New Ultra 4 RNDU400 and 3TB Drives

StephenB wrote:
It comes with sata<->sata, what I use is esata<->sata

But isn't eSata the same as Sata except that the former is an external connection (external Sata)?

Yes. My laptop has an esata input, and the drive is sata. So I need an esata->sata cable to connect to my laptop.

Hi StephenB,

I received the Sata/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter and connected the Sata HDD (Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001) via USB 2.0. Windows 7 Pro 64-bit SP1 didn't recognize it one bit. Tested both drives -- negative. Should I wait for the Sata to eSata cable and connect the HDD directly to my eSata port? Based on you experience, will this work? Sorry for being impatient. I've had the ReadyNAS for a week now and the drives and I couldn't do anything until I update the drives' firmware. At leas now it's down to the Sata-to-eSata cable. Getting antsy. :-)

What application within Windows 7 did you use to see if it recognized the drives? If you used Computer or Windows Explorer, they will only recognize FAT or NTSF formatted drives. They will not 'see' a non formatted drive or a Linux formatted drive. The drives should be visible in the boot sequence listing of devices (typically covered up by the splash screen). The best way to have a Windows 7 PC to see the drive is to open Disk Management. Start -> Control Panel -> System and Security, then click on Create and format hard disk partitions. (Note: despite the heading, you will just be looking for information rather than actually formatting the drive). It will show the partitions, but will not recognize the formatting or data.

ESATA is not quite the same as SATA, but the difference is the connector and the cable. The actual eSATA connector has the key horizontal on one end of the plug, while SATA has it turned downward to form an elongated L laying on it's side. Electrically, they are the same, connecting directly to the PC's SATA controller. Most of the eSATA connectors on laptops are eSATA/USB connectors.

Cmaker3 wrote:

Hi StephenB, I received the Sata/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter and connected the Sata HDD (Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001) via USB 2.0. Windows 7 Pro 64-bit SP1 didn't recognize it one bit. Tested both drives -- negative. Should I wait for the Sata to eSata cable and connect the HDD directly to my eSata port? Based on you experience, will this work? Sorry for being impatient. I've had the ReadyNAS for a week now and the drives and I couldn't do anything until I update the drives' firmware. At leas now it's down to the Sata-to-eSata cable. Getting antsy. :-)

Try downloading SeaTools, and see if it can find the drive. Also I recommend Acronis Drive Monitor (freeware, and good for looking at SMART stats).

If you want to see if Windows is finding the drive, you can run the control panel "computer management" app (try right-clicking on "computer" on the start menu and select "Manage"). The Disk Management section should see the drive, but it will not see any partitions.

You should be able to find the disk using either USB or the Esata->Sata cable - though of course it is faster with Sata.

I may have something more serious cuz I still couldn't see the drive with SeaTools or Acronis Drive Monitor or discmgmt.msc. Either I've got a defective unit or something's wrong with my laptop or Windows. Will check with one of my spare (working) IDE drives.

If the USB adapter is bad, then the sata->esata cable should still work.

A power supply failure is another possibility. Is the drive powering up? You should be able to hear it. Alternatively if you hold it and twist your wrist, you should feel the resistance due to the angular momentum (like a gyroscope or flywheel, it resists a change in orientation).

Yes, the adapter is working. I used an old 80GB IDE drive and it was seen right away. I have Intel Rapid Storage Technology in my system. Does it have to do with any of this? When I open it it shows nothing but just 1 drive and 1 DVD burner inside the laptop. Maybe I should go take a look at the Seagate website.

I have the rapid storage technology also, so it is not a factor.

Can you tell me exactly what you do when you "open it"?

You won't see the drive listed under "computer" because it is not formatted for Windows. But Seatools and the windows disk management should both see it, if they are not seeing it then likely the drive is dead.

Also when you plug in the drive the first time, Windows will install a disk driver for it - there should be a notification to that effect that is shown in the system tray (on the right of the start bar near the windows date/time).

I hook up the adapter to the drive (w/ the switch off). Then I attach the Sata-to-USB cable, then plug it into the USB port. At this time, the red light on the adapter comes on. Then I turn the switch on the adapter's power supply to ON.

Uh-oh... as I was typing the above steps and doing it, I was surprised to see the notification from the system tray that the device driver has been installed and device is ready for use. This never happened before. Was it because of the IDE drive I tested earlier that caused the adapter to "come alive"? Can't tell.

The harddrive doesn't appear in My Computer though, as you mentioned above. So I will run SeaTools which earlier (since yesterday and including the windows disk mgmt utility) never saw.

Hmmm... I guess I should now proceed to updating the firmware which I saw on SeaTools as CC4B. The latest I think is CC4H.

Thanks for staying on my case. I really can't say why computers act the way they do but I believe at times that these things have a mind of their own. :-)