Striker Extreme (2 x External Serial ATA/SATA Port) Question

I have this Board & also a - My Book WD 500GB eSATA 3 Gb per seconds, interfaces on board HDD.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=276

Can this Drive be used with the External Serial ATA/SATA Port's & will i need to install drivers to activate it?




Thanks For the Help


Dave-UK

--
"Certified Rock & Roll Archaeologist"

Update:::: Or do i need to install a eSATA adapter card ?
Is what i should have asked :-)


Dave-UK




"Th!nWh!teDüke" <> wrote in message news:5v5oi.8247$...

I have this Board & also a - My Book WD 500GB eSATA 3 Gb per seconds, interfaces on board HDD.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=276

Can this Drive be used with the External Serial ATA/SATA Port's & will i need to install drivers to activate it?




Thanks For the Help


Dave-UK

--
"Certified Rock & Roll Archaeologist"

Th!nWh!teDüke wrote:
> Update:::: Or do i need to install a eSATA adapter card ?
> Is what i should have asked :-)
>
> Dave-UK
>
> "Th!nWh!teDüke" <
> <private.php?do=newpm&u=>> wrote in message
> news:5v5oi.8247$...
>
> I have this Board & also a - My Book WD 500GB eSATA 3 Gb per
> seconds, interfaces on board HDD.
> http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=276
>
> Can this Drive be used with the External Serial ATA/SATA Port's &
> will i need to install drivers to activate it?
>
> Thanks For the Help
>
>
> Dave-UK
>
> --
> "Certified Rock & Roll Archaeologist"

Posting in plain text, makes it easier for my news reader to put automatic
quote symbols on the left hand side of this reply.

First of all, read this article on ESATA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esata

The summary of practical difference is:

1) A real ESATA chip, has different ranges for transmit and receive voltage.
The purpose of that, is to enable the use of a 2 meter long cable. If
you are unsure of whether the chip is a real ESATA chip, then stick with
a cable length consistent with internal SATA. In other words, if a SATA chip
is driving the interface, stick with a shorter cable - if both ends of the
cable are true ESATA driven, then up to a 2 meter cable can be used.
If you really wanted to use the longer cable, then buy a decent add-in
card for your system.

2) There are different connector types. The Esata connector is designed
to be superior to the internal SATA connector. But this does not stop
the manufacturers of SATA interface cards, motherboard interfaces, or
enclosure interfaces, from slapping on whatever they feel like. One
loser company, even used a custom cable and connector scheme (comes with
the enclosure), which defies all logic. A custom cable would cost them
a fortune to make, in small batches.

This page shows three possible cable types:

http://www.satacables.com/html/sata_...al_cables.html

"I" to "I", "I" to "L", and "L" to "L"

The upper picture here, shows the two disk connectors in red on the Striker. I'm
guessing that is "I" shaped. Because the "L" looks so much different. The WD
product may have an "I" on the back of it. But since you can see these two connectors
on your own gear, you're in a better position to guess than I am.

http://www.legionhardware.com/Pics/A...I/Image_01.jpg

Notice, on the satacables.com web site, that they offer both 1 meter and 2 meter
cables. I'd buy the 1 meter version, just to be safe.

So, what type is the SIL3132 ? The SiliconImage web page doesn't mention ESATA
applications explicitly. The datasheet is here:

http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/SiI-DS-0138-D.pdf

The transmit differential output is 400 to 700mV. When means the chip does not
meet the 500mV minimum called for in the Wikipedia article. The receiver on the
other hand, has a 240mV minimum for input sensitivity, when means the receiver
would be suitable for the ESATA stamp of approval. Therefore, since the chip
fails on transmit, you'd use a 1 meter cable just to be safe.

Notice, on this SiliconImage part, they do mention ESATA support on the PHY
(physical interface). No datasheet is offered, so I cannot compare the TX and
RX voltages to those on the SIL3132. If a device like this was on your motherboard,
you could use a 2 meter cable.

