard USB port, which would completely bypass the PCIe e-SATA card and make it obsolete.

No, the enclosures both have esata and seperate USB ports

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

so they are connected via e-SATA output cables directly to the PCIe card?

try using only the USB output and see if this keeps the enclosures powered up.

I would also try disabling any "power saving" options related to PCIe in both the Windows Power Plan and BIOS. it could be the system is not accessing any data so just immediately powers down the PCIe card.

 

[Laughinkidda]

so they are connected via e-SATA output cables directly to the PCIe card?

try using only the USB output and see if this keeps the enclosures powered up.

I would also try disabling any "power saving" options related to PCIe in both the Windows Power Plan and BIOS. it could be the system is not accessing any data so just immediately powers down the PCIe card.

Sorry, I did say in the first post, USB works fine, they both remain powered up and accessible.

I can't find anything power related in the BIOS menu, can't see anything e-sata related either (assumed it would have detected)

Tuf Gaming X570-plus MB

 

[Laughinkidda]

and yes, they are e-sata to e-stata port to port

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

that Icy Box enclosure appears pretty nice, though I've never had any experience with the manufacturer. using this one through USB 3.0 should get you the same max HD speeds that eSATA could provide.
are you using SSDs or HDDs?

I have not seen much info on that eSATA card manufacturer or that particular card. a new quick search turned up very limited info & this image:

it would be very unlikely that you would have two malfunctioning PCIe cards back to back so it would lead me to believe it is either an issue with the motherboard's PCIe port or a software settings issue.

 

[helpstar]

Did you press the interface switch of the Startech box to select eSATA instead of USB?

Is the BIOS of the motherboard up to date?

Only connect one box at a time

 

[Laughinkidda]

Did you press the interface switch of the Startech box to select eSATA instead of USB?

Is the BIOS of the motherboard up to date?

Only connect one box at a time

MB is up to date, and I’ve tried one at a time, testing each separately but the same thing.

The interface button doesn’t allow changes it’s like it runs through some kind of diagnostics and fails.

I’m hoping to be transferring multiple files at the same time, some big video storage and video editing

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I’m hoping to be transferring multiple files at the same time, some big video storage and video editing

...through USB 3.0 should get you the same max HD speeds that eSATA could provide.

there is only a 1Gbps max speed difference between eSATA & USB 3.0.
so using the Icy Box to transfer all files through USB there should be no noticeable difference in the time it takes to complete disk to disk file transfers.

but the initial problem with using eSATA connection through a functioning PCIe eSATA card is definitely odd. having two functioning enclosures suffering the exact same issue through two different cards would be very nerve wracking.

I would try the setup in a different system and see if they function correctly there. if it does, this would narrow it down to either a motherboard PCIe port issue or possibly a system settings issue.

 

[Laughinkidda]

thanks, I don't have another system to test it in. Must be a setting on the board then I guess.

 

[Laughinkidda]

seems the answer is unknown ..

 

[fzabkar]

How does a single eSATA port service up to 4 drives? There must be some kind of RAID or JBOD setup inside the enclosure.

Edit:

The Startech enclosure uses Exar's XRS10L240 chip. This is 4-port SATA multiplier with two selectable SATA hosts. I guess one host interface would connect to the enclosure's eSATA port, while the second SATA host interface would connect to an additional USB-SATA bridge IC.

I'm assuming that each of the 4 drives would be enumerated separately rather than as a RAID or JBOD (because of the port multiplier).

Startech 4 Drive eSATA USB Multi Bay External Hard Drive Enclosure User Manual:
https://sgcdn.startech.com/005329/media/sets/SAT3540U2E_Manual/SAT3540U2E.pdf

Exar - EXSTOR - 1 XRS10L240 - SERIAL ATA II: PORT MULTIPLIER / PORT SELECTOR:
https://www.maxlinear.com/files/documents/xrs10l240_105_012609.pdf

"If only one of the installed hard drives is visible on the computer when connected over eSATA, ensure that the eSATA port on your computer system supports Port Multiplier technology."

Edit 2:

IcyBox user manual for IB-3640 series:
https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/B1Oszxyo8RS.pdf

"Note: Port multiplier at host computer needed, if connected via eSATA."

Edit 3:

It's not clear from the product brief whether Marvell's 88SE9128 chip supports port multiplier technology (the 88SE9120 and 88SE9125 both do). However, Startech's card claims that it does.

Marvell - Storage - 88SE912x Product Brief:
https://cn.marvell.com/content/dam/...ll-storage-88se912x-product-brief-2010-08.pdf

https://www.startech.com/eu/Cards-A...s-PCI-Express-eSATA-Controller-Card~PEXESAT32

This wiki seems to confirm support for port multipliers:
https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/SATA_hardware_features

 

[helpstar]

Did you try different eSATA cables?

Did you connect the boxes to power and eSATA while booting the PC? Are the boxes powered on while booting?Hotplug/hotswap might not be supported. Try one box at a time.

 

[fzabkar]

Could we see photos of the PCBs inside the enclosures?