Recently, my motherboard got fried by my old PSU going on the fritz, and I've just had to replace nearly everything. I'm now using an MSI P6NGM-FD which has the nForce 630i chipset, and I'm trying to use an Icy Dock eSATA enclosure to create a backup of my data via the included eSATA bracket, but I can't seem to get it to work. I've been reading through the forums, and apparently I need to switch my BIOS to AHCI to get Hot-Plug SATA enabled, but this isn't available on my BIOS settings, I can only select RAID or IDE. I've read that switching to RAID can enable eSATA, but will require re-installing windows, which I'd rather not do, as I'm just running one SATA HDD as my boot drive, not using an array. I'm currently using the latest BIOS, and the latest drivers. Am I just being daft and I've forgotten to enable one thing, or is eSATA on my motherboard an impossibility and I should just give up? Currently using WinXP SP3. if any other details are needed let me know.
Windows XP doesn't really support SATA. Did you press F6, and install the SATA drivers during Windows setup? If not, then you need to re-install. However, it could be just your motherboard that doesn't support it, or you don't have the latest SATA drivers.
im using an icybox esata as a storage. I was buggered if i could get hotswap working with it in vista. First thing to do is plug it into your bracket, switch it on then put your pc on. Check your bios( i cant remember if mine showed up. I think i had to enable esata on my bios screen) Go into windows and check your administrative tools, system manager , Disk manager. It should show up there. If not its something weird in the bios. In disk tools you might need to initialise then partition the drive so check that to.
For Vista, there is a patch for both 32 and 64-bit. It's still in beta, but everyone I know that applied this patch including myself, solved the problem without any downsides. So I would expect to have it in Windows Update in the coming months. Here is the fix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950186/en-us Download button is on the top right corner of the page content. Hope this helps.
Sorry I haven't updated sooner, but here's what i've got so far: Went through a recent update of the bios, AHCI now appears on the options I can select. Tried booting with it enabled, and the system just keeps restarting. Tried a bunch of different work-arounds I found on google, and nothing worked. Is there any way of fixing it so AHCI is enabled, without having to re-install windows which will require the arduous task of reinstalling all of my programs etc?
What windows are you using? If you are using Windows XP, you need XP SP3 fully updated and install the SATA driver BEFORE Windows XP setup (you need a floppy with the extracted drivers on it, floppy drive, and press F6 before Windows XP setup loads). Without the SATA drivers installed before the installation of this OS, your SATA controller won't work properly. If you have Vista SP1 fully updated, try this patch: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950186/en-us (Click on the top left corner link to download patch. If you use Vista 64-bit you must use a 64-bit web browser (ie: IE 7 64-bit) to download the patch, else you will download the 32-bit witch won't work)
i'm using windows xp. so no way to work around it - I have to install xp from scratch with the drivers during install?
in the hope that it works, yes. Worst come to worst, it won't work, but your main HDD controller will be a bit faster (if it's on SATA), as it won't run under "safe mode" as I like to call it. Some SATA controller can "hack" it's way trough and you can install the SATA drivers after Windows XP is installed. Try that, if that doesn't work, then I guess re-install is the only way. For me, it didn't work, but it's worth a try.
What motherboard are you using? (or more specifically, what storage controller is it). it is perfectly possible to do without re-installing windows (both XP and vista), with a little bit of playing.
Its an MSI P6NGM-FD Motherboard which uses an NVidia MCP73U/PV/V Chipset from what I can tell on the website.
In principle its pretty easy to do, install a driver, add a bit to the registry and your done, however Though it is possible, at present, I can only tell you how to do Intel based chipsets. I've also found online instruction for the ATI chipsets (the principle is the same, its getting the correct registry information thats the bugger - It involves specific ID's in the registry that I do not know at this time). The easier way to so it, would be to "repair" windows and install the driver by pressing F6. "Repairing" windows keeps all you files and settings, and even the bulk of your programs and registry, however it would let you install the SATA drivers at the F6 prompt. To do the repair method, switch to ahci in the BIOS, start a normal windows setup pressing F6 to add drivers, when it says press enter to start windows setup, r to repair or F3 to exit, press enter. Agree to the licence, and then setup should search for previous versions. It should find XP, and offer to repair it if you press R. Windows will then effectively re-install as it is usign the new controller drives, but keeping everything else in tact. This is best done with a disc with the same service pack. Of course the other option, is as mentioned a Format and re-install. Sorry I cannot be any more informative at this time, but If you google it, you'll find instructions.
