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eSata Ports and Port Multiplier ...
Does anyone know if the eSata ports on the Alienware Auorora and/or Area-51 support Port Multiplier? I am being told by a peripheral vendor that I need this support to get the correct performance out of my device.
jay2010
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April 26th, 2010 15:00
Okay, so I just got off the phone and they tell me Port Multiplier is not supported ... HOWEVER ... I checked and it looks like the Intel X58 Board (I'm running an i7-920 on this particular Aurora) is using a Silicon Image 3132 Chipset. Device Manager confirms the chipset, so I went looking around at SI's site and found this:
SiI3132 also supports all Serial ATA II features, including 3.0 Gbps SATA II transfer speeds, Native Command Queuing, port multipliers with FIS-based switching, programmable output signal swing strengths for longer external cables or extended backplanes, hot plugging, enclosure management and ATAPI device support.
So where do I go from here? I need this functionality to handle my third party peripherals. How do I get this working?
SteveB334
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April 27th, 2010 04:00
Yanno, i had the same exact question, for the M17X. I wanted to buy a nexstar dual hard drive bay. I got absolutely no information from this board, other than "The M17X has one eSata port (w/ USB)", which doesnt help much
jay2010
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April 27th, 2010 06:00
What chipset is the M17X using? Silicon image confirmed it on the Sil3132 which is what is in this particular Aurora.
Right now, my third party vendor is blaming the card and/or interoperation with Windows 7 x64 (ie: it's not supported by the OS). Considering all of this came preloaded and the chipset supports it, I'm not sure how that would make sense -- which is why I came here.
I am hopeful that Chris will chime in. ;-)
SteveB334
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April 27th, 2010 10:00
Chris's FAQ say that the chipset it has is the "Intel PM55 Calpella chipset", and i foudn a chart about the port mulitplier stuff, but it doesnt mention this one. heres the chart
jay2010
58 Posts
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April 27th, 2010 12:00
That's curious. Perhaps they are using differnet hardware now? The chipset on board this particular workstation is the Silicon Image Sil3132. The chart you posted lists that as having Port Multiplier Support. Hmmm ...
This shouldn't be this difficult. :p
SteveB334
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April 27th, 2010 15:00
I think the main problem here is that this whole thing is so new. eSata is relatively new, and hardware specifications are changing nonstop. I'm a little fuzzy myself on what port mulitplying actually means. In my mind, it is somewhat like having a USB hub, and all USB natively supports the ablility to use multiple devices on one port. However, since esata is so new, not all chips have that native support. That's my take on the whole thing.