Guest Mike Burke Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 I have customer with a Dell Dimension 8400 and a Dell Dimension 8300. We successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external 350GB drive to the 8300, but the 8400 warns "unrecognized device" when we plug the dirve in to a USB port. If we try to boot with the drive attached, Windows halts the boot process about 1/3 through the progress bar. All other USB devices work properly on all the USB ports. I suspect that our Windows XP Pro SP2 is missing some SATA-related files. There is nothing in the Device Manager to manage SATA drives. Dell suport is useless and Seagate support is non-existant. Any help available? Thank you, Mike B. -- "The mind is quicker than you think!"
Guest Rich Barry Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 Re: SATA management? Mike, check the Bios for a setting that has to be enabled. "Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:E9649B2F-4FC8-4A71-A960-2F3E97E2AF5A@microsoft.com... >I have customer with a Dell Dimension 8400 and a Dell Dimension 8300. We > successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external 350GB drive to the 8300, > but > the 8400 warns "unrecognized device" when we plug the dirve in to a USB > port. > If we try to boot with the drive attached, Windows halts the boot process > about 1/3 through the progress bar. > > All other USB devices work properly on all the USB ports. > > I suspect that our Windows XP Pro SP2 is missing some SATA-related files. > There is nothing in the Device Manager to manage SATA drives. Dell suport > is > useless and Seagate support is non-existant. > > Any help available? > > Thank you, > > Mike B. > -- > "The mind is quicker than you think!"
Guest Anna Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 Re: SATA management? "Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:E9649B2F-4FC8-4A71-A960-2F3E97E2AF5A@microsoft.com... >I have customer with a Dell Dimension 8400 and a Dell Dimension 8300. We > successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external 350GB drive to the 8300, > but > the 8400 warns "unrecognized device" when we plug the dirve in to a USB > port. > If we try to boot with the drive attached, Windows halts the boot process > about 1/3 through the progress bar. > > All other USB devices work properly on all the USB ports. > > I suspect that our Windows XP Pro SP2 is missing some SATA-related files. > There is nothing in the Device Manager to manage SATA drives. Dell suport > is > useless and Seagate support is non-existant. > > Any help available? > > Thank you, > > Mike B. Mike: 1. You mention that you "successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external 350GB drive" to the Dell 8300. Do you mean the eSATA external enclosure containing the Seagate HDD was connected as a SATA device? AFAIK, neither the Dell 8300 nor the 8400 models come equipped with an eSATA port. Is the Seagate external enclosure device a combo unit - USB/SATA - and your problem really involves a situation where the device is connected with the USB interface to the Dell 8400? 2. Assuming that is your problem... First of all, we have experienced boot problems when a USB external HDD is connected/powered up at the time of system bootup. In a number of instances we've encountered the problem where the system will fail to boot under those circumstances. Many times it's an erratic experience in that sometimes the system will boot without problems - other times it won't when the USB external HDD is connected/powered up when the system first boots. In a few cases a BIOS update corrected the problem; in other cases we've not found any solution other than connecting/powering up the external USB device after the system boots. Under those circumstances the USB device (usually) is recognized and functions without problems. 3. But if I correctly understand you, your problem is more serious in that the USB external HDD is not detected at all by the system, at least insofar as the Dell 8400 is concerned, the boot problem notwithstanding. Is that the basic problem here? Since you refer to your "customer" I assume you're a technician and are familiar with the usual troubleshooting processes involving non-recognition of USB devices, but I take it nothing has worked. Is that so? But I'm still not clear on your reference to the SATA interface in this situation. We are talking about USB-connectivity and not SATA-connectivity, are we not? Anna
