Configuring and using eSATA (Power Mac G5)

[wiseguy27]

I have a Power Mac dual G5 in which I recently installed a PCI-X eSATA card from EZQuest (ezq.com). I also have a Seagate Freeagent eSATA hard drive (750GB, with USB/FireWire400) that I connected using an eSATA-eSATA cable to the computer. The drivers that came with the EZQ card are installed and am able to see the PCI-X card listed in the System Profiler (I couldn't see the card before the driver was installed). However, I do not see the Seagate hard drive anytime I connect it (tried booting and then connecting, connecting and then booting) - it's not even seen through Disk Utility (I guessed that it may require manual mounting for some reason and went to Disk Utility to confirm if it was even detected). The hard drive works fine on USB or FireWire 400.

Questions:
1. What exactly is required to configure a PCI-X eSATA card on the PM G5?
2. If it's configured correctly, would I see this card under SATA devices as well (apart from the PCI-X devices)?
3. Is there an easy way to find out where the issue is? I do not have another computer where I can stick the PCI-X card. I do not have another eSATA hard drive either.

I'm used to working with Unix commands, Terminal, etc. - so any geeky things I can try are also welcome.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. If anyone here has configured and used eSATA on a PM G5, please do let me know what exactly I should look at (and if I've missed something).

Thanks!

 

[wiseguy27]

You know the Internet is really amazing when you ask a question on this forum, wait for a day for responses, get no responses at all, and *again* go back to Google and search for "configure esata powermac g5" and then have Google point this question as the first link in the search results!!!

Dammit, this is not what I want, Google!!! When will you learn to read people's minds???

 

[InLikeALion]

I JUST got an eSATA setup for my PM G5 DP 2.0. It's a NORCO card, though - I didn't like the ezquest when reviewing them all online - and its connected to a OWC eSATA enclosure.

I didn't see the card after installed until I uploaded the drivers, just like you. Then I could see the card under pci-x in system profiler. But I did have any problems connecting the hdd. At first I thought that i had read either the card or the enclosure didn't support hot-swapping (mounting while the computer is on) so I connected the cable and booted the hdd before turning on the computer. It saw it right on login.

Have you tried booting the drive before booting the computer? Also, not a technical solution, just nancy-drew/voodoo, but does the FreeAgent have a second eSATA port to try? Similarly, have you tried plugging into any of the other ports on the eZQ? Sorry I'm not much help here.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Contact your card vendor. There is nothing intrinsic you have to "do". Other than have functioning drivers correctly installed.

 

[wiseguy27]

After trying to troubleshoot eSATA again, I've almost given up on my current setup. It looks like my Seagate Free Agent Pro drive has a lot of issues with eSATA (several complaints on Seagate forums). I'm trying to get it exchanged.

I would like to have some recommendations for:
1. eSATA PCI-X card for my Power Mac G5 dual 2.3GHz (note that it's PCI-X, not PCI Express)
2. External hard drives with eSATA that work well with the recommended card. The capacity I'm looking for is greater than 750GB. I would also like to have FW800 on the drive as a fall back option (in case eSATA doesn't work).

I'm open to the idea of buying SATA drives and installing them in enclosures (if any external eSATA/FW800/USB enclosures work well with this setup).

Thanks!