GA-770TA-UD3 Need help getting SATA2 ports to Hot-Swap

[k6_user]

Hi,
Can someone please give me some advice on how to get the SATA2 ports to support ESATA Hot-Swapping?
I would like to connect the front panel ESATA port on my System Case to one of the SATA2 ports on the Mobo.

My setup:
GA-770TA-UD3 have tried BIOS; F2, F3c, and the latest F3
AMD Phenom II X3 720
2@2GB 1600 MHz OCZ3G1600LV 4GK
WinXP SP-3 32 bit.
Currently not unlocked or overclocked.

I have 2 ESATA hard drives using 2 different ESATA cables.
Both work as they should using the Mobo back panel ESATA ports and the on-board Marvell SATA3 ports
By that I mean the ESATA drives are detected, and allow access to the data, and are removable via the "Safely Remove" icon in the System Tray.
But, when I use the SATA2 ports the ESATA drives are detected, and allow access to the data, but there is NO "SAFELY REMOVE" ICON.

I have tried various settings in the BIOS (AHCI, RAID) (Currently have all SATA ports set to AHCI), Have installed all drivers from the Mobo CD.
Have downloaded and installed all the latest drivers from Gigabyte's web site, but still no "Safely Remove" icon for the SATA2 ports.

I don't know what else to try. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

To be honest I am not sure but having just gone through my bible(mb manual) it appears that the eSATA is controlled by the JMicron chip, so if you can decide which SATA connectors are linked to this chip I would say they would be the ones to use. Maybe someone else knows better.

[k6_user]

Thanks for the reply.
Yes, you are correct. The ESATA ports (Mobo rear panel) are controlled by the JMicron chip - and it is working just fine.

As I understand it, there are three SATA controllers on this Mobo:
- Rear Panel ESATA ports - controlled by the JMicron chip
- GSATA3_6 and 7 ports   - controlled by the Marvell chip (6GB speed)
- SATA2_0 thru 5 ports     - controlled by the AMD South Bridge chip SB710 (3GB speed)

The Rear Panel ESATA ports, and the GSATA3_6 and 7 ports are working just fine as ESATA ports (AHCI mode) providing the "Safely Remove" icon.

However, I am trying to use the Hot-Swappable feature of the SATA2 ports (as per the AMD SB710 Databook) and connect my system case front panel ESATA connector to an onboard SATA2 port. As I said, this partially works; it detects and accesses the ESATA drive when plugged into the case's front panel ESATA connector. but does not provide the "Safely Remove" icon.

To me, it seems like a driver issue, but there may be tweaks needed in WinXP to get this to work that I am not aware of.
Has anyone got this configuration to work?
Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

I am only guessing here but do you get full eSATA compatibility with WinXP? I know it works but I am not sure if all aspects are covered.

[k6_user]

Thats a good question; I have the same concern.
To me, full eSATA compatibility consists of:
- detecting an eSATA drive when plugged in
- providing access to the data on the drive
- providing a way to gracefully eject the eSATA drive without loss of data or corruption  i.e.: the Safely Remove Hardware icon.

As previously stated, I get all three of these capabilities when plugging an eSATA drive into the:
- Mobo rear panel eSATA ports set as AHCI
- the Marvell GSATA3_6 & 7 ports set as AHCI
both under WinXP SP3 32 bit. So I don't see how WinXP could be the problem, unless there are some tweaks that are specific to the SATA2 ports.

I've been corresponding with Gigabyte Support (via email - only way possible). Its difficult to fully understand their "broken English", but it seems like they're saying that it should work.

The AMD SB710 Databook document says it supports Hot-Swap, the GA-770TA-UD3 User Manual says the SATA2 ports support Hot-Pluging in the BIOS section. I've even downloaded/installed the chipset drivers directly from the AMD website - still no joy.  :-(
I'm starting to loose faith.
Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

I answered a similar question to this on the PC Advisor Helproom a while back so it might be worth you checking that out(just do a search on the Forum http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/) and as I explained there the main reason for using the "safely remove hardware" is that of write caching the data to the drive. If you turn this off in Device Manager it shouldn't be so important although it would impinge slightly on the speed but not noticably.

[k6_user]

Thanks,

Yes, I thought about that option, but only as a last resort. If its supposed to work I want to try to get it to work.
I went to that website, searched on "Safely Remove" and again on "Dark Mantis", but couldn't find your article.

Does anyone else have any experience using my configuration?

Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

Here I have located the post for you. I don't know if it will help but it's all information.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=379479&forumid=1

[k6_user]

Good information...
Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

Please post back and let us know if you reach a satisfactory conclusion for other forum users .

[k6_user]

Yes, I had every intention of posting any tips to benefit others with the same problem.
Problem is... I have no tips to post  :-(

My last hope was that I was working with someone in " Newegg VIP" Gigabyte support.
Their reply: "The engineer suggests using the ESATA ports on the back I/O panel"
Some support... :-(   If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have bought a system case with a front panel ESATA port.

If I find success I'll post back here. If not, then know that my next build will be with an ASUS mobo.

Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

Well thanks for keeping us up to date even if there is no immediate answer to your problem. Check back in a few days I will try and find out a bit more info if I can.

[Dark Mantis]

I went through the manual and tried to make some sense of it regarding the eSATA settings. Here are my thoughts.
I reckon that if you put the SATA cable into GSATA3_6/7 and set it up to AHCI to make it hot plugable.
It seems stupid that nobody thought about connecting up a front panel eSATA port to the JMicron chip on the motherboard. It would only have taken an internal connection block.

Onboard ESATA Mode [AHCI]
Onboard SATA2 Mode [AHCI]

OnChip SATA Type(AMD SB710, SATA2_0~SATA2_3 connectors) set to AHCI
OnChip SATA Port4/5 Type (AMD SB710, SATA2_4~SATA2_5 connectors) set to AHCI

Onboard SATA3 controller (Marvell 9128 Chip, GSATA3_6/7 Connectors)
Enables or disables the SATA controller integrated in the Marvell 9128 chip. (Default: Enabled) Onboard SATA3 Mode (Marvell 9128 Chip, GSATA3_6/7 Connectors)Allows you to decide whether to configure the SATA controller integrated in the Marvell 9128 chip to AHCI mode.
AHCI Configures the SATA controller to AHCI mode. Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is an interface specification that allows the storage driver to enable advanced Serial ATA features such as Native Command Queuing and hot plug.