FreeAgent Products

[KenGraham]

I have a 1st generation Dell XPS desktop which has 2 internal SATA I channels. The motherboard is basically an Intel motherboard with an Intel 875P (82801EB) chipset. I am running Windows Vista and the controller looks to be running in PATA emulation mode. It appears in the device manager as such: Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 24D1

I purchased an eSATA bracket (KINGWIN 15" eSATA PCI Bracket cable Model ESAC-02 - Retail) from NewEgg since I don't really have any internal 3.5 HDD bays and I wanted an eSATA drive.

I started with a 6' eSATA cable (eSATA TO eSATA HARD-DRIVE CABLE: 6-FEET, UV BLUE) from Frys. I had some detection issues at boot and it seemed that I maybe had too long of a cable and I had to really push it to make a good connection. So I bought a 1.5 meter cable from Frys (PPA 1.5m eSATA to eSATA Cable). Good detection on boot. Drive stays online unless I transfer big files to it (like 60GB Norton Ghost images).

The drive drops offline from the Windows Explorer and the Device Manager during large file transfers. Without touching the drive, I disable the controller in the Device Manager, then re-enable it, and then scan for hardware changes. The drive is then able to re-appear online without a reboot nor touching the cable.

I'm currently testing via USB and all seems to be going well. Does anyone have a solution to making the eSATA connection a stable solution? I purchased the drive so that I could could get performance equal or better than my PATA (IDE) drives and not have to rely on the USB 2.0 bus. I already own a Seagate 300GB 3.5" push-button backup drive. I currently am trying it out with Firewire. Seemed a bit slow via USB.

Any suggestions would be helpful. I may see if I can use a seperate eSATA controller card and see if that makes any difference.

Message Edited by SalA on 12-06-2007 01:51 AM

[SteveColes]

I have the 750 and have a similar problem. Performance is awful. USB is faster. It appears that almost every write requires a retry or two I don't have another eSata drive to compare it to, so I can't really say its the drive.It could be the motherboard adapter (jmicron) and or it driver. Any Ideas?

[RedWngs99]

I have the 750 GB eSata/USB with a Dell E510. I installed a KingWin (ESAC-04) eSATA Bracket Cable from the 2nd SATA MB port, SATA 2. Then an eSATA cable, item No. 3831,iDOTConnect (PPA Int'l) 1.5 meter. The drive isn't recognized in the Device Manager. USB works fine, but I want to use SATA for performance. Hooked up via eSATA the drive is recognized in the BIOS; the BIOS reports a Seagate 750 GB drive is connected. But after booting Win XP sp2 Media Center edition doesn't see it, the Device Manger reports no new drives. I scanned for new devices and the 2nd SATA controller is present, but still no drive. Since the BIOS can see it, it's probably not the cable, correct? Does anyone have a clue?

[Dave166]

I also have a problem with the FreeAgent Pro 500GB disappearing when connected via eSATA.  I am using an Intel DX38BT, so eSTATA is native to the MB.  The OS is Vista and the device appears when the system is first booted.  HDTach shows a throughput of 60MBs with a burst of 130, so performance is what I expect from eSATA.  However, the drive consistenly disappears after 30 minutes or an hour.  It also disappears from the device manager.  The only way I can get the device to reappear is to reboot.

When running as a USB 2.0 device, the problem does not occur.  But performance is half of what I see with eSATA.  I have applied the upgraded firmware code (undocumented), but the problem still exists.  I finally decided to post here so that Seagate can see that this may be a widespread problem.

[KenGraham]

I resolved my disappearing problem by purchasing a dedicated eSATA card and used a 1.5M eSATA cable. A 6ft cable caused problems despite the quality of the cable. Iv've tried both a 150 eSATA PCI card  and a 300 eSATA PCI card and saw approximately the same performance.

