On Thu, May 6, 2010 at 2:44 PM, john CARMONNE <[email protected]> wrote: > On May 6, 2010, at 11:41 AM, Len Gerstel wrote: >> On May 6, 2010, at 1:46 PM, john CARMONNE wrote: >>> I'm using an eSATA cable and I did reboot both machines. >> >> Is it known good? > > I just opened the pack for the first time. I've had it for about a year. Are > there different ones?
My personal experience with eSATA has been mixed. When it works it's great. When it doesn't, I really am never all that sure what's wrong. Rather than troubleshooting it, I'm usually more just fiddling around to try to get it to work. I've always assumed that the problem is most likely in one of three places: (1) The SATA controller which in my case is usually the chipset on my (PC) motherboard. This is usually the last thing I worry about mostly because if it is bad, then I assume I would have problems in all drive situations, not just eSATA. This can be tested just by attaching another drive or even by removing the drive you're having a problem with from the eSATA enclosure and connecting it using an internal SATA data & power connectors. (2) The controller/bridge chips in the external enclosure. Again, I hope it's not this because it would be a beast to track down and verify. The only way that occurs to me to approach it is by process of long & tedious elimination. FWIW, I do sometimes try power cycling the enclosure on the off chance there was a race condition when things were supposed to initialize ... something you'd hope would never happen at this point in computing hardware history ... but who knows? (3) The cable or the cable connection. Since the cables I have are usually all included for "free" with some other accessory I bought, I assume they are made the cheapest way possible and thus are for me the most suspect. However, I think as often as not it's just some sort of bad connection. Removing and replugging the cable or even just "jiggling" it can sometimes be enough to get a proper connection. As an example, I just powered up an external enclosure which is eSATA attached. The drive was not recognized. After tinkering with some other things I eventually pulled the eSATA cable from the enclosure and replugged it. This caused the drive to be recognized. Go figure? If fiddling with the cable doesn't help and you have access to another eSATA cable, I would at least try it. Possibly you might be able to coax the manufacturer to send you a replacement cable? Miracles sometimes happen, no? IMO, the more I fiddle with it, the more eSATA ... and SATA connectors in general ... feels like one of those nifty ideas that was released without thinking it through and/or refining the prototypes enough. Probably an inevitable problem when the companies that sell the tech are also responsible for the specs. They're more concerned with getting something out the door than with making it more bullet proof. :-( -irrational john -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
