SMART status cannot be read for ANY drive connected via eSATA or SATA to Studio XPS 8100??

Anyone else encountered this? Any explanation for why this is happening?

I wonder if you have experienced the same oddity when checking HD using diagnostic sw. I tried all sort of combinations:

• Different hard drives (5 differnt drives from Seagate and Western Digital)
• Different software (Seagate SeaTools and Western Digital LifeGuard Diagnostics)
• Different connections (hooking drive internally via SATA or externally via eSATA dock)
• Different eSATA docks (Anker and Thermaltake)
• Different eSATA cables

All point to same result: software shows short SMART status as failed because it "could not read SMART disk information".  This happens consistently regardless of drive I tested. Something prevents reading that SMART status via SATA/eSATA connection even though the drive is healthy and otherwise seems to be operating normally (am able to see/read/modify files without issues.)

Connecting the external dock via USB and then running the software, it does read the SMART status fine. Also, running all other tests on the drive show the drive is fine.

Software shows that drive has failed test and should be replaced but I now realize that "failure" assessment is not because the drive is defective but because the software, for wahtever reason, is simply not able to read that SMART status. Since this works in other computers, I conclude there is something with my Studio XPS 8100 that prevents that SMART status from being communicated to the software.

If I test the drive using another computer, it is able to read the SMART status without issue.

If it matters, Studio XPS 8100 supports SATA II. My drives are SATA III.

Any ideas??

Thanks!