GA-880GM-UD2H: problems with eSATA and/or AHCI driver

[arkeo]

Hi all, I seem to have some sort of problem that I can't fix, I've searched on this forum and tried to google my way out of it but with no luck.

Config:
GA-880GM-UD2H rev 1.3, BIOS successfully updated to F8
Seagate Barracuda on SATA 2_2
Samsung DVD-R on SATA 2_3
Win7 64 Ultimate
Athlon II X3 (no overclocking)
Radeon HD 5570
External WD MyBook Studio (USB2, FW800, eSATA)

Preamble:
I've built this rig recently, and everything was working fine. I though to check the BIOS before setting up Windows and set the SATA controllers to AHCI instead of IDE. Everything worked just fine. I didn't even bother with the Gigabyte drivers on the DVD since everything seemed to be working, after downloading the ATI Catalyst 11.9 for the 5570.
My last PC before this one was a laptop without eSATA, and as such I was using the WD MyBook on USB2; it still worked fine on USB2 on this PC as well. But having eSATA I decided to give it a try and bought the cable to connect the WDMB via eSATA, so far without success.
Keep in mind that since then I've installed all the drivers from the Gigabyte DVD, and then the updated drivers from AMD.

Problem:
Connecting the WDMB via eSATA while the PC was on resulted in nothing at all. Connecting it while the PC was off resulted in a system hang while loading the AHCI drivers, before being prompted to enter the BIOS: the AHCI driver screen (which I had never seen before) recognizes the Barracuda (SMART OK) and the DVD-R, then it hangs. If I wait a lot, it eventually time-outs and Windows starts fine (but the WDMB is still invisible).
As I said, I tried every driver, every update, and I tried all conceivable setting in the BIOS regarding SATA. By the way, since the 5 internal ports are numbered from 0 to 4, can I assume that when the BIOS refers to SATA5 it means the eSATA port or am I wrong?

Before posting here (following the rules) I even tried to load the failsafe settings, but the external HD is still invisible to Windows.
Please note (although I can't verify this now, probably because of the failsafe settings) that the Device Manager correctly identified the eSATA port, or maybe was something like "external AHCI port", so I guess the driver was (somehow) working.

I hope I've explained my problem clearly. Any kind of help or suggestion would be much appreciated!

Tanks...

[Tiger]

You wrote, "I bought the cable to connect the WDMB via eSATA". You also need a power source as eSATA is not powered.
18W Power Adapter for My Book (US model adapter)
http://store.westerndigital.com/store/wdus/en_US/DisplayAccesoryProductDetailsPage/productID.108411100/categoryID.13096000/parid.13092600/catid.13096000

BIOS Setting:
OnChip SATA Port4/5 Type (AMD SB710, SATA2_4 and eSATA connectors)
Default setting is [IDE], this is not in AHCI Mode.

[arkeo]

You wrote, "I bought the cable to connect the WDMB via eSATA". You also need a power source as eSATA is not powered.

I'm not sure I understand you... The WD MyBook Studio has its own power supply, as it is an enclosure with two 3.5 HDDs inside. Did I misunderstand you in some way or were you thinking that it was a USB-powered device?

BIOS Setting:
OnChip SATA Port4/5 Type (AMD SB710, SATA2_4 and eSATA connectors)
Default setting is [IDE], this is not in AHCI Mode.

You mean I should set it to IDE to have eSATA working? I'll try that, but I figured IDE was a sort of fallback mode for SATA devices, and AHCI should be preferred...

I'll post the results here anyway.

Cheers...

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

Tiger was just making sure that you understood that the drive case required an external power source. So no problem.

AHCI is better for ESATA drives especially because as well as the performance increase it also allows Hot Swapping etc so it is better to change it to this mode.

[arkeo]

Hi

Tiger was just making sure that you understood that the drive case required an external power source. So no problem.

No problem at all! 

AHCI is better for ESATA drives especially because as well as the performance increase it also allows Hot Swapping etc so it is better to change it to this mode.

I suspected something like that...

Now that I think of it, there is one last thing I have not tried yet: see whether there's some kind of update (driver and/or firmware) for the external HDD itself. 
It hadn't occurred to me before, since using it on USB2 didn't require anything besides the Windows-provided driver, but maybe on eSATA things are different...

I'll make this last attempt and will post my results here.

[Dark Mantis]

I am not sure if you have already checked but make sure that ESATA is enabled in the BIOS before you start.

[arkeo]

I am not sure if you have already checked but make sure that ESATA is enabled in the BIOS before you start.

Yes I did...

But you know what, it was the WD MyBook that needed a firmware upgrade! After that I simply enabled eSATA on the 5th port, set to AHCI, and bang! Windows for the first time recognized the device and installed the correct drivers! Before this the PC would hang on boot with the drive connected, and Windows wouldn't notice at all if I plugged it in after booting... This is the first time Win made the usual sounds and installed the driver, the only thing I did was upgrade the firmware using the USB2 connection, so I now I'm sure the problem wasn't the motherboard's/BIOS's fault at all!

So, if anyone's having problems connecting a Western Digital MyBook Studio II via eSATA, if your PC hangs on boot before giving you the option to invoke the BIOS while trying to load the AHCI drivers, you must upgrade the drive's firmware! (This was for google   )

Thanks none the less to all of you for your help and support!

Cheers...

[Dark Mantis]

Glad that you managed to find the cause and fix it anyway. That would have been our next suggestion!