Your question
&&&Esata to sata internal via cable&
In theory, SATA drives are hot swappable. In reality though, this really depends on what hard disk you're using. Your best bet is to get an external hard drive that also supports eSATA, as you can be sure that drive is designed to be hot-swappable via a SATA port.
Yes, eSATA is the same EXACTLY as regular sata, you can just run a cable outside your case. As to whether it is hot swappable, the drive and motherboard need to be capable of this.
+1 for monoprice..I got a 100 ft cat 6 cable for dirt cheap !
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No, eSATA is not the same as SATA.
eSATA includes power supply similar to the way USB powers devices and has a different connector.
Also eSATA connectors are designed for the more rugged use of repeated plugging and unplugging - SATA are not - and the two are not compatible
However HDDs do not get their power from the SATA connection so you could run a SATA to SATA cable from an external HDD through a "hole in the case" and connect to an internal motherboard connection.
Or you could get an adapter to connect the mobo SATA to a connector on the rear of your case.
If you do the latter, take care to note whether the exterior connector is a true eSATA connector (which will not have power but will require an eSATA cable coming to it) or is actually just a SATA connector.
Early on some manufacturer's where using SATA connectors and calling it eSATA since it was external.
That was a year ago and I don't know if the problem still exists.
Of course, if you intend to install only HDD.s, you may prefer the SATA connector, but note that the connector was not designed for repeated plugging and unplugging.
If you search online you should be able to find the specific design standard - the number of pluggings - for each.
Are you trying to boot both PCs from the same drive or just share data?
eSATA does NOT include power supply, that is Powered eSATA and its very scarse at this moment. Most eSATA right now (95%) are non-powered, meaning you need a seperate power plug and probably a power brick for the external HDD.
The signal levels for eSATA is a bit different. So there is a difference.
no, esata runs off the internal sata bus. The difference is the connector specs, nothing electrical or signal wise. In REAL life, running a cable out the back or using an adapter bracket, such as comes with motherboards, is just fine.
. Some of these use the internal SATA connector or even connectors designed for other interface specifications, such as FireWire. These products are not eSATA compliant. The final eSATA specification features a specific connector designed for rough handling, similar to the regular SATA connector, but with reinforcements in both the male and female sides, inspired by the USB connector. eSATA resists inadvertent unplugging, and can withstand yanking or wiggling which would break a male SATA connector (the hard-drive or host adapter, usually fitted inside the computer). With an eSATA connector, considerably more force is needed to damage the connector, and if it does break it is likely to be the female side, on the cable itself, which is relatively easy to replace.[citation needed]
Yes, ESATA uses an EXTERNAL power supply...how you gonna run your sata plug from your ps out the back...?!
This is what I have.
It doesn't come with an eSATA connector. It has it's own power supply. I just want to swap the drive to use as storage back up for two different pc's. I just want to leave an SATA cord hanging out the back (through an empty pci slot cover) so that I can swap the drive between pc's. The power cord is long enough, so all I would have to do is remove the eSATA plug from the drive, and plug the eSATA from the other pc in. This is the way I'm doing it right now, with USB (of course, it's not internal, just in the back of the pc, but same difference) but I want the speed of eSATA.
Thanks everyone, so far!
Just get this and do it right &. Yes, you'll get full speed by just hanging the cable out the back ! The bracket however will look cleaner and guard against pulling or breaking the internal sata connector or cable end if you tug on it accidently.
royalcrown said:no, esata runs off the internal sata bus. The difference is the connector specs, nothing electrical or signal wise.
Yes there is a difference. It also says so in the specs. It is due to the longer cables. It is more "relaxed", so more noise is acceptable.
eSATA they managed to get the max cable length up to 3 metres, with normal SATA this is 1.5 metres. The actual electrical signalling/interface is 100% compatible however.
It actually says so right there in that wiki...
* Minimum transmit potential increased: Range is 500–600 mV instead of 400–600 mV.
* Minimum receive potential decreased: Range is 240–600 mV instead of 325–600 mV.
The difference is there
mikrev007 said:Yes there is a difference. It also says so in the specs. It is due to the longer cables. It is more "relaxed", so more noise is acceptable.
Yeah Esata cables should be sheilded, but not like OP can't use his sata cable out the back.
The monoprice eSATA to SATA cable is shielded...
Thanks, RC!
I'm not worried about looks, or anything breaking the connector (my 6 month old son can't reach it yet), as long as it works, it's good for me!
Lavarin said:In theory, SATA drives are hot swappable. In reality though, this really depends on what hard disk you're using. Your best bet is to get an external hard drive that also supports eSATA, as you can be sure that drive is designed to be hot-swappable via a SATA port.
