# [SOLVED] Windows XP and eSATA



## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

Are there known problems with any of the combination of the items I've put together? I have narrowed the problem with my brand new high end system down to a few factors. My Western Digital 1TB MyBook causes EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY slow Windows XP boot ups. If I disconnect the drive from the computer the system boots up about 700 times faster than with it connected. I have a brand new system as I mentioned that supports the eSATA connection which I am trying to use. Is Windows XP capable of dealing with a 1TB drive? Is it too much data for XP? Is XP too old for all this data? Is Windows XP really compatible with eSATA? I have seached the Internet and the WD website for information but I am not having any luck. Thank you for reading this. I would appreciate any insight to this issue.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Entered by mistake. I thought I found new info on the problem.


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Welcome to TSF. :wave:

See if disabling "Indexing services" helps:

Control panel >> Add or remove programs >> Add/Remove Windows components >> "untick" Indexing service >> click Next.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

are you by any chance using an external sata enclosure ??

many times these enclosures have drive size limits >>>>> I see alot of them that state they are ok with drives up to 750gig, which leads me to believe they are not so "good" with drives above 750 gig ????


will wait to hear more from you


also it would help if you could give us your complete system specs ?


which service pack does your windows xp OS currently using ?????


you "may" want to try adding SP-3 (be warned its still beta, but I have been using it rather frequently and have been happy so far)

*always install service packs from safe mode*

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/...36929-rc-v3264-self-extracting-setup-package/


win xp does work with 1TB drives


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Thank you so much for looking at my post guys. I really appreciate it... On to what you asked me for...

Computer Specs...

Asus P5KC motherboard (Brand New) (built in Sound, LAN, USB, and eSATA on motherboard)
Intel Core2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.0Ghz
2GB of Kingston RAM
BFG Tech GeForce 8800 GT PCIe video card 512mb ram
Windows XP Pro - Service Pack 2
IDE Plextor DVD Burner (PX-760A)
IDE Plextor CD Burner (CD-R PREMIUM)
SATA WESTERN DIGITAL WD4000KD 400GB hard drive (main system drive)
SATA WESTERN DIGITAL WD5000AACS 500GB hard drive (music storage and game drive) (Brand New)
3.5 Floppy Drive (Not reading at the moment)
Hauppauge TV Tuner / FM Tuner card
Philips 19" CRT Monitor
Microsoft Natural Keyboard
IBM USB Mouse

The External Drive is a Western Digital 1TB MyBook Home Edition. It has mini USB, FireWire (400), and eSATA connectors. I am trying to take advantage of the eSATA connection because I read that it is faster than USB and FireWire. It is a brand new device I just hooked up a few days ago. My intention with this drive is to be the end all be all backup (at least for a year or two, ya know what I mean).

If I try disabling the indexing service can I do that for just the one drive?

As for SP3. I haven't read anything about it yet. Do you guys know about it's 
performance and stability personally?

One more tidbit for you guys about this whole thing. I noticed in my BIOS that there are three settings for this internal eSATA connector. The mode options are IDE, RAID, and AHCI. I know I need two drives for RAID so that's out, right? The default is IDE which I have it set to know. When I tried setting it to AHCI the CPU booted up fine, went to Windows. Windows detected hardware changes. The BIOS nor Windows will not read the device at all in that mode. I don't know a lot about that mode. When I switched it back to IDE it boots up quicker the first boot after AHCI but then is slower again after a reboot. I don't know if that give you guys any further insight to the problem.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

A few more items about my system in case it matters...

Norton 360 for system care / anti-virus
HP MultiFunction Printer, Fax, etc, connected via network


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

the mode I would leave as IDE mode 


which service pack for windows are you running now


yes I have been using service pack 3 on numerous machines >>>>


I will begin to dig into some info


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Right now I have Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

does your motherboard e-sata bracket also have a power connection there ? and is your external drive connected to a power source to run the drive ?



I am thinking two things


bios update ?

Sp-3 install ?




I would clone your current boot drive to a spare hard drive if you have one ? prior to sp-3 install

look at xxclone.com (free version)............can explain in greater depth if this approach sounds good to you ?


