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eSata HD on a M2400: not detected!

Discussion in 'Dell Latitude, Vostro, and Precision' started by tata668, Jan 9, 2009.

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  1. tata668

    tata668 Notebook Consultant

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    I just received a WD 1TB hard drive and a Icy Dock enclosure. I close my M2400, plug the HD, reboot, and I don't see the HD.

    I don't think I can see the hard drive in the bios either, but I don't know the bios a lot, maybe I'm not looking at the correct place.

    My bios has "IRRT" for the "Sata Operation" section, I run Windows XP that has been installed with the sata drivers slipped on the installation disk.

    Any idea?
     
    tata668, Jan 9, 2009
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  2. tata668

    tata668 Notebook Consultant

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    Even USB2 doesn't seem to work.. Am I missing something?
     
    tata668, Jan 9, 2009
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  3. t3chgeek

    t3chgeek Notebook Enthusiast

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    I don't know if this would help you, but I have an e6500. In order for my esata drive to work, I had to disable my antivirus before plugging in my esata drive or else my computer would slow down and sometimes hang. BTW, I'm using eset nod32 antivirus.
     
    t3chgeek, Jan 10, 2009
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  4. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Note that if the new HDD is not formatted then it will not show up with a driver letter. However, you should be able to see the physical disc in Device Manager or Disk Management (where you can format the HDD).

    What happens if you plug the HDD in when the computer is running? That's the way I always do it. My E6400 came with IRRT enabled and a message would pop up when I plugged the HDD in. I didn't want to use IRRT so I changed to AHCI.

    You will also need to have the Intel Matrix Storage Manager installed for IRRT and eSATA to work. There is a new version of this just released.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 10, 2009
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  5. tata668

    tata668 Notebook Consultant

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    I just disabled my antivirus and plugged the HD using USB2, with the laptop on, and nothing append at all. I don't see the disk in the disk management.

    A weird thing: yesterday, something like 3 hours after being plugged without any effect, I suddently saw a "new hardware found" pop-up in the system tray. But the name of the device was a mess (something like "*&?"%") and after the "hardware successfully installed" message, nothing was changed in the Explorer or the disk manager.

    I did install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, both the drivers and the application (are they both needed, or just the drivers - that were slipped on my XP installation disk- ?). But anyway, I guess the HD should work using USB2, without this software, right?

    Maybe the problem is the disk itself, even if it's new. I'll try to connect it to another computer, using USB2, to see if that'll work!

    Another thing: can I use my external hard-drive as a regular disk, if my bios is set to IRRT? Or will the disk only be available as a "raid" solution? I only want a regular external drive, to store music/movie, not for backup purpose.
     
    tata668, Jan 10, 2009
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  6. tata668

    tata668 Notebook Consultant

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    The disk doesn't show up on a desktop computer either! I guess the disk or the enclosure is faulty.
     
    tata668, Jan 10, 2009
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  7. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    It will work as USB if connected as USB (one port on the disk drive) using a USB cable and as eSATA if connected with an eSATA cable to the eSATA port.

    You can tell IRRT to go away when the dialog box pops up and then it will work as a regular HDD. Note that IRRT will only cut in when the HDD is connected as eSATA.

    OK. Device Manager should report a USB Mass Storage Device under the USB controllers when connected as USB.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 10, 2009
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  8. tata668

    tata668 Notebook Consultant

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    John, thanks so much for your help.

    This is what I see in Device Manager, using USB2:

    [​IMG]

    Notice the weird drive name!

    Nothing shows in the Disk Manager:

    [​IMG]

    I think I'm gonna buy I new enclosure to see if it solves the problem.
     
    tata668, Jan 10, 2009
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  9. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Thanks. Something isn't reading the HDD properly. You should also see a USB Mass Storage Controller under USB controllers in Device Manager. If that is there, then it may be the HDD itself that is faulty, not the enclosure.

    If you have access to a desktop computer then you could put the HDD in there, to see if is working. If you don't have a second SATA / power cable then you could use the one from primary HDD and boot using a Linux live CD (eg Ubuntu).

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 10, 2009
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  10. tata668

    tata668 Notebook Consultant

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    John,

    I see no "USB Mass Storage Controller" under Device Manager, even if I plug my USB mp3 player that works perfectly. Everything appears under "disk drives":

    [​IMG]

    My laptop is docked by the way, if it makes a difference.

    I'll try the HD in my desktop computer. I'm not sure I have a SATA cable though, my desktop computer was using IDE disks. I'll let you know. Thanks again!


    Edit: I see "Storage Volumes" appears when I plug my mp3 player though. It lists itself as "Generic volume".
     
    tata668, Jan 10, 2009
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