Guest Mike Burke Posted July 10, 2007 Posted July 10, 2007 Re: SATA management? You are entirely correct. It is a USB connection. The 8300 sees the device as a USB mass storage device and the 8400 does not recognize it. The Seagate site seems to imply that if the system recognizes SATA devices (the 8400 comes with SATA ports enabled and an internal SATA drive), then the drive can be managed through the device manager using the ATA/SATA category. Again, Seagate help is non-existent, but the docs imply that the drive is still eSATA whether connected by USB or Firewire. Since my device manager doesn't show a category for Serial ATA, I thought maybe some files are not included in my Dell Windowws XP Pro installation. This has been alluded to in other posts regarding Dell, but the solution seems to refer mostly to the motherboard drivers, which are fine. The drive is detected fine from my Ubuntu live CD, therefore I've concluded that something about Windows may be the problem. I would be happy if the drive was detected as a simple USB mass storage device. Thanks for your help, Mike B -- "The mind is quicker than you think!" "Anna" wrote: > > "Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:E9649B2F-4FC8-4A71-A960-2F3E97E2AF5A@microsoft.com... > >I have customer with a Dell Dimension 8400 and a Dell Dimension 8300. We > > successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external 350GB drive to the 8300, > > but > > the 8400 warns "unrecognized device" when we plug the dirve in to a USB > > port. > > If we try to boot with the drive attached, Windows halts the boot process > > about 1/3 through the progress bar. > > > > All other USB devices work properly on all the USB ports. > > > > I suspect that our Windows XP Pro SP2 is missing some SATA-related files. > > There is nothing in the Device Manager to manage SATA drives. Dell suport > > is > > useless and Seagate support is non-existant. > > > > Any help available? > > > > Thank you, > > > > Mike B. > > > Mike: > 1. You mention that you "successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external > 350GB drive" to the Dell 8300. Do you mean the eSATA external enclosure > containing the Seagate HDD was connected as a SATA device? AFAIK, neither > the Dell 8300 nor the 8400 models come equipped with an eSATA port. Is the > Seagate external enclosure device a combo unit - USB/SATA - and your problem > really involves a situation where the device is connected with the USB > interface to the Dell 8400? > > 2. Assuming that is your problem... > First of all, we have experienced boot problems when a USB external HDD is > connected/powered up at the time of system bootup. In a number of instances > we've encountered the problem where the system will fail to boot under those > circumstances. Many times it's an erratic experience in that sometimes the > system will boot without problems - other times it won't when the USB > external HDD is connected/powered up when the system first boots. In a few > cases a BIOS update corrected the problem; in other cases we've not found > any solution other than connecting/powering up the external USB device after > the system boots. Under those circumstances the USB device (usually) is > recognized and functions without problems. > > 3. But if I correctly understand you, your problem is more serious in that > the USB external HDD is not detected at all by the system, at least insofar > as the Dell 8400 is concerned, the boot problem notwithstanding. Is that the > basic problem here? > > Since you refer to your "customer" I assume you're a technician and are > familiar with the usual troubleshooting processes involving non-recognition > of USB devices, but I take it nothing has worked. Is that so? > > But I'm still not clear on your reference to the SATA interface in this > situation. We are talking about USB-connectivity and not SATA-connectivity, > are we not? > Anna > > >
Guest Anna Posted July 10, 2007 Posted July 10, 2007 Re: SATA management? >> "Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message >> news:E9649B2F-4FC8-4A71-A960-2F3E97E2AF5A@microsoft.com... >> >I have customer with a Dell Dimension 8400 and a Dell Dimension 8300. We >> > successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external 350GB drive to the >> > 8300, >> > but >> > the 8400 warns "unrecognized device" when we plug the dirve in to a USB >> > port. >> > If we try to boot with the drive attached, Windows halts the boot >> > process >> > about 1/3 through the progress bar. >> > >> > All other USB devices work properly on all the USB ports. >> > >> > I suspect that our Windows XP Pro SP2 is missing some SATA-related >> > files. >> > There is nothing in the Device Manager to manage SATA drives. Dell >> > suport >> > is >> > useless and Seagate support is non-existant. >> > >> > Any help available? >> > >> > Thank you, >> > >> > Mike B. > "Anna" wrote: >> Mike: >> 1. You mention that you "successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external >> 350GB drive" to the Dell 8300. Do you mean the eSATA external enclosure >> containing the Seagate HDD was connected as a SATA device? AFAIK, neither >> the Dell 8300 nor the 8400 models come equipped with an eSATA port. Is >> the >> Seagate external enclosure device a combo unit - USB/SATA - and your >> problem >> really involves a situation where the device is connected with the USB >> interface to the Dell 8400? >> >> 2. Assuming that is your problem... >> First of all, we have