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



jerkyjerky said:


> If I try disabling the indexing service can I do that for just the one drive?


Yes - right click the drive in "My computer" >> properties >> uncheck "Allow indexing service to index this disk" >> click Apply, then OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0_QLvkVSx0


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Before I started this thread I did update by BIOS even though the ASUS website stated that the only reason for the BIOS release was to support new CPUs. Trying drive as USB instead. Going to reboot. Will post what happens.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

When hooked up as USB I had no problem at all booting up. Will try the eSATA now but will disable indexing as suggested. Will report back to you guys in a few...


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Attempted to disable indexing but it is not available on the drive.

Something else I wanted to share. After switching back to eSATA yesterday from USB my system was back to normal boot up times. I rebooted the machine four times and had no problem. I shut the machine down for the night. Then I started it up today and it's back to the very, very, very long boot up again. Any more ideas?


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

How many anti-malware programs do you have running? 
One or two should be enough - have a look at this guide: http://www.techsupportforum.com/f174/pc-safety-and-security-what-do-i-need-115548.html

Remove all startup programs - except your anti-malware and firewall. 
To do that:
Click Start > Programs > Startup. Drag the "unwanted" programs out of that folder and drop them another place in the Programs menu.

Disable "System restore" for the ext. drive.


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## colep2003 (Apr 15, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



jerkyjerky said:


> Are there known problems with any of the combination of the items I've put together? I have narrowed the problem with my brand new high end system down to a few factors. My Western Digital 1TB MyBook causes EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY slow Windows XP boot ups. If I disconnect the drive from the computer the system boots up about 700 times faster than with it connected. I have a brand new system as I mentioned that supports the eSATA connection which I am trying to use. Is Windows XP capable of dealing with a 1TB drive? Is it too much data for XP? Is XP too old for all this data? Is Windows XP really compatible with eSATA? I have seached the Internet and the WD website for information but I am not having any luck. Thank you for reading this. I would appreciate any insight to this issue.


How fast is your Hard drive?

How many RPM'S

Windows XP is the best operating system right now so the data isnt in question.

Is the hard drive you connected the Master Hard Drive. Because if it is slow, then of course it will slow your PC down.

if its a slow hard drive I recommend a faster hard drive. Although if it isnt the master hard drive, it will only slow down your system when you access it.

For instance I have a K7 Triton Gygabyte mother board with a 1.5 processor and I use a Segate hardrive that moves at 4300 RPMS. Of course my PC will slow down...

You can find this number on your hard drive.

These days you want them probably at least 5000 RPM's


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

The primary hard drive speed is 7200rpm.
Connected via SATA

From Western Digital...
Data Transfer Rate (maximum)
- Buffer to Host 1.5 Gb/s max2
- Buffer to Disk 65 MB/s (sustained)

All my equipment is either brand new or less than a year old. I don't think that the primary dive is the problem. If I disconnect the external drive my system boots fine and at a reasonable speed.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

To respond to eneles post...

I tried unchecking all startup items from msconfig...
I've also removed Norton360 from my system which was my only security startup program...
I tried the disabling of System Restore on the drive like you suggested as well...

Still have the slow boot up =(

I may just give up on this eSATA thing man. It seems my whole system in general is slower with it connected that way. Is the faster transfer rate of eSATA worth all this trouble and slow down on my system? I may just settle for the slower USB 2.0 speed over eSATA. I'm very frustrated at this point. I don't know what else to do. Any other thoughts or ideas?


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

IMHO - it has to be Windows or a program scanning the drive.

Download and run *StartupList*.

That program will let you see all programs/processes that starts when Windows loads.

In the program >> click File >> Save as. A text file will be created. 
Please include that file as an attachment.

*How to post an attachment.*


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

well; I personally would be looking at two options


use the drive as usb connected 


or get an add on sata controller which installs into a pci express 1X slot


sata is faster, but it may not be worth the $$$$ of the extra controller or the headache ?????


sounds to me like you will have to wiat for more bios updates ?


have you tried the service pack 3 install yet ?


