>> "Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:E9649B2F-4FC8-4A71-A960-2F3E97E2AF5A@microsoft.com...
>> >I have customer with a Dell Dimension 8400 and a Dell Dimension 8300. We
>> > successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external 350GB drive to the
>> > 8300,
>> > but
>> > the 8400 warns "unrecognized device" when we plug the dirve in to a USB
>> > port.
>> > If we try to boot with the drive attached, Windows halts the boot
>> > process
>> > about 1/3 through the progress bar.
>> >
>> > All other USB devices work properly on all the USB ports.
>> >
>> > I suspect that our Windows XP Pro SP2 is missing some SATA-related
>> > files.
>> > There is nothing in the Device Manager to manage SATA drives. Dell
>> > suport
>> > is
>> > useless and Seagate support is non-existant.
>> >
>> > Any help available?
>> >
>> > Thank you,
>> >
>> > Mike B.
> "Anna" wrote:
>> Mike:
>> 1. You mention that you "successfully connected a Seagate e-SATA external
>> 350GB drive" to the Dell 8300. Do you mean the eSATA external enclosure
>> containing the Seagate HDD was connected as a SATA device? AFAIK, neither
>> the Dell 8300 nor the 8400 models come equipped with an eSATA port. Is
>> the
>> Seagate external enclosure device a combo unit - USB/SATA - and your
>> problem
>> really involves a situation where the device is connected with the USB
>> interface to the Dell 8400?
>>
>> 2. Assuming that is your problem...
>> First of all, we have experienced boot problems when a USB external HDD
>> is
>> connected/powered up at the time of system bootup. In a number of
>> instances
>> we've encountered the problem where the system will fail to boot under
>> those
>> circumstances. Many times it's an erratic experience in that sometimes
>> the
>> system will boot without problems - other times it won't when the USB
>> external HDD is connected/powered up when the system first boots. In a
>> few
>> cases a BIOS update corrected the problem; in other cases we've not found
>> any solution other than connecting/powering up the external USB device
>> after
>> the system boots. Under those circumstances the USB device (usually) is
>> recognized and functions without problems.
>>
>> 3. But if I correctly understand you, your problem is more serious in
>> that
>> the USB external HDD is not detected at all by the system, at least
>> insofar
>> as the Dell 8400 is concerned, the boot problem notwithstanding. Is that
>> the
>> basic problem here?
>>
>> Since you refer to your "customer" I assume you're a technician and are
>> familiar with the usual troubleshooting processes involving
>> non-recognition
>> of USB devices, but I take it nothing has worked. Is that so?
>>
>> But I'm still not clear on your reference to the SATA interface in this
>> situation. We are talking about USB-connectivity and not
>> SATA-connectivity,
>> are we not?
>> Anna
"Mike Burke" <MikeBurke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BBC9BD79-596B-474A-9580-2F28E98C3AE8@microsoft.com...
> You are entirely correct. It is a USB connection. The 8300 sees the device
> as
> a USB mass storage device and the 8400 does not recognize it.
>
> The Seagate site seems to imply that if the system recognizes SATA devices
> (the 8400 comes with SATA ports enabled and an internal SATA drive), then
> the
> drive can be managed through the device manager using the ATA/SATA
> category.
> Again, Seagate help is non-existent, but the docs imply that the drive is
> still eSATA whether connected by USB or Firewire. Since my device manager
> doesn't show a category for Serial ATA, I thought maybe some files are not
> included in my Dell Windowws XP Pro installation. This has been alluded to
> in
> other posts regarding Dell, but the solution seems to refer mostly to the
> motherboard drivers, which are fine.
>
> The drive is detected fine from my Ubuntu live CD, therefore I've
> concluded
> that something about Windows may be the problem. I would be happy if the
> drive was detected as a simple USB mass storage device.
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Mike B
Mike:
I really don't think the SATA interface is, in any way, affecting this
problem.
The root of the problem I believe, is the ongoing problem we've all been
experiencing with USB device recognition - primarily involving USB external
HDDs and USB flash drives - in an XP environment. Time & time again we've
encountered puzzling instances where non-defective USB devices were
unrecognized in a non-defective hardware/driver environment involving the XP
OS.
We've become increasingly convinced that the relatively large number of
problems in this area involving the non-recognition of USB devices that
we've all been experiencing is an indication that there is something
seriously flawed with respect to either the USB 2.0 specifications, possibly
involving quality control issues affecting the manufacturer of these USB
devices as well as supporting components such as motherboards and other
USB-related components. Then too, we've become increasingly suspicious of
the XP OS as it relates to its recognition of and interaction with these USB
2.0 devices.
As I've indicated, we have encountered far too many unexplained problems
affecting detection/recognition of these devices and their erratic
functioning not to believe that something is seriously amiss in this area.
Anyway, I realize that all this isn't helping you to solve your specific
problem, so try this...
You mention that the Seagate device is eSATA capable, so I'm assuming a SATA
HDD is installed in the enclosure. Why don't you try connecting the device
via its SATA data cable to one of the SATA connectors on the motherboard?
See if the HDD is recognized under those circumstances and its data can be
accessed. At least that will give you some indication that there's nothing
amiss with the SATA-connectivity capability of the device nor your Dell
system.
If this does work, yet you still can't achieve USB-connectivity, perhaps you
could consider a SATA adapter that you can install on the computer's I/O
backplane and use the device through that means. Those adapters are
relatively inexpensive and are simple to install. All this assumes, of
course, that this is physically possible with the Dell 8400 case and the
process would be agreeable to your customer.
Anna