isdfe5
Rated PG
|
 Posted: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:49:37 Post Subject: |
 |
|
Progress so far:
I've switched the drive back to SAFE33 mode and I'm formatting both partitions using the USB connection...
Prior to that I downgraded the Intel Matrix Storage Manager software from 8.9.0.1023 to 8.8.0.1009 as there would appear to be a few problems with the latest release (if interested see http://communities.intel.com/thread/5036;jsessionid=2ADC86D1EAEFC8BB335D37EA641BFC85.node5COMS?start=0&tstart=0). Also recommend the SteelVine manager software from Silicon Image (mentioned elsewhere on the site).
Interestingly my enclosure also came with a firmware later than any of the firmwares on the Silicon Image site (although I do have the Sumvision version of the enclosure and not the Mapower one).
Read a good article on SATA port multipliers (and specifially the SiL5744 chip used in the TB32) here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/silicon-image-brings-virtualization-esata,1610-3.html and this still seems to imply that the Intel ICH9DH chip on my mobo is port multiplier aware  . Also in this article it mentions being able to control the drive mode using the SteelVine GUI interface. I suspect it might be possible with this enclosure using the correct jumper settings (which unfortunately aren't spelt out in the manual...).
I've formatted the 2TB BIG partition so far (it took AGES ~24hours) and hopefully this evening the 0.5TB SAFE partition will be formatted. At this point I will turn everything off and try reconnecting using eSata. I suspect I will only be able to see the SAFE partition.
I'll then decide to either carry on using the enclosure via the USB connection, or may buy a PCI card to provide PM-aware SATA ports (which is a shame since the PC already has 3 spare Sata ports).
Chris |
|
