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e6400 matrix management + external drive issues

Discussion in 'Dell Latitude, Vostro, and Precision' started by faji_tama, Jan 3, 2009.

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  1. orjan

    orjan Notebook Consultant

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    When I reinstalled Windows XP on my E6400 I selected ATA mode in BIOS because I had some small stability issues with IRRT/ACHI when using the DVD drive and eSATA drive. The issues were not particularly serious but ATA mode seems more stable and I have now run the computer for a couple of weeks in ATA mode without any issues at all. The drawback is that the eSATA port is disabled in ATA mode.

    In Windows XP there is no performance benefit of using SATA AHCI/IRRT according to what I have read and experienced myself. In Vista there is a new SATA driver architecture that can give a slight performance benefit with SATA AHCI/IRRT compared to ATA.

    You will get a BSOD when switching SATA modes if you haven't added drivers for the mode you are switching to and also added some registry keys that will allow Windows to use the drive as a boot drive. This is a bit complicated to accomplish and I haven't tried to do it on my E6400. The factory installation has drivers for IRRT and AHCI so you can switch between these two modes without problems but you will get a BSOD if you try to switch to ATA.

    Örjan
     
    orjan, Jan 5, 2009
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  2. TheVirtualDude

    TheVirtualDude Notebook Guru

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    Ok. So far I am gathering from you and other as well that there isn't much of a performance difference anyways to switch. Also to answer your question, I am using an eSATA drive, for storage and backups, not for RAID. I am not sure if I clearly understand (maybe I am being dense) how the mirroring part would work especially on a laptop where you will be docking/undocking almost everyday (My work computer is an E6400). Will the mirror synchronize when re-connected to the eSATA drive?
     
    TheVirtualDude, Jan 5, 2009
    #12
  3. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    John Ratsey, Jan 5, 2009
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  4. TheVirtualDude

    TheVirtualDude Notebook Guru

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    Wow. this is fantastic! I am going to have to try playing around with it is see how it all works. I am a bit embarrassed and should have have Googled it before posting. Thanks for the link, it was very helpful.
     
    TheVirtualDude, Jan 5, 2009
    #14
  5. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Be sure to tell us how you get on.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 5, 2009
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  6. TheVirtualDude

    TheVirtualDude Notebook Guru

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    Sure thing. Now I just need to find a drive the same size or larger to make this work :)
     
    TheVirtualDude, Jan 6, 2009
    #16
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