how do i setup esata

[canthackit]

hi
i know there's another thread of mine about this subject but that was a USB external device.

this one now is an esata i've tried all connections but the DB is just not recognising the HDD.

can somone please run through the whole procedure in layman's terms if poss.

thanks & regards: canthackit

[sonic1]

Not tested on my 800 but last night I plugged it into the 500HD, powered it via a USB hub and away it went.
Just had to initialize it via the harddisk menu.

[echelon]

from what I remember , when I used an esata the dm800 recognised it and I had to format it using the menu , like sonic said

esata is only the use of an external socket instead of an internal connection , the sata bit is the same , but connections etc are different , at the end of the day when you connect a sata hdd externally , you connect sata to esata , and esata back to sata again , effectively maintaining sata all the way

[canthackit]

blimey echelon
i said layman's terms :respect-023:

regards: canthackit

[canthackit]

so this is how i've been connecting it.

connect the internal sata connector to the motherboard, connect the esata lead into the back of the DB and the other end into the esata caddy, rebooted into flash image not recognised.

connected usb power lead using only connector, and of course left the easta connection as is, rebooted...zilch.

left the esata connection as is, connected 5v adapter can't get any power, still nothing.

so there i am still stuck.

regards: canthackit

[echelon]

well for one thing I thought we were talking about esata , not usb , so cant see where the usb part comes in

let me put this in simpler terms if I can

if you have a sata hdd , you can connect this directly to the internal sata cable connection point , then you power up the sata hdd using 5v AND 12v power if its 3.5 inch , or maybe just 5v power if its 2.5 inch ), using some suitable source ( I used an old AT psu from an old pc at first , and later I used one of those mains adapters bought as a kit off e bay to connect dvd drives , cd drives etc that come with a sata/ide to usb adapter as well )

so this external sata I used was a standard 3.5 inch sata hdd ( 250 gig at first ) from a standard pc tower , connected directly to the internal sata hdd connection point , and powered externally from a psu source. this worked and the dm saw it and could initialise and use it ok

I then purchased a sata to esata hdd cable from e bay , and connected the esata socket with the short red sata ribbon internally on the dm800 , which then meant I had converted from sata to esata on the dm , so I then connected the external sata hdd to the back of the dm800 using the newly purchased esata to sata hdd external cable ( internally it was already using the standard dmm option ). the hdd was still externally powered and at a standard R - 5v , BLK - eth , BLK - eth , Y - 12v as usual, the sata hdd was in a metal caddy , already bought from e bay

so I used various pc stuff I already had and some purchases from e bay to make a 3.5 inch hdd into an external esata , powered externally. I also used the AT psu from the old pc to power the dm800 with the 12v aswell , which was switched , and a better psu than the original , albeit noiser too

then I decided to put the whole thing into a htpc case , as shown on this forum last year , and I dispensed with the esata , leaving it all as sata , same as you would with an internal 2.5 inch lappy hdd inside the dm800

since then its been refined into an old sly plus box , again shown on the forum recently


so to recap , esata is only external sata , hence the E in the title , its still basically sata , just different plugs , thats all

so for your esata to work it has to be seen by the device used ( try it in a pc for starters ) , it has to be powered as well ( and a 3.5 inch sata hdd uses 5v and 12v power , same as any other 3.5 inch pc device )

so a fully powered esata hdd , correctly connected , would be seen by the dm800 as a sata hdd connected , doesnt matter if its 2.5 inch 5v power , or 3.5 inch 12v and 5v power

the moral of the story is dont ask technical questions and expect non-technical answers when its a technical subject ;)

[sonic1]

@ canthackit

You did ask :rofl:

[canthackit]

wasn't technical.....:smash:

anyways it's a 2.5 HDD been using it internaly ok, and yes it is a ESATA connection that i'm setting up, or trying to ;)

the USB and power part comes in upon powering the thing, one lead has a twin USB connectors to a 5v Power connector.

so the USB part is soley to power the device, my power adapter a relic from the elvis proggy day's unfortunately aint having none of it either so i'm punting around looking a suitable device.

Oh and the bloody thing still aint being recognised :ack2:

forgot to mention the HDD is in a caddy with an ESATA, Mini USB, and 5v power connector plus a slider to select either USB or ESATA

thanks for the replies anyways:bowing-036:

regards: canthackit

[echelon]

ok , well its not the drive if you were using it internally , and I assume it still works internally too , which rules out the power and sata lead from the internal connector points

so to use this externally , you would connect the rear backplate esata socket to the internal sata point using the dmm supplied connector , which then means the internal sata is converted to an external esata socket on the rear backplate

from here you connect a suitable lead , so initially connect and esata plug to sata plug onto the actual 2.5 inch hdd , and power it from the internal power point , and it should work , proving the dmm supplied converter lead is ok

now connect the esata to esata plug to plug lead to your obtained external caddy , plug a suitable power connector to the caddy and ensure the drive spins up , and at this point the dmm should still see the 2.5 inch hdd , like before

if it doesnt , its likely that your power arrangements are somewhat wanting , as I doubt that the sata or esata leads or connections would be faulty

the caddy itself may have faulty connections , faulty circuitry , or a faulty power arrangement , and I am not sure an old elvis psu is useful here either

chances are you need 5v and 12v , and if the internal power lead is red/blk/blk/yellow then its 5v , 12v and earths that you require , not just 5v and not just 12v either

[canthackit]

ok thanks eche

got it working i used the ESATA to ESATA lead for the data transfer and i found a spare 5v 3 pin plug to mini USB which luckly enough fitted the caddy, nothing worked at first so pulled both leads connected the power first then holding the caddy i felt the HDD spin up, so i connected the ESATA lead no need to reboot looked in Device Manager Hey Presto my HDD everything intact.:bravo-009:

so my hearfelt thanks to you and sonic, i couldn't have done it without your help.:podium-016:

thanks & regards: canthackit

[echelon]

sounds about right there m8

glad you sorted it by reading and following the technical help ;)

[canthackit]

LOL

yeah right :king-041: