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external SATA HD problem

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by savagcl, 2005/08/05.

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  1. 2005/08/07
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Well done - persistence pays off - deep sighs of relief all round :D

    Partition the drive then format the partitions NTFS or FAT 32 - whatever you want.
     
    PeteC,
    #21
  2. 2005/08/07
    savagcl Lifetime Subscription

    savagcl Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Relief is right! Would have been nice if i had of known how to do it.
    Just have to be more careful about what i'm doing from now on (famous last
    words). :)

    Thanks for the help and support all,
    savagcl

    Now he says "Lets see what i can do next" with an evil smile and a glint in his
    eye!!!! :D
     
    savagcl,
    #22


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  4. 2005/08/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Brings to mind the words of one of your famous Generals - 'I will return' - Gen Mark Clark :D
     
    PeteC,
    #23
  5. 2005/08/08
    savagcl Lifetime Subscription

    savagcl Geek Member Thread Starter

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    WinXP Home, SP2.

    The whole idea of this drive was to make it removable,
    (Hot-plugable) and transportable. So a couple more questions.

    Question 1. How do i mark a SATA HD (in an external enclosure)
    as "removable "?
    Under the Control Panel>Device Manager>HD>Properties>Policies
    There are 3 options, the first 2 are greyed out and the 3rd is checked
    as follows -

    a Optimize for quick removal
    b Optimize for performance
    c X Enable write caching on the disk

    If i uncheck the write cacheing will that action make the other 2
    options available (at what cost? For example, if i flag it as
    "Removable" will XP be assigning different drive letters to it).

    Question 2 - Re-sequencing drive letters.
    I would like to make some sense out of all the drive letter
    assignments.

    I would like to have Disk2 with the letters H,I,J,K,L assigned.
    I would like to have the DVD and CD-RW re-assigned as X and Y.
    The Media Card Readers assigned as : N,O,P,Q.
    Cross-fire And AcrnBK are USB devices and WinXP can handle them
    as it wants.

    Thanks to you folks, this what is current.
    Drive letter assignments -
    Disk1, Location 0 =
    Name---------Drive----Format------------->Change to
    OS-----------[C:]-----NTFS
    DL-UTL-------[D:]-----NTFS
    Music --------[E:]-----NTFS
    Games--------[F:]---- NTFS
    Recvry-------[G:]----- FAT32

    DVD-RAM----[H:]-------------------------->to X
    CD-RW------[T:]--------------------------->to Y

    Disk2, Location 1 =
    I-------------[I:]-----FAT32
    J-------------[J:]-----NTFS
    K------------[K:]-----NTFS
    L------------[L:]-----NTFS
    Q------------[Q:]-----NTFS------------------->to M

    MMC/SD-------[M:]-Media Card Reader------->to N
    CompactFlash--[N:]-Media Card Reader------->to O
    SmartMedia----[O:]-Media Card Reader------->to P
    MS/MSPro-----[P:]-Media Card Reader------->to Q

    Cross-fire------[R:]----NTFS External USB HD
    AcrnBK--------[S:]----NTFS Partition in Crossfire

    Sorry about the alignment, best i could do.

    Advice always welcome,
    savagcl
     
    savagcl,
    #24
  6. 2005/08/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Well, that didn't take long :D

    If I remember correctly this drive is plugged into an extended SATA socket on the back of the case and not to a USB port?

    If that is the case it is not a 'Removable Drive' - hence those options are greyed out. Little bit surprised that you have 3 options - my internal SATA drive (have 2 x PATA = 1 x SATA in the case) has only the first 2 options (both greyed out as it is a fixed drive), the second of which Optimise for Performance includes write caching.

    If you disable write caching you lower disk performance.

    You can change disk letters in Disk Management - right click My Computer > Manage > Disk Management. Set your optical drives to X & Y first. If a letter you want to use is already assigned to another drive change the letter on that drive to, say, Z, change the first drive then change the second back to what you want it to be. Can be a complex task, but is fiddly.

    You may have no control over the Media Card Reader drive letters as they will only show a drive letter when at least one slot is filled with a card.

    As you say the USB devices can be taken care of by Windows - my USB external hard drives come up as R regardless of which is plugged in at any one time. If both are plugged in - one is USB , the other uses the Firewire connection but only one shows up in Device Manager :confused: - not plugged both in before - must investigate - possibly a reboot will solve that. Both the Pen drives show up as S & T

    Edit - put brain into gear - the second USB/Firewire external drive was not plugged in :eek: , remember now it was last used on the laptop.
     
    PeteC,
    #25
  7. 2005/08/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    BTW, guys ....

    What happens when all the drive letters of the alphabet are used up?

    With everything plugged in bar my camera I have only 3 drive letters left - V, W & Z
     
    PeteC,
    #26
  8. 2005/08/08
    charlesvar

    charlesvar Inactive Alumni

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    Hi Pete,

    Wonder if Vista will go to two character drive letters or numbers - if it doesn't it should.

