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    Notebook won't recognize other SATA devices

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by CoreEye5, Aug 25, 2011.

  1. CoreEye5

    CoreEye5 Notebook Geek

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    I have a Samsung Series 3 notebook (NP300-V5A-A02US) that I modified slightly, by removing the optical drive & replacing it with an internal SATA-to-eSATA cable, like this one:
    [​IMG]
    The right side fits the data side of the notebook's internal slimline SATA port.

    For some reason, I can't get any eSATA devices to appear on the system. Regardless of whether I power cycle, reboot, or "Scan for New Hardware" in Windows 7's Device Manager, the external drive never shows up. HotSWAP! is likewise unable to detect the drive. Running on AC or battery makes no difference.

    I've checked and re-checked the adapter cable. It's securely plugged in on both ends. I even swapped it out for a brand new one. Likewise for the eSATA cable going from the adapter socket (pictured above) to the external drive. I tried a couple of different external drives, still no success.

    If I reinstall the original optical drive, it is recognized and works normally. So I'm reasonably sure the internal slimline SATA port is OK.

    The weird thing is, I have had eSATA drives recognized previously - it just won't happen any more. Neither BIOS nor Windows 7 can "see" anything connected to the eSATA adapter, although it worked when I first performed the modification, about a week ago.

    The same external drive works fine when connected via USB. However, that isn't a solution, because I want to use a fast eSATA connection, not a slow USB 2.0 connection.

    What could be the problem? Is it possible there is a grounding issue?
     
    CoreEye5, Aug 25, 2011
    #1
  2. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    If you are using external drives powered by the USB, then it's normal since no power is coming from the e-sata you have. If you are using a drive plugged in an outlet, disregard this comment.
     
    tijo, Aug 25, 2011
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  3. CoreEye5

    CoreEye5 Notebook Geek

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    Right, all my eSATA external drives are independently powered (i.e. 12 VDC wall wart). Thus the mystery.

    update:
    I am happy to report that I now have eSATA hotswap working more or less as it should.

    It turns out that an obscure option in the Samsung's BIOS is critical to operation of the secondary SATA port. I forgot that last week, I was tinkering and toggled "UEFI Support" to "Enabled" from its default setting ("Legacy" if I recall correctly).

    Once I changed UEFI support back to the default setting, the eSATA drive started showing up on the system again.
     
    CoreEye5, Aug 25, 2011
    #3