http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/SiI...rief_FINAL.pdf

HTH,
Paul

"Paul" <> wrote in message news:f7rrag$opa$...
> Th!nWh!teDüke wrote:
>> Update:::: Or do i need to install a eSATA adapter card ?
>> Is what i should have asked :-)
>>
>> Dave-UK
>>
>> "Th!nWh!teDüke" <
>> <private.php?do=newpm&u=>> wrote in message
>> news:5v5oi.8247$...
>>
>> I have this Board & also a - My Book WD 500GB eSATA 3 Gb per
>> seconds, interfaces on board HDD.
>> http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=276
>>
>> Can this Drive be used with the External Serial ATA/SATA Port's &
>> will i need to install drivers to activate it?
>>
>> Thanks For the Help
>>
>>
>> Dave-UK
>>
>> --
>> "Certified Rock & Roll Archaeologist"
>
> Posting in plain text, makes it easier for my news reader to put automatic
> quote symbols on the left hand side of this reply.
>
> First of all, read this article on ESATA.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esata
>
> The summary of practical difference is:
>
> 1) A real ESATA chip, has different ranges for transmit and receive voltage.
> The purpose of that, is to enable the use of a 2 meter long cable. If
> you are unsure of whether the chip is a real ESATA chip, then stick with
> a cable length consistent with internal SATA. In other words, if a SATA chip
> is driving the interface, stick with a shorter cable - if both ends of the
> cable are true ESATA driven, then up to a 2 meter cable can be used.
> If you really wanted to use the longer cable, then buy a decent add-in
> card for your system.
>
> 2) There are different connector types. The Esata connector is designed
> to be superior to the internal SATA connector. But this does not stop
> the manufacturers of SATA interface cards, motherboard interfaces, or
> enclosure interfaces, from slapping on whatever they feel like. One
> loser company, even used a custom cable and connector scheme (comes with
> the enclosure), which defies all logic. A custom cable would cost them
> a fortune to make, in small batches.
>
> This page shows three possible cable types:
>
> http://www.satacables.com/html/sata_...al_cables.html
>
> "I" to "I", "I" to "L", and "L" to "L"
>
> The upper picture here, shows the two disk connectors in red on the Striker. I'm
> guessing that is "I" shaped. Because the "L" looks so much different. The WD
> product may have an "I" on the back of it. But since you can see these two connectors
> on your own gear, you're in a better position to guess than I am.
>
> http://www.legionhardware.com/Pics/A...I/Image_01.jpg
>
> Notice, on the satacables.com web site, that they offer both 1 meter and 2 meter
> cables. I'd buy the 1 meter version, just to be safe.
>
> So, what type is the SIL3132 ? The SiliconImage web page doesn't mention ESATA
> applications explicitly. The datasheet is here:
>
> http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/SiI-DS-0138-D.pdf
>
> The transmit differential output is 400 to 700mV. When means the chip does not
> meet the 500mV minimum called for in the Wikipedia article. The receiver on the
> other hand, has a 240mV minimum for input sensitivity, when means the receiver
> would be suitable for the ESATA stamp of approval. Therefore, since the chip
> fails on transmit, you'd use a 1 meter cable just to be safe.
>
> Notice, on this SiliconImage part, they do mention ESATA support on the PHY
> (physical interface). No datasheet is offered, so I cannot compare the TX and
> RX voltages to those on the SIL3132. If a device like this was on your motherboard,
> you could use a 2 meter cable.
>
> http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/SiI...rief_FINAL.pdf
>
> HTH,
> Paul


Thanks Paul

I have a 1 meter "I" to "I" cable. u are correct the WD Drive does state "use "I" connector".

When connected on windows boot, it is not recognized ? I have tried several times.
(works fine in USB mode)

Not sure if i need to enable anything in the BIOS to activat the ports?


Thanks Again

-Dave

Th!nWh!teDüke wrote:
>
>
>
> Thanks Paul
>
> I have a 1 meter "I" to "I" cable. u are correct the WD Drive does state
> "use "I" connector".
>
> When connected on windows boot, it is not recognized ? I have tried
> several times.
> (works fine in USB mode)
>
> Not sure if i need to enable anything in the BIOS to activat the ports?
>
>
> Thanks Again
>
> -Dave

OK. The BIOS handles the various chips on the motherboard differently.

The Southbridge interfaces, get "native billing". You'll see a page
listing all the drives connected to the Southbridge. Plus, you'd have
the ability to enter each drive entry, change the disk type from "LBA"
to "Large" and so on.

"Add-in controllers", such as the SIL3132, are not supported by the main
BIOS code. A separate code module is used by Asus (comes from Silicon Image).
The code module is run, and it only stays loaded if the respective chip
is detected. If you disabled the SIL3132, the module would not stay loaded
at the BIOS level.

Similarly, if no drives are connected to the chip, that add-in module
runs its disk detection code (because it did find the chip), but when it
realizes there are no disks available, the module unloads.

The add-in module is capable of putting two kinds of printout on the
screen. If the SIL3132 is enabled, and the module is enabled as well,
you'd see "Detecting..." with a list of the ports it was checking
and the identity of the disk it found.

If the chip supported RAID, pressing a magic key combination causes the
RAID BIOS screen to appear. So that is the second kind of interface.
The SIL3132 supports RAID and even supports port multiplier boxes. With
two, five port port multiplier boxes connected, you can actually set up
RAID structures of up to 10 disks using the SIL3132. Port multiplier
boxes are $100 each, so you'd need $200 more hardware, to use the SIL3132
to control ten disks.