experienced boot problems when a USB external HDD >> is >> connected/powered up at the time of system bootup. In a number of >> instances >> we've encountered the problem where the system will fail to boot under >> those >> circumstances. Many times it's an erratic experience in that sometimes >> the >> system will boot without problems - other times it won't when the USB >> external HDD is connected/powered up when the system first boots. In a >> few >> cases a BIOS update corrected the problem; in other cases we've not found >> any solution other than connecting/powering up the external USB device >> after >> the system boots. Under those circumstances the USB device (usually) is >> recognized and functions without problems. >> >> 3. But if I correctly understand you, your problem is more serious in >> that >> the USB external HDD is not detected at all by the system, at least >> insofar >> as the Dell 8400 is concerned, the boot problem notwithstanding. Is that >> the >> basic problem here? >> >> Since you refer to your "customer" I assume you're a technician and are >> familiar with the usual troubleshooting processes involving >> non-recognition >> of USB devices, but I take it nothing has worked. Is that so? >> >> But I'm still not clear on your reference to the SATA interface in this >> situation. We are talking about USB-connectivity and not >> SATA-connectivity, >> are we not? >> Anna "Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:BBC9BD79-596B-474A-9580-2F28E98C3AE8@microsoft.com... > You are entirely correct. It is a USB connection. The 8300 sees the device > as > a USB mass storage device and the 8400 does not recognize it. > > The Seagate site seems to imply that if the system recognizes SATA devices > (the 8400 comes with SATA ports enabled and an internal SATA drive), then > the > drive can be managed through the device manager using the ATA/SATA > category. > Again, Seagate help is non-existent, but the docs imply that the drive is > still eSATA whether connected by USB or Firewire. Since my device manager > doesn't show a category for Serial ATA, I thought maybe some files are not > included in my Dell Windowws XP Pro installation. This has been alluded to > in > other posts regarding Dell, but the solution seems to refer mostly to the > motherboard drivers, which are fine. > > The drive is detected fine from my Ubuntu live CD, therefore I've > concluded > that something about Windows may be the problem. I would be happy if the > drive was detected as a simple USB mass storage device. > > Thanks for your help, > > Mike B Mike: I really don't think the SATA interface is, in any way, affecting this problem. The root of the problem I believe, is the ongoing problem we've all been experiencing with USB device recognition - primarily involving USB external HDDs and USB flash drives - in an XP environment. Time & time again we've encountered puzzling instances where non-defective USB devices were unrecognized in a non-defective hardware/driver environment involving the XP OS. We've become increasingly convinced that the relatively large number of problems in this area involving the non-recognition of USB devices that we've all been experiencing is an indication that there is something seriously flawed with respect to either the USB 2.0 specifications, possibly involving quality control issues affecting the manufacturer of these USB devices as well as supporting components such as motherboards and other USB-related components. Then too, we've become increasingly suspicious of the XP OS as it relates to its recognition of and interaction with these USB 2.0 devices. As I've indicated, we have encountered far too many unexplained problems affecting detection/recognition of these devices and their erratic functioning not to believe that something is seriously amiss in this area. Anyway, I realize that all this isn't helping you to solve your specific problem, so try this... You mention that the Seagate device is eSATA capable, so I'm assuming a SATA HDD is installed in the enclosure. Why don't you try connecting the device via its SATA data cable to one of the SATA connectors on the motherboard? See if the HDD is recognized under those circumstances and its data can be accessed. At least that will give you some indication that there's nothing amiss with the SATA-connectivity capability of the device nor your Dell system. If this does work, yet you still can't achieve USB-connectivity, perhaps you could consider a SATA adapter that you can install on the computer's I/O backplane and use the device through that means. Those adapters are relatively inexpensive and are simple to install. All this assumes, of course, that this is physically possible with the Dell 8400 case and the process would be agreeable to your customer. Anna