Nope, all SATA 3.0 Gb/s drives I've seen support hot swap.
I can't remember back to SATA 150 days, sorry.
It's not about the drive, it's about BIOS.
Nothing more than BIOS.
ASRock was one of the first companies to add this feature to BIOS with Intel chipsets, but it's been present on nVidia BIOS since SATA 150 days....whoops, I guess I do remember something from back then!
Crashman said:Nope, all SATA 3.0 Gb/s drives I've seen support hot swap.
I can't remember back to SATA 150 days, sorry.
It's not about the drive, it's about BIOS.
Nothing more than BIOS.
ASRock was one of the first companies to add this feature to BIOS with Intel chipsets, but it's been present on nVidia BIOS since SATA 150 days....whoops, I guess I do remember something from back then!
the only reason I mentioned the drives and the board (well a backplane would be better for this) is that I believe "swappable" drives take hot plugging surges and current into account via caps or something to prevent damage. The drives at least and proper backplanes, not actually MB afaik.
All SATA cables are physically made to allow hot swapping, because they have ground connectors tha so any residual charge will be sucked to the ground line. Then there' the controller, disk and operating system must support hot swap.
With controllers and disks, SATA 3.0Gbps has mandatory support for hot swap, so all SATA 3Gbps controllers/disks support hot swap. Some SATA 1.5Gbps controllers also support hot swapping, but because this support is optional and not mandatory, many 1.5Gbps controllers do not have hot swap support. Same goes for NCQ.
Hmm, good to know sub mesa.
sub mesa said:All SATA cables are physically made to allow hot swapping, because they have ground connectors tha so any residual charge will be sucked to the ground line. Then there' the controller, disk and operating system must support hot swap.
With controllers and disks, SATA 3.0Gbps has mandatory support for hot swap, so all SATA 3Gbps controllers/disks support hot swap. Some SATA 1.5Gbps controllers also support hot swapping, but because this support is optional and not mandatory, many 1.5Gbps controllers do not have hot swap support. Same goes for NCQ.
A bunch of SATA 3.0Gb/s motherboards don't support "quick disconnect" through BIOS however, so you don't get the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature in Windows.
Hm, yeah. Hot swap and NCQ won't work with the controller in "IDE" DOS-compatibility modus. It will only work in native AHCI mode.
sub mesa said:Hm, yeah. Hot swap and NCQ won't work with the controller in "IDE" DOS-compatibility modus. It will only work in native AHCI mode.
It's more than that.
MOST motherboards since the P35 chipset support AHCI mode WITHOUT supporting "quick remove".
It has to be a controller tag that Windows reads, because I've used the same driver on dozens of boards with adding "Safely Remove Hardware" function and others not.
In fact, it's a SEPARATE SETTING in MSI and ASRock BIOS.
Top brands like ASRock have it, while cheap also-rans like Asus do not.
That's obviously a shot at Asus, since it appears the budget brands are far more innovative.
Here is an
external enclosure which is USB2 and eSATA capable. It has a large fan which keeps the drive cool and the ones I have used are quiet.
Shielded cables are good because of the potential for interference from various electrical cords and such running around the back of most computer cases.
For starters, goresnet, you say your external case "doesn't come with an eSATA connector", but the Newegg
specs and photo clearly show one on the back. Maybe you mean it did not come with a eSATA cable, nor with an adapter plate to provide an eSATA connector on the back of your computer. That adapter plate is what royalcrown pointed to. The eSATA cable you need to connect to the back of your external case will NOT accept a plain SATA cable run out of your computer - the connectors are different. Buy one of the adapter plates like royalcrown showed, either from Newegg or from a local shop, plus a proper eSATA cable, and you'll be fine. Your computer mobo may not have a true eSATA controller built in, but most people find that using the adapter plate and connecting to a standard SATA mobo port works well, even though theoretically it MIGHT not work. One important difference between the e- and regular SATA is the cable length allowed from port connector to external case - eSATA was designed for longer cables allowed - so try not to choose your cable too long.
Paperdoc, that's what I meant, the cable, sorry. Did you see the cable I linked to in my first post? Just wondering if that would work. It has an L connector on one end (for the mb) and and I connector on the other, for the hdd case. Thanks again!
My External E-Sata - USB works perfectly if I connect through the internal motherboard sata port (I use the standard cable connector that comes with my external box). The same enclosure box does not work with the e-sata of my motherboard, nor with an e-sata express card on my laptop.
This proves to me that e-sata must have some difference with normal sata. I tried everything, booting with the external HD turned on, go to the bios, check the e-sata controller of the motherboard, it told me that no drive is connected (My e-sata internal controller support AHCI and NCQ). If I use one of the 6 sata standard port of my motherboard everything works, hot swap, etc etc.
