how do i enable esata to work on xps420 on new vista 64bit install without actually using raid

by the way.  if there was a way to get my esata port to work without having to reinstall, that would be even better.  i know there was a few old solutions in the dell forums from about a year ago, but those only applied if you had the original dell image installed operating system, and even then the solution is outdated.  it doesnt apply to me because im actually working on a xps420 that has already had a clean install of vista 64bit.  i know i could always buy a pci esata card or one of those extenders that plug into a free sata port on my motherboard and then have an esata port on the back of the tower in one of the open slots, but im trying to see if theres anything i can do to get the esata that already came on my tower to work.  thanks again.

hi dave and thanks for your reply.  i tried everything and unfortunately when i get to the last part and its installing everything it comes up and says not supported by my vista 64bit system and doesnt install/work.  i think if i had vista 32bit it would of worked.  i have also researched online and it seems the only people who were able to get their xps420 esata port to work without an actual raid configuration were those with 32bit systems, or those who worked off of a dell installed image (not those with a clean install).  so after many days of trying, i think im going to just get one of those adapter plates that connects to a free sata port on my motherboard and gives me an esata port on the back of my tower as this seems to be a much easier way around this.  the item im talking about can be seen here at dells website http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Hard_Drives_External/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=A0963871#Overview.  i think this should work with no problem.  so again, thanks for your effort/imput, its appreciated, but for my particular setup with vista 64bit it didnt work.  take care.

bklynlou,

Are you refering to the HotSwap program? That won't install/work?

If you go back to the HotSwap site they have a 64bit version.

I'm using the HotSwap 32bit version with 32bit Vista and HotSwap 64bit version with Win7 64bit on my desktop (Dual Boot).  The HotSwap 64bit version with both 64bit Vista and 64bit Win7 on my laptop (Dual Boot). They are all working with no problems. The desktop is in RAID and no HD in RAID, Matrix Storage Manager has the HD listed as 'Non RAID hard drive'. My laptop is in AHCI, BIOS has no RAID option. 

I don't see how being 64bit would affect this working. Might be something in the xps420 BIOS.

When my desktop was in IDE mode in the BIOS the eSATA port would work, I just couldn't plug and play the external HD, it worked if it was plugged in when I booted and then I had to wait until shutdown to take it out.

The back plate and eSATA to SATA cable on the link is exactely what I added to my desktop, did the steps above and it's all working. click the HotSwap icon sometimes it takes a minute or two to clear the cache then it says "safe to remove hardware".

Hope you get it working, the speed and plug and play are great!

Dave

hi again dave.  i should of been more clear, sorry.  the part that didnt work is when i downloaded the Intel Matrix Manager driver and went to update the Intel(R) ICH9 Serial ATA Storage Controller, it would start processing but then stop and say it couldnt complete because its not compatible with my system.  i even tried finding a different intel matrix manager driver that was more current and actually said vista 64 bit compatible, but the same thing happened.  it must be that my xps420 has something different in the bios or in general compared to your machine that isnt letting this fix work for me.

when i go into my bios, the only options i have are raid autodetect and raid on.  my computer is set to raid autodetect and the esata port doesnt work and the external drive is not even seen.  apparently dell installed the machine that way for people who were buying computers with only one drive and no raid configuration.  if i switch it to raid on (which i assume also means turning on ahci mode which is needed for the esata port to work on these dells), then the esata port does work as i can see the drive in the bios under drives, but then upon booting up windows gets the bsod and cannot boot so i have to put it back to raid autodetect.  dave, i only want to be able to use my external hard drive in esata mode because its much faster than usb or firewire.  right now im using a firewire cable and when i turn my computer on and off the drive goes on and off with no problem acting as if it was an internal drive.  and thats how i want it to be when i get the esata extender back plate item.  when i hook it up via an esata cable using the backplate method which is connected internally directly to a sata port on my motherboard, will the drive still function the same way as its functioning now using my firewire?  in other words, i just want it to go on and off when my computer goes on and off.  i have no need to hotswap/remove/transport it as its just going to sit on my desktop permanently.  so if i have no plans to unconnect and move the external hard drive, can i assume i dont need the hotswap program/ability you mentioned?  or do i still need it for the esata backplate method to work?  thanks again.

thanks for explaining this.  now i know im good to go with the esata back plate setup and i dont need to have the bios on "raid on" and i also dont need the hotswap program since its going to be permanently connected.  i do appreciate all your efforts in helping me resolve and understand these issues.  take care dave and thanks again.

bklynlou,

Your eSATA back plate with the cable going directly to the SATA connection on the mobo will work with your BIOS in any setting, raid autodetect or raid on.

Your computer won't know it's not internal. The external hard drive is actually connected directly to the mobo SATA port. If your external HD is connected and powered up when you boot windows it will see it as another internal hard drive. I was doing this with my BIOS set to IDE (non RAID), if the external is powered and connected  when you boot you will see it, if it's not connected when you boot then your system will not see it. If the external was not connected when I booted windows it started fine, no issues.

If you don't need to hot swap it, you don't need the BIOS set to RAID ON or the HotSwap program. 

It will act as another internal hard drive.

Hope this helps,

Your welcome,

Hope it all works for you,

Dave

Just saw a similar post on a xps435, eSATA port not working. Sounds like it's a driver. 

Look at this:

XPS 435MT with Windows 7, eSATA Port not Working

Good luck

hi again dave and thanks for the followup.  its definitely not a driver issue with the xps420.  its well documented in the forums and even with dell technical support that the earlier xps420's from early 08 that didnt have raid installed from the factory do not have esata capability.  it was a flaw on dells part because they were supposed to install the vista image using raid (thus enabling ahci) and then not use raid once setting everything up.  but when they installed the vista image with raid off, it didnt allow the esata port to work at all.  the only way to get it to work is if i turn raid on, and then i can actually see the drive connected to my esata port in the bios, but you cannot then boot into windows as you get a bsod.  just to double check your driver theory, i searched my service tag for sata drivers and there is only one driver available and i already have it installed.  there is a long thread about this here in case you want to see it.  http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/18786740.aspx?PageIndex=1  in this thread a few people were able to find a work around, but the work around was only good if you still were using the dell factory image.   i wasnt as i had already done a clean install of vista 64.  another work around was to reinstall vista again, but choose raid first.  i didnt want to do this as i had too many programs already installed and didnt want to spend all those hours reinstalling them .  plus the esata plate way was so much easier and just as effective.  by the way, i did receive my esata plate and ive already connected everything and my esata external hard drive is working flawlessly at super fast esata speed and  my computer views my external drive as another internal drive.  thanks again dave, take care.