Guest RalfG Posted July 10, 2007 Posted July 10, 2007 Re: SATA management? You could be looking for a Device Manager entry that doesn't exist. There's no descriptor named SATA in my Device Manager either (not a Dell). Viewing devices by connection, the internal SATA harddrive is shown connected to an Intel 82801FB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 2651. Everest identifies that as - Bus 0, Device 31, Function 2 Intel 82801FB ICH6 - Serial-ATA/150 IDE Controller [b-1] The optical drives are connected to an Intel 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 266F, which Everest identifies as - Bus 0, Device 31, Function 1 Intel 82801FB ICH6 - ATA-100 IDE Controller [b-1] Don't have any external SATA drives but do have 2 external drives, one connected on the IEEE 1394 port and one on USB2. The only connection shown for these drives in Device Manager is to the firewire and USB2 controllers respectively. No hint of a connection to the ATA controllers. "Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:BBC9BD79-596B-474A-9580-2F28E98C3AE8@microsoft.com... > You are entirely correct. It is a USB connection. The 8300 sees the device > as > a USB mass storage device and the 8400 does not recognize it. > > The Seagate site seems to imply that if the system recognizes SATA devices > (the 8400 comes with SATA ports enabled and an internal SATA drive), then > the > drive can be managed through the device manager using the ATA/SATA > category. > Again, Seagate help is non-existent, but the docs imply that the drive is > still eSATA whether connected by USB or Firewire. Since my device manager > doesn't show a category for Serial ATA, I thought maybe some files are not > included in my Dell Windowws XP Pro installation. This has been alluded to > in > other posts regarding Dell, but the solution seems to refer mostly to the > motherboard drivers, which are fine. > > The drive is detected fine from my Ubuntu live CD, therefore I've > concluded > that something about Windows may be the problem. I would be happy if the > drive was detected as a simple USB mass storage device. > > Thanks for your help, > > Mike B > > -- > "The mind is quicker than you think!" > > > "Anna" wrote: > >> >> "Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message >> news:E9649B2F-4FC8-4A71-A960-2F3E97E2AF5A@microsoft.com... >> >I have customer with a Dell Dimension 8400 and a Dell Dimension 8300. We >> > successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external 350GB drive to the >> > 8300, >> > but >> > the 8400 warns "unrecognized device" when we plug the dirve in to a USB >> > port. >> > If we try to boot with the drive attached, Windows halts the boot >> > process >> > about 1/3 through the progress bar. >> > >> > All other USB devices work properly on all the USB ports. >> > >> > I suspect that our Windows XP Pro SP2 is missing some SATA-related >> > files. >> > There is nothing in the Device Manager to manage SATA drives. Dell >> > suport >> > is >> > useless and Seagate support is non-existant. >> > >> > Any help available? >> > >> > Thank you, >> > >> > Mike B. >> >> >> Mike: >> 1. You mention that you "successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external >> 350GB drive" to the Dell 8300. Do you mean the eSATA external enclosure >> containing the Seagate HDD was connected as a SATA device? AFAIK, neither >> the Dell 8300 nor the 8400 models come equipped with an eSATA port. Is >> the >> Seagate external enclosure device a combo unit - USB/SATA - and your >> problem >> really involves a situation where the device is connected with the USB >> interface to the Dell 8400? >> >> 2. Assuming that is your problem... >> First of all, we have experienced boot problems when a USB external HDD >> is >> connected/powered up at the time of system bootup. In a number of >> instances >> we've encountered the problem where the system will fail to boot under >> those >> circumstances. Many times it's an erratic experience in that sometimes >> the >> system will boot without problems - other times it won't when the USB >> external HDD is connected/powered up when the system first boots. In a >> few >> cases a BIOS update corrected the problem; in other cases we've not found >> any solution other than connecting/powering up the external USB device >> after >> the system boots. Under those circumstances the USB device (usually) is >> recognized and functions without problems. >> >> 3. But if I correctly understand you, your problem is more serious in >> that >> the USB external HDD is not detected at all by the system, at least >> insofar >> as the Dell 8400 is concerned, the boot problem notwithstanding. Is that >> the >> basic problem here? >> >> Since you refer to your "customer" I assume you're a technician and are >> familiar with the usual troubleshooting processes involving >> non-recognition >> of USB devices, but I take it nothing has worked. Is that so? >> >> But I'm still not clear on your reference to the SATA interface in this >> situation. We are talking about USB-connectivity and not >> SATA-connectivity, >> are we not? >> Anna >> >> >>
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