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    E-Sata isn't supported in XP for the M860TU / NP8660?

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by greyreap, Jul 13, 2008.

  1. greyreap

    greyreap Notebook Consultant

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    Under the specs tab for the M860T on Clevos' site it states:

    I/O Ports

    4x USB 2.0 ports
    1x eSATA port (VISTA only)
    1x IEEE 1394a port
    1x DVI-I output port
    1x HDMI output port
    1x headphone jack
    1x microphone jack
    1x S/PDIF output jack
    1x RJ-11 jack
    1x RJ-45 jack
    1x DC-in jack

    Is this true, will the eSATA controller not be supported in XP or is this just referring to the ability to hot plug in AHCI mode?
     
    greyreap, Jul 13, 2008
    #1
  2. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

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    like on desktops motherboards, on-board eSATA can be crap with drivers and support.

    Most recommend to get a third-party eSATA card.... its about $40-50 for a Expresscard version.
     
    Gophn, Jul 13, 2008
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  3. greyreap

    greyreap Notebook Consultant

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    Man, I hope thats not the case. One of the biggest reasons for my decision to wait for the Cantiga chipset was its support for eSATA.

    And considering my planned use for the eSATA port was with my 1tb audio samples drive which I would be using almost exclusively within XP, that sucks even more.

    I can get the expresscard, but I had hoped that the onboard eSATA meant just that.
     
    greyreap, Jul 13, 2008
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  4. auburncoast

    auburncoast Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    hmmm tough situation. but i'll let you know that i've moved on to vista with my audio production. it hasn't been bad. So long as your hardware supports atleast vista 32bit I'd suggest the leap. your gonna have to get on the wagon soon enough anyways. Plus alot of stuff is now going 64bit vista so... But honestly I have the same experience on vista as I did on xp.
     
    auburncoast, Jul 13, 2008
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  5. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

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    I have two desktops that I built with eSATA, one works fine with XP, the sucked... which is when I found out that it was the poor driver support (so I get a another e-SATA expansion card and it worked fine.
     
    Gophn, Jul 13, 2008
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  6. gonwk

    gonwk Notebook Deity

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    @Gophn ... eSata Smart Cards for laptops ... are those any good?

    G!
     
    gonwk, Jul 13, 2008
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  7. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

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    Those work perfect, but they will not power the devices... you will still need external power.
     
    Gophn, Jul 13, 2008
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  8. Sp3ctrum

    Sp3ctrum Notebook Consultant

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    Actually I red the manual and it say's that XP support esata but not hot swapping which mean you have to shutdown the computer to remove the hard-drive
     
    Sp3ctrum, Jul 13, 2008
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  9. greyreap

    greyreap Notebook Consultant

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    Cool, hopeully that is the case then. Thanks for the info.
     
    greyreap, Jul 13, 2008
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  10. StefanHamminga

    StefanHamminga Notebook Consultant

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    Usually hotswapping most kinds of drives work fine in XP, I even hotswapped ATA dvd drives on some pc's. Most, but not all motherboards can take this. After connecting the device open the device manager, rightclick you computer and hit 'scan for new devices'.

    Be adviced, I don't recommend it to anyone, you can still break your hardware. A small extra safety tip for unplugging the old school power connectors is by pulling them holding the red & yellow wire, this essentially does the same as modern hotswap sata power connectors.
     
    StefanHamminga, Jul 13, 2008
    #10