Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: Mark Knecht <markknecht@×××××.com>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Questions about SATA and hot plugging.
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:58:38
Message-Id: AANLkTinKWjNa-F5k5hasXhiCv9uvCW4Z52=Dgo4Kj-Si@mail.gmail.com
In Reply to: [gentoo-user] Questions about SATA and hot plugging. by Dale
1 On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 8:42 AM, Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
2 > Hi,
3 >
4 > I got one more hard drive to move over and it is SATA.  Question one, can
5 > the new mobo's do hot plugging for SATA drives?  I have a plug on the front
6 > of the case and was wondering since it is on the front if they can be hot
7 > swapped or if I need to shutdown then hook it up.  If I can hot swap, where
8 > does the power come from?  I know the drives I put in the case have a
9 > separate power connection.  How's that work exactly?  Is that just for
10 > external drives that have their own power?
11 >
12 > I have two dries in here already.  One I bought and one that was donated.
13 >  This is what hdparm reports:
14 >
15 > fireball ~ # hdparm -tT /dev/sda
16 >
17 > /dev/sda:
18 >  Timing cached reads:   6788 MB in  2.00 seconds = 3395.32 MB/sec
19 >  Timing buffered disk reads:  328 MB in  3.01 seconds = 109.06 MB/sec
20 > fireball ~ # hdparm -tT /dev/sdb
21 >
22 > /dev/sdb:
23 >  Timing cached reads:   6736 MB in  2.00 seconds = 3367.58 MB/sec
24 >  Timing buffered disk reads:  324 MB in  3.01 seconds = 107.69 MB/sec
25 > fireball ~ #
26 >
27 > Is that about normal?  The mobo is 3Gbs/sec and the drives are too.
28 >  Shouldn't they be faster than that?  I read at one time that SATA is
29 > basically plug up and it works.  Just checking if there is a setting I need
30 > to change.
31 >
32 > Related to the above, in the BIOS, it is set to Native IDE.  Should that be
33 > set to AHCI instead?  Is that why it is slower than expected?  Is that good
34 > to go with Linux as well?  I have this set in the kernel and built in as
35 > usual:
36 >
37 > AHCI SATA support
38 >
39 > Let me know if I am somewhat right on anything.  Oh, I decided to name the
40 > new rig fireball instead of lightening.  ;-)  You may notice that in the
41 > paste up above.
42 >
43 > Thanks.
44 >
45 > Dale
46
47 The SATA spec allows for hot plugging, so technically yes, but it also
48 assumes the drives are in some sort of container so that power and
49 signals are applied at the right time.
50
51 The plug on the front of your case is probably eSATA which looks
52 similar but has some small changes. What you want to do is figure out
53 which of your MB SATA ports are eSATA compatible and then run one of
54 those channels to the connector at the front inside your case.
55 Typically SATA drives are converted to eSATA external drives by
56 putting them in a case you can get at most computer shops for < $30 or
57 so.
58
59 Hope this helps,
60 Mark

Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-user] Questions about SATA and hot plugging. Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com>
Re: [gentoo-user] Questions about SATA and hot plugging. Stroller <stroller@××××××××××××××××××.uk>