Replying to my own post with additional info... I have done further investigation of this problem and have come to the conclusion that you can't hot swap if you select RAID in the bios. Even though RAID is supposed to be a superset of AHCI, I have not found a way to hot swap the "single" drives attached to the ICH9R controller. Running the Intel Matrix Storage Manager indicates the single drives are using NCQ, but they do not show up in the "safely remove hardware" control.
I have googled the problem and keep coming up with posts regarding changing to AHCI to enable hot-swap or people with the same problem as I have. Lots of answers saying IT SHOULD be hot swappable according to Intel's website, but no one who actually claims to be able to do it. Selecting RAID in the bios (I have the OS installed on a SATA RAID attached to the ICH9R, so RAID is the required selection and you don't seem to be able to select individually which channels are RAID and which non-RAID) makes the drives attached not hot-swappable. Is anyone actually running a P35 chipset with RAID and non-RAID drives that has been able to enable hot swap with the ICH9R controller? I have several drives in drive bays I would like to be able to swap, although it is not imperative. It was a no-brainer with an nForce4 chipset. All attached SATA drives were hot swappable, INCLUDING the OS drive(s). All the official Intel websites indicate that the drives should be hot-swappable, but I have yet to find anyone who says they have actually done in or found a tweak in the BIOS to allow hot-swapping. This question has gotten under my skin now, and I would like to find a definitive answer. I would be glad to hear from anyone who has one. Thanks, Jim Maki [EMAIL PROTECTED] > -----Original Message----- > From: James Maki > So, it SHOULD [be hot swappable]... > > -----Original Message----- > > From: maccrawj > > > http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/cs-012308.htm > > http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-022304.htm > > > > This one seems to suggest RAID mode is RAID + AHCI: > > > > http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/cs-015988.htm > >