When operated in RAID mode, a reserved sector on each disk, holds identity
info about the disk and its position in the RAID array.

If you do not initialize the disks in that screen, many controllers
will allow the disks to be used in "vanilla disk" (non-RAID) mode.

So, things to do:

1) Enter the BIOS and verify the settings being used for SIL3132.

2) Install the correct drivers.

The service the add-in BIOS provides, is INT 0x13, a service that
tells the BIOS how to read the disk while booting. If you wanted to
boot from the disk, the add-in BIOS module would be required, in order
to get anything from the disk (or RAID array).

If the disk is just a data disk, then the add-in code could be disabled,
as it is not needed if you are not booting from the disk. But you still
need an OS driver installed, to read/write to the data disk or data RAID array.

In the manual, I see:

Silicon SATAII Controller [SATA mode] is the default.

As far as I know, that is all you should need in the BIOS. When set to
SATA mode, I would not expect <control S> entered in the BIOS, to cause
the RAID screen to appear.

For drivers, I see on the download page:

Version 1.0.15.0 2007/04/20 update
OS Win2K / WinXP / Win2003
Description Silicon Image 3132 Serial ATA Driver V1.0.15.0 for Windows 2000/XP/2003.(WHQL)
File Size 1.5 (MBytes)

http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mis...0150_32bit.zip

If you wanted to see what all the SIL3132 downloads are, they are here. But
it helps to use the support.asus.com.tw download page, as it tells you which one
is which.

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/...nImage/SiI3132

After you install the SIL3132 driver, and reboot, you should be seeing the
disk in Disk Management or the like.

Good luck,
Paul

> So, things to do:
>
> 1) Enter the BIOS and verify the settings being used for SIL3132.

I have enabled Silicon SATAII Controller [SATA mode]


> 2) Install the correct drivers.

I installed SilI3132_SATA_V10150_32bit drivers from desktop
Rebooted checked Disk Management , & still have nothing?

Could there be anything in SERVICES that may be not enabled/running?

I realy do Appreciation all the help paul,,Thanks


-Dave-UK

Th!nWh!teDüke wrote:
>> So, things to do:
>>
>> 1) Enter the BIOS and verify the settings being used for SIL3132.
>
> I have enabled Silicon SATAII Controller [SATA mode]
>
>
>> 2) Install the correct drivers.
>
> I installed SilI3132_SATA_V10150_32bit drivers from desktop
> Rebooted checked Disk Management , & still have nothing?
>
> Could there be anything in SERVICES that may be not enabled/running?
>
> I realy do Appreciation all the help paul,,Thanks
>
>
> -Dave-UK
>
>

In the DOS_Sata_32bit folder, is "readme.htm" . There is a
section in the readme labeled "Verifying controller installation".
Have a look through the readme.htm first.

I did find in Google, a couple complaints about the SIL3132.
One complaint was, of problems getting the SATA (non-RAID)
driver to install.

Paul

> In the DOS_Sata_32bit folder, is "readme.htm" . There is a
> section in the readme labeled "Verifying controller installation".
> Have a look through the readme.htm first.
>
> I did find in Google, a couple complaints about the SIL3132.
> One complaint was, of problems getting the SATA (non-RAID)
> driver to install.
>
> Paul


Thanks Paul

Everything checks out fine as far as drivers installed & the BIOS settings.
Wonder if its the lead im using ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1m-3-2ft-eSATA...QQcmdZViewItem


-Dave

Th!nWh!teDüke wrote:
>> In the DOS_Sata_32bit folder, is "readme.htm" . There is a
>> section in the readme labeled "Verifying controller installation".
>> Have a look through the readme.htm first.
>>
>> I did find in Google, a couple complaints about the SIL3132.
>> One complaint was, of problems getting the SATA (non-RAID)
>> driver to install.
>>
>> Paul
>
>
> Thanks Paul
>
> Everything checks out fine as far as drivers installed & the BIOS settings.
> Wonder if its the lead im using ?
>
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1m-3-2ft-eSATA...QQcmdZViewItem
>
>
> -Dave
>
>

When you start the computer right now, does the BIOS emit any text
concerning the SIL3132 and detected drives ? Are any drives detected
on the fly by the BIOS ? The picture here shows an example of
a SIL3132 detecting two disks. I don't know what mode the SIL3132
add-in module is running in here.

http://park5.wakwak.com/~oyabin/sata...ts2_bios01.jpg

If you cannot detect the disk, then it may be time to verify the
drive, by connecting it to another controller. Yes, the cable
could be bad.

I don't know if there is any way to force an enclosure down to
SATA 1.5Gb/sec rates. Or for that matter, an easy way to verify
what the enclosure is doing with regard to the ESATA interface.

Paul