[jaypugh]

I'm having similar problems with my 750.  USB works perfectly with the system and with the software.  I didn't have an external sata connector so I bought a PCI Express to eSATA card.  The one thing I noticed was that SteveColes said he was using Jmicron.  Mine shows up as Jmicron Raid Controller.  I've actually managed to see the drive once.  I haven't spent hours on it.  Only 20 mins or so but I'm already seeing that I'm going to have to try another controller.  If the controller that possibly isn't RAID doesn't help then I'll be taking this drive back.  The software that comes with the drive has NOT seen it at all up to this point. 

Like everyone else here, I bought this for the eSATA speed and not for it to be a simple USB drive. Hope the new card makes a difference so I can get what I paid for. 

[mmark972]

i have recently purchased this drive.  i have heard the hype on esata being fast and all but there are problems.  i tried it myself thinking esata would the best thing out there but its not.  i am still a big believer in fire wire.  i have been using fire for years on my present 300gig setup.  i have never had a problem with a computer recognizing it or whatever.  i bought the freeagent pro 500 model with firewire and esata to see which were faster or more effecient with windows and esata is not even worth talking about. i finally checked my bios to see if it was detected and it was the next time i booted windows it was recognized.  i dont feel comfortable with device.  i have heard magazines say its plug n play or you could disconnect it while computer was running like usb but its not even worth trying it. 

my recommendations for anyone trying to connect this device for speed and effeciency use the firewire option.  if you dont have a fire wire card invest in in one.  it is the best thing i have been using for video and music transfers and it is fast.  firewire has been around alot longer and is far more reliable than this esata.  i have even read articles saying the cord cant be past 2 meters or it is to long.  i have a firewire harddrive i am using and the cord is at least 15ft no problems. 

[jaypugh]

Well, I took my FreeAgent Pro back.  I ordered an eSATA enclosure (EXT ENCL ROSEWILL||RX81-CW-US- BLK).  I've read nothing but good things about these as far as reliable connectivity.  I don't mind having to have it connected before I turn on my PC if it needs that.  As long as the thing is recognized and stays recognized then I'll be happy with the faster speeds.  Too bad that these FreeAgents are so sucky.  I'll reply back if I have the same problems with the Rosewill just to let people know if it is a Seagate issue or an issue in general with eSATA.

[intown]

Awaiting your repsonse.  I just bought 500gb Pro, works fine usb.  Have Dell 8400, connected internal sata to SS-ESPCI15 esata bracket (from satacables.com) and turned on sata in system setup.   Nothing.  Does not recognize no matter what.  Using 6 ft  link-depot esata-esata cable.  One would think that these would/should work.  Unbelievable how much time you can spend on this, while Seagate seems to sleep at the wheel.  Where is their help?

[KenGraham]

For those of you who don't seem to read the prior posts, I'm re-posting the solution:

If you are using an eSATA bracket that is connecting to your internal (motherboard) SATA connectors, ...... DON'T unless you are using a 3ft or 1m cable (external).

1. The eSATA brackets usually come with a relatively long cable to connect to your internal SATA ports. This distance adds to the external cable that you are using. The eSATA cable limit is 6' (ft). If you purchase something like the KINGWIN 15" eSATA PCI Bracket cable Model ESAC-02, it adds 15 5/8" (in) to your external cable as the port is not repeated / amplified from the motherboard to the bracket.
2. I looked at the specification and thought that this may help if I used a shorter external cable such as a 1.5m = 4.9ft + 15" (1.25 ft) = 6.15 ft (still too long). The detection was better and a bit more stable, but I had the disappearing act on large writes not reads.

So the moral of the story is that you should be able to get it to work right with the correct cable / bracket combo, but for better reliability, get a dedicated eSATA PCI / PCIe card that way you can have the longest cable externally.

BTW. My Link Depot 6ft cable was not reliable on my eSATA PCI card either. The 1.5m cable seemed to do the trick and it'e the cheapest. My eSATA card is the Promise SATA300 TX4302. It's a PCI card. The PCI bus may be limiting my drive performance. As I stated before, I tried an eSATA 150 card as well and benchmarked (read and write) with Sandra and did not see any performance difference.