Macpro + eSATA dosent work.. WHY ??

[mastersoft]

hello

i have MACPRO 2008 and i try to connect with 1x eSATA cable to external HDD rack( VANTEC NEXTAR -- usb+ESATA) but it DOSENT work .

Macpro dont detect the HDD. If i use USB cable all is perfect , but slow transfer !

PLEASE HELP ?!


thx.

 

[nanofrog]

I'll assume you're using the ODD_SATA ports + eSATA bracket.

OS X does NOT support Hot Swapping. You'd need to have the system OFF, turn on the external drive, then boot the system.

The least expensive way to get that feature, is to use a PCIe based eSATA card that works with OS X. Or you could go with OS X Server, which does have Hot Swap features, but at $500USD, is rather pricey for that function.

 

[mastersoft]

YES ! i start the external HDD first and after i start MACPRO...BUT... OSX and WIN7 dosent detect the extern HDD DRIVE.

strange ?!

I'll assume you're using the ODD_SATA ports + eSATA bracket.

OS X does NOT support Hot Swapping. You'd need to have the system OFF, turn on the external drive, then boot the system.

 

[nanofrog]

YES ! i start the external HDD first and after i start MACPRO...BUT... OSX and WIN7 dosent detect the extern HDD DRIVE.

strange ?!

I've tested the ODD_SATA ports in the '08's.

1. They will NOT work with Windows, no matter what you do (HDD, optical drives, AHCI enabled and disabled). None of it worked.

2. They did work with OS X, including boot. I'm not sure what's off in your case. You could have a bad bracket (cable) or loose connection on the logic board.

The best solution would be to use an eSATA card. There are inexpensive 2 port cards that would work based on the SIL3132 chip (example). Sonnet Tech's card is about the same, but the ports are external only, and it costs more (~$50USD).

Silicon Image drivers
Sonnet drivers (just in case the Silicon Image versions don't work, as there's been issues in the '09 systems where the Sonnet versions are the only ones that work).