Stability of eSATA connections in Windows 10

[VelcroFace]

A couple days ago, while ingesting video media into Avid, my external SansDigital RAID 5 drive (TowerRAID TR4UTBPN connected by eSATA) repeatedly dropped out. This caused lots of file corruption. Eventually, the system refused to see the drive. Windows "chkdsk" could not repair the damage. The MFT was wiped out. I managed to recover everything (I think) using EaseUS Data Recovery, but that took two days of nail biting.

Should I blame Windows 10? Should I blame the TowerRAID drive? Or was it just one of those things? Maybe I was lucky, but these issues never occurred in Windows 7. Since transitioning to Windows 10 (via a clean install), the USB 3.0 connections and eSATA connections on this board (ASUS P9X79 Pro) seem to be less stable than they were in Windows 7. How likely is this corruption to happen again? Should I go back to Windows 7?

 

[Ralston18]

I would be hesitant to blame anything without some "data" or reasonable evidence as backup.

If you are seeing more instability it could be any number of things. The overall quality of hardware, software, and all associated components is declining and QA is becoming a thing of the past.

Glad you were able to retrieve your data.

Do you still have the hard drive with the Windows 10 OS as it was? The reason for the question is that you can use the Event Viewer to look at the Windows 10 logs and search for any error codes and warnings related to the problem. Those error codes can be researched and may shed some light on the nature, the fix, and the possibility of the problem re-occcuring. But you have to know what the problem(s) was or were.

Would not go back to Windows 7. Maybe add some extra backups, verify them frequently, and overall keep an eye on things. Learn to watch the Event Viewer logs and you will quickly learn your way around and be able to go in and look should things go astray again.

Makes things a bit more difficult and cumbersome at first - still you will be better off for the long run by not going backwards.

 

[VelcroFace]

Would not go back to Windows 7. Maybe add some extra backups, verify them frequently, and overall keep an eye on things. Learn to watch the Event Viewer logs and you will quickly learn your way around and be able to go in and look should things go astray again.

Thanks for your suggestions. The Event Viewer offered no insights into what might have caused the dropouts, but perhaps I'm not reading it correctly.

I've just ordered a 4 TB external USB 3 drive to back up my external eSATA 4 TB RAID drive. That should provide some security.

Unfortunately, the Windows 10 drivers for USB 3 are flaky on this board, and consequently the back panel USB 3 ports don't work. I'll have to use one of the front two USB 3 ports for backup.

I'm still on the fence about whether it's worth staying with Windows 10. My system was rock-solid with Windows 7, and stability is a major concern when deadlines loom and clients are impatient.

 

[Ralston18]

It does take a few looks to get "comfortable" so to speak with the Event Viewer.

Here is further explanation about Event Viewer from within this forum.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-3128616/windows-event-viewer.html

As for Windows 7 versus Windows 10 that discussion could become quite lively. My concern is that the idea of a Personal Computer is essentially going backwards for a variety of reasons. None truly beneficial to end users and consumers. Less control, fewer choices, etc., etc.. Then add in the threat of malware, ransomware, data hacks, and it all gets messy in a hurry. However that is a discussion for another place and time.

You need stability and security for your business so those interests should come first. Do what you need to do to meet your requirements and protect your business.

Use Windows 7 but bear in mind that, at some point, you may not be able to continue doing so through no choice of your own. And it could be precipated by some "update" forced in without any notice or real care for you, the customer. Suddenly things do not or will not work.

That means that you will need to devote more of your time and resources setting up and planning accordingly. Tough balancing act all around.

 

[VelcroFace]

My concern is that the idea of a Personal Computer is essentially going backwards for a variety of reasons. None truly beneficial to end users and consumers. Less control, fewer choices, etc., etc.. Then add in the threat of malware, ransomware, data hacks, and it all gets messy in a hurry.

Thank you for so generously devoting your time to discussing my issue. The link to an explanation of the Event Viewer was helpful.

Seems to me that smartphones have heavily influenced the development of the PC. In particular, the investment Microsoft made in developing the OS for Windows phones has migrated to the PC. I use Cortana quite a bit on my Nokia Lumia 1020 Windows phone, but seldom on my desktop. I like the way live tiles display information on my phone, but they're a distraction on my desktop, where my main concern is getting work done. I realize Windows 10 has lots of customization options, and I can remove those tiles, but the OS seems quite messy, making it less attractive for business.

Like it or not, I know my next computer will be running Windows 10 (if I don't cross over to the Apple camp). That's the OS it will be designed to run. As for my current build? If I knew for certain the OS did not cause the data corruption, I would continue using Windows 10.

 

[kamcm]

I had the same problems as you before. The partition suddenly corrupted and windows showing a popup to format the drive.

Since I had already replaced all of the PSU come with the enclosure so I am sure the problem had nothing to do with PSU.
At first, I guess it’s due to bad esata cable so I spent $60 USD to purchase different brand esata cable , including C2G, startech.
However, the problems remain the same. I think it’s likely there’s a compatible issue between controller chipset. So I spent another $200 USD to purchase different esata controller card using different chipsets, including Marvell, silicon Image, Asmedia, Jmicron. I bought all of them and test them all one by one but none of them can fix the problems.

I am glad to tell you I finally found the root caused and get them fixed.

You can simple Google "Ultimate fix for Sansdigital TowerRAID Enclosure" for the solution and I had explain the root cause in details.

Direct Link: http://kamserver.com/2018/04/24/ultimate-fix-for-sansdigital-towerraid-enclosure/