ESATA hard drive not detected

WH4K said:

I'm going with the folks above who suggested a driver problem. Because the HDD works with your laptop, I agree that it probably isn't a hardware defect which is causing your problem.

To clarify, have you tried having the drive connected before you turn on your computer? With some implementations of AHCI, you can't access eSATA drives properly unless they are connected before you power up the host machine. In such a situation, trying to "hot plug" after the host machine has started up can give the symptoms you mentioned.

yes tried it plugged in on boot, did the same thing.

all my bios settings are on ide also

You can't hot plug to a port in ide mode, you need AHCI. That is your probably not your problem, but just so you know.

I found that with an external USB3 drive I have, some of the USB ports did not supply enough power for it (drive would beep), especially on the front panel. Try another powered USB port for the power.

elim said:

yes tried it plugged in on boot, did the same thing.

all my bios settings are on ide also

Have you tried putting your disk controller in AHCI mode?

This *should* work with Windows 7. Windows XP would bluescreen if you switched the disk controller to AHCI without installing the driver first, but Windows 7 includes an AHCI driver and should make the adjustment automagically.

GeneO said:

You can't hot plug to a port in ide mode, you need AHCI. That is your probably not your problem, but just so you know.

I found that with an external USB3 drive I have, some of the USB ports did not supply enough power for it (drive would beep), especially on the front panel. Try another powered USB port for the power.

ive tried front and back, no luck

WH4K said:

elim said:

yes tried it plugged in on boot, did the same thing.

all my bios settings are on ide also

Have you tried putting your disk controller in AHCI mode?

This *should* work with Windows 7. Windows XP would bluescreen if you switched the disk controller to AHCI without installing the driver first, but Windows 7 includes an AHCI driver and should make the adjustment automagically.

i will try that, can i change it back if i get a blue screen or anything? no chance of losing my data?

elim said:

i will try that, can i change it back if i get a blue screen or anything? no chance of losing my data?

Right, if your system bluescreens with the disk controller in AHCI mode, all you have to do is change it back. The most that will happen is your system won't boot. Data loss shouldn't happen.

It's still a good idea to back up important data first, just in case.

But you shouldn't get a bluescreen. Windows 7 includes a generic AHCI driver, so it should start right up, whether your disk controller is in AHCI mode or IDE mode.