I'm actually looking to a compatible e-sata external box for a 1Terabyte 3.5 disk that is compatible with e-sata express card.
Here is some advice from the school of hard knocks...
an eSata to Sata adapter works great with Windows XP - I've used this configuraiton for over a year with zero problems in an older AMD based HP tower.
The same eSata to Sata adapter in a very new i7 Based ASUS system appears to work fine BUT, windows 7 starts popping sata controller errors and eventually results in your internal SATA drive (the C drive in my case as I only have 1 internal HDD) becoming corrupt - MFT errors etc.
IF you are going to do this with a newer chipset and OS, spend the $30 for an eSATA card or just run USB 3.0.
I think this is a win7 / driver issue as the same hardware config works fine with the Shadow Protect live CD, which if you do this, you will become familiar with as you will be restoring your internal HDD from a backup when it gets toasted.
To the previous poster - the difference in the eSata and Sata specs may seem minimal - but for the current win7 driver - its very significant.
mikrev007 said:It actually says so right there in that wiki...
* Minimum transmit potential increased: Range is 500–600 mV instead of 400–600 mV.
* Minimum receive potential decreased: Range is 240–600 mV instead of 325–600 mV.
The difference is there
Mikrev007 is correct.
The voltage spec for SATA and eSATA overlap, but it is out of spec to connect one to the other.
Technically, the signal change is usually accomplished with a buffer chip in the case where the manufacturer bothers to be in-spec.
However, except for eSATA-specific controllers, the spec is frequently ignored.
My Asus motherboard came with one of these SATA to eSata cable thingies.
In my experience, it usually works and sometimes fails.
The convenience is not worth the occa when I use an eSATA cable, it is attached to a real eSATA controller and a drive in a real eSATA enclosure.
The real truth is: The out-of-spec connection usually works.
There is no guarantee that it will work in any specific case, and you run the risk of lost data or a corrupted drive.
I believe that a few anecdotes of failure (one of which I can provide) trumps any number of anecdotes of success.
Edit: Oh, techlawyer has provided another anecdote of failure.
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Ad choicesbe able to do sth.的用法和样例：
We hoped that we should be able to do that.
我们希望我们能这样做。
Will be able to do sth.
将来能干......
I might be able to do some cooking.
我可以做些菜。
They ought to be able to do something for her.
他们想必可以给她帮点忙。
You should be able to do it by now.
现在你应该有能力做这件事了。
But it's great feeling to be able to do it.
能这么做的感觉真好。
be able to do sth.的海词问答与网友补充：
be able to do sth.的相关资料：
相关词典网站：Using IDE Cable Select
Does this site look plain?
This site uses advanced css techniques
In a recent project for a customer, we were faced with having to swap
IDE devices around on a fairly regular basis. This constant moving of
the power and data cables plus moving the master/slave drive jumper was
getting very old very fast, but we have found a great solution.
All IDE drives have jumpers that select the "master" or "slave" role on
the controller, but modern drives also have a "CS" or "Cable select"
pin. This allows the IDE cable itself to select the drive's role: all
the drives have the CS jumper set, and the cable chooses the master
and the slave.
Pin 28 on the IDE ribbon cable is used for cable select. If a
drive sees this signal as grounded, it's the master, but if it floats
(unconnected), it is the slave. Since modern IDE controllers simply ground
pin 28 at the interface, making one of these cables requires no external
signal wires or touching the motherboard in any way.
It turns out that CS cables can be used for all IDE purposes, because
drives jumpered for Master or Slave simply ignore the CS line anyway. The
only reason why all IDE cables aren't CS cables is that it probably costs
a bit more to manufacture, and so few people care. Too bad.
Modifying an IDE cable -
the "easy" way
It's possible to easily make a CS cable by modifying a "regular" one. Lay out
the IDE cable on a work surface, and consider the ribbon area between the two
drive connectors (farthest away from the motherboard connector).
with pin one - the edge with the red stripe -- count to the 28th wire and
mark it with a pen. For safety, we also start from the far side and count
backwards to pin 40 to make sure we didn't skip one.
With a small, sharp knife (such as an X-Acto blade), cut out a small
section of the 28th wire, leaving a "hole" in the cable. Be careful not to
cut the other wires! Use a marker pen to mark "M" (master) near the middle
drive connector and "S" (slave) near the far drive connector to keep them
straight. The resulting cable should look something like this:
This cable will work fine in two-drive configurations, but there is a
drawback: it's suboptimal for one-drive installations. These high-speed
disk cables really should always have a drive on the physical far
end of the cable to reduce noise on the bus, but this cable puts the
single drive in the middle. In practice this will probably work most
of the time, but it's not the best way to run a computer system.
