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47409
E6500 eSata Windows 7 64
Has anyone ever gotten the eSata port on an E6500 to work with Windows 7 64 Pro ?
Here are the tests that I've done:
Note: bios set to AHCI prior to installing windows
eSata Drive: Cavalry eSata / USB drive
1. Laptop 1: E6500, Windows 7 Pro 64, Intel Matrix Storage Manager 8.9.2.1002
eSata drive plugged into eSata port on E6500
Result: eSata drive not recognized, hdd light stays on forever
2. Laptop 1 + Docking Station
eSata drive plugged into eSata port on docking station
Result: eSata drive works perfectly
At this point, I suspected hardware problem on E6500. I built a new boot disk with Vista Business 32:
3. Laptop 1 (2nd disk): E6500, Vista Business SP1 32, Intel Matrix Storage Manager 8.8.0.1009
eSata drive plugged into eSata port on E6500
Result: eSata drive takes a few minutes to install drivers, but then it works
So now it appears to be a software / driver problem in Windows 7 64 or Intel Matrix Storage Manager. Has anyone gotten this configuration to work?
Yottabyte
139 Posts
0
February 17th, 2010 20:00
I was able to find this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=349173
chrismaeda
3 Posts
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February 18th, 2010 07:00
Thanks, but I think that's a solution for a different problem.
chrismaeda
3 Posts
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February 21st, 2010 08:00
Update: Issue was resolved by upgrading to Intel Rapid Storage Manager 9.5.0.1037. This version of the driver is not available from the Dell web site. Hopefully Dell will fix this soon.
(Service Request 811787465)
Rebuilt the disk using different OS's and tested the eSata:
Vista Business SP1 x32, Intel Matrix Storage Manager 8.8 from Dell website----> eSata works
Windows 7 Pro x32, Intel Matrix Storage Manager 8.9.2.1002 from Dell website ----> eSata works
Windows 7 Pro x64, Intel Matrix Storage Manager 8.9.2.1002 from Dell website ----> eSata does not work on laptop, does work on docking station eSata port
Windows 7 Pro x64, Intel Rapid Storage Manager 9.5.0.1037 from x-drivers.ru ----> eSata works
Dell please make the 9.5.0.1037 (or later) drivers officially available.
piotrpr
9 Posts
0
February 22nd, 2010 02:00
Windows 7 Pro x64, Intel Matrix Storage Manager 8.9.2.1002 from Dell website - eSata works for me on Windows 7 Pro x64 with external Seagate FreeAgent drive and external 2,5" HDD case, there must be some incompatibility with your drive and system.
From what I found it seems that each version of rapid / matrix manager has its own issues and 9.5 is considered by Intel a beta quality (?) software.
guitar-picker
14 Posts
0
December 20th, 2014 14:00
Like you, I also wanted to enjoy the 3.0 GB/S speeds of eSATA. After buying a new 'hybrid' (solid state plus) 1TB Dell HD for my E6500, boosting memory to 8GB, and installing Win 7 Ultimate, I put the original Dell HD in a third-party external eSATA docking station from Fry's Electronics, and connected it to my E6500's eSATA/USB port with the included eSATA cable. The Dell can indeed find the eSATA drive, and can read/write to it, but only at a max of about 78 MB/Sec. Then I tried copying a 4GB file from my new 'hybrid' 1TB HD to itself, and discovered that the new HD also only moves data at about 78 MB/Sec!
I'm very surprised by this - and have no clue whether or how the data transfer speeds of these two drives can be increased. The computer seems to work fine, I'm just shocked at the numbers I observed. I checked the bios and from what I can see, eSATA is (obviously) enabled.
I don't know what an Intel Rapid Storage Manager is, nor whether it might have anything to do with this speed issue....nor how to update it...I'm beginning to think that playing with older technologies like the Latitude E6500 is pretty much an exercise in self-frustration. For example, finding any documentation on Dell's website, explaining how to use the USB/eSATA port, is hopeless. My time would have been better spent simply purchasing a brand new Windows PC with USB 3.0 plus other, even faster ports. Or maybe a new Mac.....
guitar-picker
14 Posts
0
February 2nd, 2015 08:00
As a follow-up to my last post: I didn't get eSATA speeds because since the Latitude E6500's port in question is an eSATA\USB 2.0 port, simply plugging an eSATA drive into that port won't make it work like an eSATA port...it still defaults to USB 2.0. To 'activate' eSATA on that port requires BIOS setting changes, but in looking for instructions on that, I only came across posts by frustrated users who ended up with inability to boot from the HD after making those bios changes. Some suggested that you'd first need to wipe the drive, make the BIOS changes, then format and rebuild the whole drive, just to get it to function at eSATA speeds! This was all too harrowing-sounding so I abandoned the effort. I do not know whether Dell can't provide clear instructions on how to do this....or maybe they do provide such instructions, but they can't be found. Other posters crabbed about getting poor or unknowledgeable 'advice' from 'Dell Support' when pursuing this question. However, since the Latitude E6500 model is six years old now, maybe nobody at Dell knows, anymore. If I find any more answers, I'll post them here.
guitar-picker
14 Posts
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February 2nd, 2015 08:00
On my Win 7 64-bit Dell Latitude E6500, a full search thru Device Manager fails to show any driver named "Intel Matrix Storage Manager" on my particular system. This leads me into uncharted waters: Should I try to find it, somewhere online? Once I find it, how do I install it? What happens to my HD if I do this? Am I to assume that once two drivers exist for my HD, going into my HD's properties in Device Manager I can just tell my system to use the new Intel driver instead of the old one? If this results in no bootable HD, how do I recover from that total catastrophe?
Jonlev
1 Message
0
June 23rd, 2015 13:00
After bumping my head against this with two Dell laptops over 18 months, I now have a reliable solution.
Use the small utility with minimal footprint : HotSwap! which you will find on the web and download. It comes in 2 versions, 32 or 64 bit.
...and finally, it is NOT a Dell problem !
It is a problem caused by the inadequate Windows eject utility compounded by many Windows programs both by Microsoft and by the many 3rd party producers. These do not want to let go of the drive to allow ejection. And if you can get it to eject, then it won't recognise when you replug it.
HotSwap! resolves both these issues. If Windows does not recognise the replug, then you use the function (part of HotSwap!) to "Scan for hardware changes". This latter function simply invokes a built-in Windows function which is part of its "Disk Manager" to "Rescan disks".
I nearly tore my hair out with my first M4800 with Dell replacing the motherboard twice and having me rebuild the hard drive software installation from scratch, all taking many hours of my time and months of usage interruption. There were all sorts of theories from Dell why it wouldn't work, such as inadequate current (amps) supply from the combined data/power plug-in port (eSATA/USB) which they claimed would not affect a desktop, and others. After the hard drive rebuild, ejection and replugging worked fairly well, but not always.
That laptop was stolen. I then bought another ??!! Same problem but this time I went straight for the hard drive rebuild. Ejection/replugging was very unreliable. I searched further and found that this was a common problem across many hardware platforms.
A kind person created HotSwap! and made it available.