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## NeGrusti (Apr 15, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

After booting with this drive connected,
Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Event Viewer->System,
see if any service is failing on startup. If nothing interesting there, try to remove Norton 360.


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## Rob 1 (Apr 2, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

The first thing I would do is to see what errors I'm getting in computer management.

Right click on my computer > left click on manage > 

on the left side, double click event viewer > 

And on the left side, click on Application and System, and look for the more recent errors.

If you want to clear the list to start with a fresh page, right click Application and System, 
and select clear all events.

Then reboot with the drive plugged in, and see what the new errors tell you.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



NeGrusti said:


> After booting with this drive connected,
> Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Event Viewer->System,
> see if any service is failing on startup. If nothing interesting there, try to remove Norton 360.


I checked the Event Viewer, System like you suggested. No errors on boot up.

Also, I did remove Norton 360 and I got the same condition (the long boot up). I aquired the complete removal of all Norton products from Symantec by the way so it should have been completely removed.

Thanks for the suggestions.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



eneles said:


> IMHO - it has to be Windows or a program scanning the drive.
> 
> Download and run *StartupList*.
> 
> ...



Ok... I am posting the saved text file you refer to eneles... This is with all regular start up items enabled. See anything disturbing?


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



linderman said:


> well; I personally would be looking at two options
> 
> 
> use the drive as usb connected
> ...



I have strongly considered SP3 like you mentioned but I am a little nervous based on reading SP3 problems / bugs on the net. You say you have it on a few machines? Any problems? I read at length the endless rebooting issue with SP3.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Some additional information to share with you guys...

I spoke at length with Western Digital and ASUS yesterday. About a half an hour with each.

The Western Digital tech insists that I have no problem that this is the nature of a drive that large drive initializing.

The ASUS tech was more willing to investigate. He told me that their research lab would put together a system similar to mine with similar components and test out the configuration. He claimed that they will call me by the end of the week with some information.

Just thought I would share my lastest info with you guys. Thank you for all your suggestions and advice.

I will clear out the event viewer, reboot, and post the results


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

You have an EXTREME amount of programs running at startup.
Symantec/Norton is one of them - make sure it's completely removed.
Also - try uninstalling iTunes.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



Rob 1 said:


> The first thing I would do is to see what errors I'm getting in computer management.
> 
> Right click on my computer > left click on manage >
> 
> ...


Checked the areas suggested. Not a single error in either section.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

In your shoes; assuming you are willing to "go the extra mile and expend the diligence" to make this work correctly


I would use another internal sata drive / buy another if needed / you will soon enough;learn there is no stability in hard drives today without data redundancy. drives are cheap but filled with undependable performance as a result of market competition.


I would start a fresh install of windows on a new drive / bring the OS up to date with all patches and hotfixes / install all system drivers 

then use the drive 


I think your woes are caused by some other outside or third party software interference

food for thought

the willingness of asus to set-up an identical system to yours "smells" like they know they need to make a bios revision to fix your troubles. but; I cant say for sure!

a clean OS to start from would be my plan


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

ASUS got back to me and claim they've done testing with multiple eSATA drives and found no problem. They cliam they couldn't recreate my long startup condition. I've also been in touch with Western Digital again. They have offered an RMA replacement because of the ASUS test results. I will try that next and let post what happens.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

thanks for keeping us posted :wave:


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## Rob 1 (Apr 2, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



linderman said:


> thanks for keeping us posted :wave:


Absolutely.

This is one of those times when it seems the answer might be a good learning experience.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Well guys...

It appears that ASUS was right. They claimed that there was a problem with the Western Digital drive. I got my replacement drive from Western Digital and the startup is A LOT FASTER now. Seems there was a problem with the eSATA connector on the Western Digital drive after all. I've only had the new drive installed for a few hours but everything seems to be fine now. No long boot ups anymore. I'll check back in after a few days to let you guys know if everything holds up ok. Thank you for all your suggestions. I think we've all learned something from this problem.


