New
#1
HDs connected via eSATA not detected; Storage Controllers absent
Hi. This is a longish one. I will try to be as informative and clear as possible.
Brief summary of problem: Hard drives connected externally via eSATA are not "seen" by Windows. There are no storage controllers in the device manager. This is the result of trying to install a hard disk controller that would allow monitoring of HDs connected by eSATA.
Long version:
I have been using software to monitor HD performance, temperature, errors, etc. This has worked for USB connected drives. I use Vantec Nexstar 3 enclosures and a Thermaltake BlacX Duet dock. These are standard WD Black and Blue drives, and Seagate Barracudas.
However, recently I started using eSATA connections with my external drives, and noticed that the software could not monitor them (no temp, SMART data, etc.). I contacted the developer for assistance.
He informed me that the controller — Marvell 61xx — was the issue. The current version does not provide HD status information. He directed me to replace it with a driver that I could download from his site. I attempted to install the driver via the Device Manager. I located the Storage Controllers section, found the Marvell 61xx controller, and tried to update by browsing to the proper driver file. This did not work: a dialog box told me that the best driver software for my device was already installed and up-to-date.
At this point he told me the alternate method would be to go to the Storage Controllers section, choose update, browse, and then "let me pick from a list of device drivers", and then choose the "standard dual channel PCI controller" driver, which is a generic Windows driver. The idea here, I believe, was that this would allow the software to monitor the drive, and also might be a workaround to eventually get the desired "better" driver installed.
After doing this and rebooting, the drive was detected and also recognized by the monitoring software. However it reported the drive as having 100% performance and 0% health, because the threshold value for Reallocated Sectors was reported incorrectly as 207, with the current value being 200. I reinstalled the monitor, and it seemed to report the disk as 100% for both, but with some odd threshold values.
I then ejected the drive (via the Windows Safely Remove utility on taskbar), and reconnected. The PC no longer saw the drive through eSATA, but did when I connected via USB. I rebooted again, and the computer did not detect any drives connected by eSATA. This continues to be the case.
I looked in the Device Manager, and realized that there is no longer a section for Storage Controllers. This continues to be so, even after hard and soft reboots and even in Safe Mode.
I have also tried scanning for hardware changes -- no dice, and just straight installing the driver that the developer suggested in the first place. All that did was make a folder called "Marvell" in the Program Files (x86) folder, and I have no idea what to do with that.
I have not tried any System Repair nor System Restore, mainly because neither of them have ever worked for me. I do have Restore Points from earlier this week.
At this point, all I want is for my computer to be able to detect and use drives connected via eSATA. I don't really care if they can be monitored or not (though if there were a way to make that happen, that would be nice).
Any ideas or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks