Re: removable setting


I want to remove a "Hot Swappable" drive as if it was a USB memory
stick

--Tony


Todd (or Tony):
First of all, don't be too concerned about potential responders to your
query (whatever it might be) "go(ing) off on a tangent". It's really best
to provide as much relevant & detailed information as you can re your
problem and objective(s) together with the specifics of the software
and/or hardware involved. Frankly, it's when the poster *doesn't* provide
this kind of information that causes the responders to "go off on a
tangent".

Anyway, back to your problem...

If your SATA HD has been designated by its manufacturer that it has
"hot-swappable" (more precisely, "hot-pluggable") capability, *and* its
controller provides similar capability, then the drive is hot-pluggable
in the sense that you can connect or disconnect the drive while the
system is running without data loss or corruption or damage to the drive.
While there's no need to access Device Manager or other internal XP
process, the user should check his/her BIOS to determine if there's any
element that bears on hot-plugging (hot-swapping) and set that element
accordingly.

In addition to the preceding, the SATA specifications for "hot-plugging"
call for:
1. Power to the SATA HD be through its 15-pin SATA power connector and
*not* the Molex connector, and,
2. That the power and signal/data cables be *simultaneously*
connected/disconnected.
It would seem that the only practical way this could be achieved is
through the use of mobile racks designed for SATA HDs whereby the
removable tray can simply be inserted or removed in the rack to effect
these simultaneous connects/disconnects.

One other consideration...
SATA native hot plug as defined by the specification requires the use of
the 15-pin SATA power connector, *not* the 4-pin Molex power plug
commonly used to connect IDE devices and frequently found on SATA HDs
alongside the SATA power connector. Furthermore, the specification also
calls for a requirement that the power signal cables be
connected/disconnected *simultaneously* in order for native SATA hot
plugging to be supported. (In our case, we accomplish this by mounting
the external SATA HDs in the removable tray/caddy in mobile racks so a
simple push or pull on the removable tray's handle simultaneously
connects/disconnects both the power/signal cables.)

I have to admit that every SATA-IO HD (the 3 Gb/s data transfer
interface) that we've worked with for nearly a year now (including WD,
Hitachi, Samsung, and Seagate, all SATA-IO drives) has proven to be
hot-pluggable. I would add that in many instances while experimenting
with the hot-plugging capability of the afore-mentioned SATA drives while
they were connected as external devices, we've connected/disconnected the
drives without regard to any simultaneous connection or disconnection of
the data & power connectors and we suffered no ill effects that we're
aware of in terms of data loss/corruption or damage to the drives. At
least none to date. Even in cases where the SATA HD received its power
through the Molex plug we didn't run into any problems, but we really did
not do extensive testing using that
configuration. In nearly every case power was applied to the SATA HD
though its 15-pin power connector.
Anna


Hi Anna,


"Todd and Margo Chester" <ToddMargoChester@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e2ourg$936$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Although you did not answer the question, I do appreciate your
detailed explanation of how things work. Do you know the answer?
If it helps, here is a more detailed description of my system:

My system is also multiboot. My backup drive, the one in question
here, has all the gismos needed to pull it in and out (hot swap
carrier, hot swap adapter). As a matter of fact, it is very easy to
remove and swap drives under Cent OS 4.1 (Linux).

To remove:
umount /backup
turn the key off and pull the drive out of the carrier

To mount:
insert the drive and turn the key on
mount /backup

It is a total pain in the *** to have to power off W2K-Pro and
XP-Pro to swap the drive.

What I want is for this drive to act as a removable drive,
like a USB memory stick. That way I can click on the removable
drive ejector in the task bar and tell it to eject my removable
drive. W98 had such a setting in device manager. It seems to
have disappeared in W2K & XP. (P.S., I suspect that "removable"
can be forced as a registry setting, but ...)

--Todd

Todd:
As I previously indicated - it would have been much better if, in your
original posting, you had furnished the details re your system and your
objective, rather than a generalized query that really begs for more
information before an intelligent response can be made that will be useful
to you.

Be that as it may, here we are...

As I previously indicated, if the SATA HD is specified to be "hot-pluggable"
and the SATA controller to which it is connected is also specified to be
"hot-pluggable", then the device is "hot-pluggable". Again, this means the
device can be connected/disconnected while the system is running with no
presumed data corruption/data loss or damage to the drive. Again, please
review what I've previously indicated re the *precise* specifications for a
SATA HD to be hot-pluggable.

If your SATA HD/controller combination meet the specifications as indicated
(as I presume they do from your latest comments), then the device is
"hot-pluggable". There is no need, as I previously stated, to invoke any
setting in Device Manager. There is no need to use the Safely Remove
Hardware icon in the Notification Area (I assume that's what you were
referring to as the "removable drive ejector"). You can simply disconnect
the drive by turning the keylock of your "carrier" to the OFF position and
remove the drive from its removable tray. (I'm assuming the device you're
working with is a mobile rack designed for a SATA HD or something similar -
you never indicated what this "carrier" is). You perform the reverse
operation when connecting the drive. There is no need to power off the
machine.
Anna


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