EliteBook 8530p problem: e-SATA port does not recognize HDD (Vista 32)

Hi, this is actually a friend's problem, but since I couldn't help him despite trying hard, I hope I'll be lucky on this forum.
OS is Vista x86 32-bit.

We couldn't for the life of us get the Seagate HDD recognized when plugged inside the eSATA port. Worked fine via the alternative IEEE1394 connector, though. The "super-duper" trick recommended by the manufacturer, consisting of mere rescanning drives with the HDD manager in Computer Management did not effect in anything. Nor did installation of Intel's hard drive manager (which came with a driver update under the veil)

But the dealer whom he bought the HDD from insisted that the HDD worked fine via eSATA, so it doesn't appear to be a hardware problem, nor could a defective cable be the culprit, since he used the very same.

Seems to be quite a rare kind of problem, because I couldn't find anything in the net about this issue.
Anyone ever experienced this and got a solution?

 

Is the drive recognized in bios? Have you checked bios settings: perhaps there's eSATA on/off switch. Is ACHI turned on in bios?

 

Also make sure you have the latest Intel Storage Matrix driver installed. Get it from the intel site, rather than HP. That is how I got mine working, though mine was a raid box with a SIL chip in it. Yours may be the same?