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## Rob 1 (Apr 2, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



jerkyjerky said:


> Well guys...
> 
> It appears that ASUS was right. They claimed that there was a problem with the Western Digital drive. I got my replacement drive from Western Digital and the startup is A LOT FASTER now. Seems there was a problem with the eSATA connector on the Western Digital drive after all. I've only had the new drive installed for a few hours but everything seems to be fine now. No long boot ups anymore. I'll check back in after a few days to let you guys know if everything holds up ok. Thank you for all your suggestions. I think we've all learned something from this problem.


If it was indeed the eSATA connector, you should have been getting a system errors and warnings in event viewer for that.
I thought it was pretty odd that you didn't have any errors at all in there.


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## Illusionism (May 1, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

I though mybook devices were two HDD's set as a RAID?


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

All of that work and now it's back to the same problem. The first couple of boot ups were fine. Now back to the long boot ups.


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## Rob 1 (Apr 2, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

That board has a dedicated eSATA connector on the rear panel, so it may require it's own driver.
If you don't have the specific driver installed, it would run very poorly.

But if that's the case, you should have been seeing something in the even viewer, but you said you're not getting anything in there.


:4-dontkno


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## dmoldovan (Nov 20, 2007)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Hi
I have some problem of this type too.
I have ASUS P5KR mobo, E8400, 2 GB DDR2, Geforce 8800GT 512MB from eVGA, 2 Seagate ES 500GB HDD, 2 Seagate 320 GB HDD
I put one of the 320 GB HDDs into an external eSATA enclosure - (some made by Antec, something called MX1 I thinik) and, if I use the dedicated eSATA connector, I keep geting BSOD with errors from either the iastor driver, or the jgogo driver.
The dedicated eSATA is provided by JMicron JMB363 - and I consider it to be crappy.
In order to make the external eSATA enclosure work with my system, I had to use one SATA-to-eSATA bracket that came with the enclosure, and connect the SATA connector of the bracket into one of the ICH9R SATA connectors, and so, I connected my external drive straight to the Intel SATA controller.
And this way it performs well, with constant speeds of about 50 MB/sec, compared to the .... about 22 MB/sec when using USB2 connection.
Speaking of power supplies, I have a Rasurbo DLP-535.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

You connected the drive in the most performance way there is / why in hades would you want to connect an e-sata drive via USB ?????


I am happy to hear you have things* sorted *; and with the best possible configuration possible too !


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## dmoldovan (Nov 20, 2007)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Well, I didn't "want" to connect eSATA to USB. 
BUT, while trying to connect it to any of the available connectors that were already built-in (on the back of the mobo), as I stated before, eSATA from JMB 363 just kept crashing my system. BOTH in WinXP AND Vista. And that, in the first phase led me to connecting the external HDD to USB, just to test if the drive/enclosure was not faulty. When I realised the drive/enclosure were not faulty, I immediately switched to ICH9R SATA Controller.

Anyway, the reason why I did post on this thread, was to sugest jerkyjerky to connect his external eSATA drive directly to the onboard ICH9's SATA controller rather than on the external buitl-in e-SATA connector.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Thank you for sharing your story with me dmoldovan, I really appreciate that. I will have to consider going that route I suppose. It's that or tolerate the slower speeds of USB.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

I took the suggestion from dmoldovan and I purchased a SATA to eSATA bracket. The problem of slow boot ups appears to be gone and the drive is now working perfectly. Thanks again dmoldovan for sharing your similar setup with me. So I suppose the ultimate result is that the existing eSATA bracket built into the motherboard is a piece of crap! What a roller coaster ride to get it fixed.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

very interesting and thanks for all who have replied and shared information



happy to hear you have things corrected :wave:


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## Rob 1 (Apr 2, 2008)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*



jerkyjerky said:


> I took the suggestion from dmoldovan and I purchased a SATA to eSATA bracket. The problem of slow boot ups appears to be gone and the drive is now working perfectly. Thanks again dmoldovan for sharing your similar setup with me. So I suppose the ultimate result is that the existing eSATA bracket built into the motherboard is a piece of crap! What a roller coaster ride to get it fixed.