Modifying an IDE cable - the "hard" way
Modifying an IDE cable to properly put the master on the far end means
that the far end pin 28 is grounded and the middle connector pin 28
has to float. This is quite a bit more work and requires soldering skills.
But we'll try to describe it.
Similar to the previous cable, we need to cut the 28th wire on the
ribbon cable, but this time it's on the other side of the middle connector.
This effectively cuts pin 28 off from both connectors. We need to
somehow ground this line, and fortunately the IDE cable has several of
these. We'll borrow a ground from pin 40.
Between the two drive connectors cut pin 28 near the middle
connector and release about two inches of this wire towards the far
connector. Strip about one centimeter of insulation from this wire,
exposing the conductor. Twist the exposed wire to keep the strands
Then separate the 40th wire (opposite end from the red stripe) from
the 39th wire by carefully cutting the plastic between the two. But
do not cut the wire itself. Very carefully strip away about 2 cm
of insulation from the 40th wire, exposing the metal conductor. Again,
do not cut the conductor itself. Solder the pin-28 wire to the exposed
pin-40 wire, grounding the CS line to the master connector on the end.
Cover the exposed soldered connection with tape or hot glue, then
mark both connectors with Master and Slave indicators. The resulting
cable should look roughly like this:
We've had a suggestion to use Star Brite's "Liquid Electrical Tape",
and it looks perfect for this application. It's available at most
home centers, and certainly via Google.
Building your own CS cable from scratch
This section presumes that those building their own IDE cables already
have the tools and connectors and cabling: those without these items will
probably find it easier to just modify an existing cable.
Before crimping the slave connector (the middle one), simply use
needle-nosed pliers to physically remove pin 28 from the connector. In
our experience this is done very easily, and this prevents the ground
on this wire from reaching the drive itself, leaving it floating as a
slave. The ground DOES reach the far connection, making it a master. No
pins should be pulled from the master connector.
Mark the far connector as M (master) and the middle connector S (slave).
80-conductor Ultra DMA cables
Standard IDE/ATA cables are made from the same 40 pin ribbon cables
that have been used in PCs for years, but the high-speed Ultra drives
require a higher quality cable. These are the 80-character cables that
apparently have some kind of extra grounding.
But we understand that these cables -- which are quite a bit more
expensive than the "regular" kind -- are already compatible with CS. They
are typically marked with "Master" and "Slave" ends (in the optimal
positions), and we believe they have done this by pulling pin 28 from
the middle connector. These cables can be used in CS environments or in
"regular" environments. Thankfully, no cutting or soldering is required.
Changes to the motherboard / BIOS
None required - it just works. As long as the IDE connector on the
motherboard grounds pin 28, there is no software configuration required
to enable the cable select mechanism. The IDE controller still requests
"master" or "slave" transactions, and the drives simply know which role
they play. It's just delightful.
Using removable drive bays
This entire cable-select adventure was prompted by our need to move drives
around a lot, and the first thing we found were these great removable
drive bays from InClose. Retailing for about $25, their "PMD-96i Kit"
fits in a 5.25" drive bay and has a 3.5" carrier. It has a small fan built
in for cooling, and the carrier slides in and out with the turn of a key.
The carriers take normal 3.5" drives, ZIP drives, plus have mounting
holes for even smaller 2.5" drives (though we've not yet tried the
latter). Spare "P-96i-T" carriers alone without the drive bay are
about $15.
These units are all compatible with Ultra 100 IDE,
and we presume that they have lower-cost units that support
the lower-speed units as well.
The vendor can be found at
[site no longer valid]
These are NOT hot swap bays -- they're very clear on this -- but trying
to use these in multiple machines really requires that you use the CS
mechanism lest you have to remove the drives from the carrier to change
the jumper every time they move.
In our testbed configuration, we
typically hot-glue a pair of these carriers together, build a CS cable,
and mark the front of the carrier with "M" and "S" designations so we
know which position is the master and which is the slave.
So far this entire arrangement has worked exceptionally well, and
we're happy to recommend it to anybody.
- It has been suggested that when using
removable drive bays, it's possible to just physically pull out pin 28
from the external connector on the outside of the "middle" drive bay,
which obviates mucking with the cable. Of course, this approach prevents
the drive bay from working as an end bay, but for some applications the
couple of minutes with a pair of needle-nosed pliers might be preferable
to the more labor-intensive solutions.
Thanks to Ole Knudsen for
References
We learned most of what we know about CS from the ATA spec plus the
PC Guide web site at
We're grateful for their overview of CS that allowed us
to prepare the information here.