W10 Recognizes My External SATA II Drive As SATA I - Why ?


  1. Posts : 783
    Win10 Pro - x64 latest build dual boot w/Win 11 Pro
       #1

    W10 Recognizes My External SATA II Drive As SATA I - Why ?


    I solved a similar problem in Win 7 by uninstalling an Advanced "6G" Storage Controller and letting Windows install its generic driver but I have no idea what to do in Win 10 because of the dumbed down way everything behind the scenes is displayed, which appears not to have anything remotely resembling such a thing.
    Anyone else having similar issues? Or am I doomed with my now-almost-extinct 2009 Alienware machine?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 13,896
    Win10 Version 22H2 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home
       #2

    Ex_Brit said:
    I solved a similar problem in Win 7 by uninstalling an Advanced "6G" Storage Controller and letting Windows install its generic driver but I have no idea what to do in Win 10 because of the dumbed down way everything behind the scenes is displayed, which appears not to have anything remotely resembling such a thing.
    Anyone else having similar issues? Or am I doomed with my now-almost-extinct 2009 Alienware machine?
    A few questions come to mind: is the drive plugged into a eSATA port on the computer and its cable rated as SATA II? Or is it in an External USB drive case that is plugged into a USB 2.0 port or maybe a USB 3.0 port?
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 783
    Win10 Pro - x64 latest build dual boot w/Win 11 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Sorry. It's a LaCie 3TB eSATA drive with a high speed 6Gb/s (as advertised, 80-wire I believe) cable plugged into my eSATA port. It's new and a replacement for a very ancient LaCie SATA II that died on me which worked fine for years using this cable. The BIOS is set to AHCI. The drive works as it should in Win7 but in my 2 X Win10 multi-boots the Post screen sometimes indicates SATA I when I'm booting between the 2 W10 OS's. It may be a false warning because Win 10 makes it impossible to really check the status of ATA channels.
    Here's a pic of Device Manager with the drive highlighted and the relevant sections expanded.

    W10 Recognizes My External SATA II Drive As SATA I - Why ?-capture.jpg
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 783
    Win10 Pro - x64 latest build dual boot w/Win 11 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #4

    I think I've solved it - sort of, and this is rather complicated.
    I boot between systems a lot and when not in use the computer is powered completely off. The old external drive had a 3-way power switch: On, Auto and Off. Auto worked just fine for all systems and all scenarios.
    The new drive only has On and Off and the literature says that On is supposed to be Auto, but I've watched the drive sometimes power itself back on long after I turned my machine off. So....bear with me.....
    If I power the drive off when shutting down the PC or booting between systems then power the drive back on prior to the "Post" screen, all is well and it is detected every time as SATA II.
    Perhaps a handshake issue in which case I will try another cable as you suggested, when I can get one.

    Regarding the ATA speed, I realised that if I tell Device Manager to show hidden devices, then all the channels display and they all seem to be Ultra DMA Mode 5 or 6, so that tells me things are normal...as normal as things can be in Windows. ;-)
    Last edited by Ex_Brit; 11 Jun 2016 at 13:45.
      My Computer


 

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