The onboard eSata connector requires a separate driver.

If you had the wrong driver in there, a bad driver, or no driver, it wouldn't work so well.

Did you try deleting it and reinstalling it? How about the motherboard site, is there an updated driver you could try?


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Windows XP and eSATA*

Good news. :smile:


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## dmoldovan (Nov 20, 2007)

Just a moment.
Regarding the fact that the eSATA has its own drivers:
I did try to use both the drivers on ASUS CD, ASUS site and the latest drivers from www.jmicron.com, and it DID NOT help.
The system kept crashing and/or lagging for periods like 30 seconds. It really is a piece of crap. And the bad thing is (in my opinion) that you can fond it on many boards from almost all manufacturers.
I think they should update the drivers and/or the firmware to make it worth the money.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

I agree with dmoldovan. There is no available driver for this specific piece of the motherboard. I checked the same locations as Dan mentions. This is a huge oversight or this eSATA controller is a bonafide piece of crap!!!


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## Rob 1 (Apr 2, 2008)

That's too bad you guys had trouble like that. I had an Abit P35 board with that driver, and the onboard eSATA connector worked flawlessly.

:4-dontkno


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## dmoldovan (Nov 20, 2007)

Rob 1 said:


> That's too bad you guys had trouble like that. I had an Abit P35 board with that driver, and the onboard eSATA connector worked flawlessly.
> 
> :4-dontkno


Well... I did have a mobo replacement, and the second works just the same way. Which only leads me to the following conclusion: The ASUS engineers DID NOT implement the JMicron JMB 363 controller the right way.


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## HaNks49 (Jun 16, 2008)

guys...thank god i found this thread, i think it's confirmed the root of my troubles for now.

i needed some extra external storage and after hearing horrible things about the higher capacity pre-made units failing (mybooks, freeagent pros) i decided to just get an enclosure and make my own external unit (my current WD 250gb mediacentre has been stellar however). as my mobo - the asus P5b - has esata i prioritised that as a feature and thought it would be nice (although not really that essential) to get faster than usb2 speeds as i have the compatible hardware. as some of you now know - big mistake.

did a fair bit of research into the higher capacity drives and enclosures and plumped for a green powered WD 750gb model (best gb for $ ratio on the WD range and the green powered drives run extra cool and silent - useful for an external set-up). got a coolermaster xcraft 360 for the enclosure - awesome hot swappable mechanism and usb2/esata support.

got it going through esata and all was seemingly good. well, my startup times took a dramatic plunge - windows was taking an absolute age at the XP screen - it's also got stuck at this screen while continuously accessing the external drive a few times - forcing me to reset and worrying me that the HD or enclosure was messing up. general performance in windows was also more sluggish and CPU usage up.

knowing that there may be some issues with the mobo/controller drivers i updated the jmicron drivers to the latest version in windows and also flashed on the latest bios for the p5b (probably not a bad idea anyway). after all that start-up was even slower and getting stuck on the loading screen became more persistant. 

now after reading this thread i've come to the obvious conclusion - the jmicron JMB36X is a piece of crap and i highly doubt my issues were caused by anything else. switching to an internal sata port using a pci card is not an option as my pci slots are already maxed out. so i'm now using usb2 with the drive and my startup is pretty much instant again, no performance hogging either - big relief. the slightly faster transfer speeds most definitely not worth the hassle with this or similar mobos native esata port.

thanks a lot asus! and thanks for the discussion everyone.


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## fiat84 (Jun 18, 2008)

Question: With eSata external drives how long should it take for the OS to recognize the true fast speeds of the eSata connection? 

Background: Had extreme slowness copying from my external Antec MX-1 with 1TB Sata Samsung drive to a brand new computer with XP Pro SP3, Asus p5k-e MB, Seagate Sata2 HD's for the last few days. The external drive does get recognized in a minute or so before showing up on my new computer. 

For the first time kept the external drive connected overnight, the copy process has increased dramatically this morning.