    Regards - Charles
     
    charlesvar,
    #27
  9. 2005/08/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Hi Charles
    Well I could explore that possibility as I am running Beta 1 on this m/c - only needs a few more partitions on the SATA drive to prove the point in XP, in which I now believe it to be 26 drives, and Vista. Might just try it:)
     
    PeteC,
    #28
  10. 2005/08/08
    savagcl Lifetime Subscription

    savagcl Geek Member Thread Starter

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    PeteC,
    "this drive is plugged into an extended SATA socket on the back of the case and
    not to a USB port? "     - Correct.

    Thanks, i thought it was possible but learning fast that it dont hurt to check
    which side of the limb your sitting on before sawing off the limb.

    I got instructions with the external case that shows how to remove the SATA
    from the system in XP but it must be a different version of XP because my
    version does not show the same options for removing!!!
    Instructions i got:
    XP - Step1 - Click on Start, Right-click on My Computer, choose Properties,
    select Hardware and open Device Manager.
    Step 2 - Click on Disk Drives and highlight the SATA HD and choose "Remove ".
    Ha! There is no "Remove" there.
    Maybe they meant Disable or uninstall??

    One slight correction, all the media card readers show (all the time) as a HD
    regardless if a card is in or not. Shows in My Computer and Explorer constantly.

    Wonder if after all 26 letters are used, it would switch to numbers? I doubt
    any special characters because of windows conflicts. In the tweakUI it only
    shows letters possible. If you try it, would like to know results.

    thanks,
     
    savagcl,
    #29
  11. 2005/08/08
    savagcl Lifetime Subscription

    savagcl Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Results of Drive letter re-assignments -
    Disk1, Loc 0 =
    Name Drive Format
    OS--------------[C:]------NTFS
    DL-UTL--------[D:]------NTFS
    Music----------[E:]------NTFS
    Games--------[F:]------NTFS
    Recvry---------[G:]------FAT32


    Disk2, Loc 1 =
    I-----------------[H:]------FAT32
    J----------------[I:]------NTFS
    K---------------[J:]------NTFS
    L---------------[K:]------NTFS
    Q---------------[L:]------NTFS

    MMC/SD----------[N:]------Media Card Reader
    CompactFlash--[O:]------Media Card Reader
    SmartMedia------[P:]------Media Card Reader
    MS/MSPro-------[Q:]------Media Card Reader

    Cross-fire--------[R:]------NTFS External USB HD
    AcrnBK----------[S:]------NTFS Partition in Crossfire

    DVD-RAM-------[X:]
    CD-RW-----------[Y:]

    Changing the Media Card Readers was not a problem. I tested with my
    Canon Picture Memory Card.

    Advice always welcome,
    savagcl
     
    savagcl,
    #30
  12. 2005/08/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Glad to see your got your drive lettering sorted out - established via Google that only 26 drive letters are available in XP - the whole alphabet. Might get round to seeing if that has changed at all in Vista Beta 1.
    You are correct :) Suggest you try 'disable' rather than 'uninstall' as the latter will uninstall the drivers.
     
    PeteC,
    #31
  13. 2005/08/08
    savagcl Lifetime Subscription

    savagcl Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Sounds good to me, PeteC.
    That way i can still transport it to another SATA capable PC and just plug it in.

    Thanks, Guy, Have a good one!
    savagcl
     
    savagcl,
    #32
  14. 2005/08/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    The drivers are on the host computer - in the OS, not on the drive itself. You will need to install the drivers on the other SATA capable PC too.
     
    PeteC,
    #33
  15. 2005/08/08
    savagcl Lifetime Subscription

    savagcl Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Not sure i understand your last (above) msg....

    My daughter already is running a single SATA HD and she has 2 plugs for SATA
    on the motherboard.... I'll have to get her a SATA pass-through plug in for her
    PC.

    Seagate HD's dont have drivers, they depend on the Motherboard, (intel) or
    windows. Or they are plug and play.
    Except maybe if you have a 3rd party SATA controller card (on thin ice here
    since i dont have a controller plugin card).

    savagcl
     
    savagcl,
    #34
  16. 2005/08/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    That should be fine - the point I was making - not clearly :( was that a SATA capable PC is only capable once the drivers have been loaded - which they obviously are on your daughter's PC.

    My PC is capable of supporting SATA drives in that it has SATA sockets/controller on the motherboard, but it was necessary to install the motherboard drivers before the SATA drive was recognised - the OS's run off PATA drives. Sorry to confuse you :)
     
    PeteC,
    #35
  17. 2005/08/08
    savagcl Lifetime Subscription

    savagcl Geek Member Thread Starter

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    No problem, PeteC That clears it up.

    Being confused is a state of mind for me but it gives the right to ask dumb
    questions.... :) Theres a bright side to everything, just have to look real
    hard sometimes.

    savagcl
     
    savagcl,
    #36
  18. 2005/08/08
    jaylach

    jaylach Inactive

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    I live in the state of confussion! I just use Florida for mail... :D
     
    jaylach,
    #37
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