new esata causes windows failure.....help!

[illustr8r]

Hi,

I just bought an external hard drive enclosure (vantec: nexstar 3 model#NST-360SU-BK) with usb 2.0 & esata. I put a Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM in it.

When I use the usb, the drive is recognized in windows and I can transfer data on and off of it. I also tried plugging the drive directly into the motherboard via standard sata cable and it works that way.

I tried to install the esata port into an empty slot in my case. [ The enclosure came with an included pci port/cable that I connected to one of the sata ports on my motherboard. ]

PROBLEM: when I plug in the drive via esata, windows (xp pro) fails to boot up properly. It gets to the screen where I can see the windows logo and then it just freezes.

Is my motherboard not compatible with this esata to sata cable that was bundled with the enclosure?

Do I need a esata pci card rather than just the port/cable thing?

Am I missing an important driver or something?

Is it a windows problem?

Is my enclosure defective?

...........I can't figure it out, please help!

Thanks

[Will.Spencer]

What motherboard do you have in that system?

[illustr8r]

motherboard: chaintech vnf3-250 nvidia nforce 3 250 chipset ddr 400
amd socket 754 athlon 64

other info:

I tried booting plugged in with external enclosure power on and off. It does the same freeezing thing either way. If I have it unplugged windows will open. I tried plugging it in after windows opens, it is not recognized and nothing else happens either.

I have 1 internal sata already in my computer with windows installed on it that I have been using as my primary drive for a while. The external I want to use for additional storage, backup and transfering between work and home.


Another thing is... I'm not very familiar with navigating through bios. I can't find any hard drives in bios (phoenix award v6.00). All I can find is my dvd drive, floppy drive etc. ...and a raid controller menu. Do you have any idea why I wouldn't see my drives anywhere (even my primary drive that I know works) ? I tried looking through as many menus and sub menus as I could and still couldn't find it. What menu should I find this info in?

[Will.Spencer]

This is a difficult one.

I don't see any relevant known issues for the Chaintech VNF3-250.

What version of the BIOS are you running? Can you update to Version 6 of the BIOS, from 9/16/2005?

None of the updated drivers seem relevant to an eSata issue.

My next step would be to fill out a Chaintech Technical Support Request Form.

The hard drives not showing up in system BIOS is normal with a RAID system. The hard drives will show up in the RAID BIOS.