Yesterday the drive speed was really slow copying from the 
1) eSata cable connection a 734MB file took 7 minutes to copy to the computer.
2) eSata cable same file copied from computer back to MX-1 took 10 seconds so at least part of it was working correctly.
3) USB 2.0 cable connection the same 734MB file took over 10 minutes to copy 50% so i stopped the copy to the computer since eSata was at least faster.

Left the new computer on all night for the big copy, which failed after awhile. Have the computer setup to run a full Trend virus scan and SpySweeper full scans, both completed without issue overnight.

Started the copy file process again this morning and now it is super fast, just amazing speeds like its a directly connected SATA drive. 

Curious is there a best practice for external eSata hard drives? Perhaps reboot with the drive connected, or connect the drive to an already running computer? In my case keeping the MX-1 external drive connected all the time defeats the purpose of moving files around quickly to different locations. 

Thanks,


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## dmoldovan (Nov 20, 2007)

Well, I don't know what to say...
Something is going wrong with your PC - I mainly suspect the built in e-SATA connector/controller.
My HDD is recognized and set-up by WinVista in about 10 seconds., and from that moment on, the transfer speed is somewhere arround 50MB/sec. With USB the transferr speed is about 20 MB/sec - provided that in BIOS you have enabled USB2.0, AND - very important - HiSpeed (NOT FullSpeed).
But, I want to remind you that my external MX-1 is connected to one of the onboard Intel ICH9R S-ATA connectors, using the backpannel bracket that came with MX-1.
When I used the e-SATA built-in connector, it gave so very strange results.... from random blockings, to bluescreen

Good Luck


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## dmoldovan (Nov 20, 2007)

HaNks49 said:


> guys...thank god i found this thread, i think it's confirmed the root of my troubles for now.
> 
> i needed some extra external storage and after hearing horrible things about the higher capacity pre-made units failing (mybooks, freeagent pros) i decided to just get an enclosure and make my own external unit (my current WD 250gb mediacentre has been stellar however). as my mobo - the asus P5b - has esata i prioritised that as a feature and thought it would be nice (although not really that essential) to get faster than usb2 speeds as i have the compatible hardware. as some of you now know - big mistake.
> 
> ...


One solution might be to add a SATA -to- e-SATA bracket onto the back of your PC (if you do have room for one more), and make a setup just like mine: connect the bracket internally to the ICH-SATA port, and it will just rock.


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## jerkyjerky (Apr 12, 2008)

Along the lines of what Dan (dmoldovan) said... Try the internal to external convertion he mentioned... It helped me.


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## clicker (Aug 26, 2008)

I had a customer's computer based on the Asus P5KR MoBo.

When she tried attaching a WD MyBook, it gave VERY long startup times. no matter if the drive was connected via FireWire, the original E-SATA conntector in the back, or an internal SATA port (courtesy of a Gigabyte SATA to E-SATA cable). 
I even tried installing a PCI SATA controller based on a Silicon Image chip. Every time the drive was connected, we got long startup times, and if it wasn't connected, we got normal bootup.

After long experiments, I took the following step:
*Took all the Autorun stuff from the root of the WD drive, and removed them (I actually moved them all to a subfolder, but that's the same).
After that, windows started booting up perfectly!*
But, although the BIOS was showing the drive, windows couldn't see it, so I checked the BIOS again, and noticed the SATA connections were configured as AHCI. I changed them to IDE, and everything seems to be working perfectly now.


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## dmoldovan (Nov 20, 2007)

AHCI has to do with the ability to use NCQ.
If AHCI is enabled and the SATA drive does not support NCQ, then the drtive will not operate properly (I don't remember the actual issues it will show).


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## sunshinedel (Jul 25, 2009)

Well, I wouldn't consider the issue solved! I was also enticed by the thought of increased speed. With my ASUS system came an eSATA connector on the motherboard, so I forked out the extra money and got one of the WD My Books that had this interface. I too waited hours for my system to boot up. What I ended up doing was removing the drive from the case and mounting it into my system. I have always supported and recommended WD, but this drive has ended that! It is apparent that eSATA is not ready for prime time! So goodbye ASUS, goodbye WD it has been a good ride!


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