Silicon Image SiI 3132 Softraid Controller - eSATA not working

[DanieP]

Dear all

Wonder if somebody can perhaps assist. I have just bought a Silicon Image SiI 3132 Softraid 5 Controller (PCI-e). It has 2x eSATA ports and 2 SATA ports on it.

I want to use the eSATA ports to connect to a external HDD docking station via eSATA. All the drivers for the Controller installed 100% but when I put a drive into the docking station (linked to one of the eSATA ports), the PC does not even blink an eye!

The docking station has a USB connection as well which is working 100% but I need the eSATA for the transfer speed (video editing).

Long story..does anybody know where I can start looking? I have uninstalled the Controller card, re-installed the drivers..no luck.

 

[Juggy]

Does the card have a bios that you can change when the PC boots? Maybe it needs to be enabled from there or through a software interface like the Intel Matrix storage manager.

 

[Asha'man X]

I've used this controller before, which was on an Intel motherboard. Getting eSata to work was always a pain in the rear. Drivers off and on, fiddling in the BIOS, playing in Windows. All in all it was never a very easy process.

I suspect that Silicon Image don't write very good drivers to interface with Windows properly.

 

[DanieP]

Does the card have a bios that you can change when the PC boots? Maybe it needs to be enabled from there or through a software interface like the Intel Matrix storage manager.

Yes, there is BIOS but one can only setup the RAID from there (the controller card has 2x SATA ports as well (internal).

There is nothing about eSATA in the BIOS (well the version I have).

Thanks for your help!

 

[DanieP]

I've used this controller before, which was on an Intel motherboard. Getting eSata to work was always a pain in the rear. Drivers off and on, fiddling in the BIOS, playing in Windows. All in all it was never a very easy process.

I suspect that Silicon Image don't write very good drivers to interface with Windows properly.

Thanks for your answer! I'll keep on trying though as I really need the eSATA for the speed!