SATA hotplug not working (like I think it should)
 

I just bought a external enclosure for a 500Gb SATA drive to back-up one of my servers, and I'm having trouble getting eSATA to work. The external enclosure is a Vantec NexStar3 so it has both USB and eSATA (which I believe is just normal SATA with a slightly different connector, correct me if I'm wrong). I've got hotplug up so I should just be able to plug it in a see it in /dev (sdb). I can't though, I gave up and added usb_storage to my kernel, plugged it in and everything works great (just really, really slow which is why it would be nice to get eSATA working). Any ideas? I've already got a drive on that card so everything should be working ok.

It depends on your controller.

Correct, but also:And I'm using a Promise TX4: I'm wondering if maybe I have a bad eSATA cable. Because actually the Promise BIOS that checks for drives on boot crashes if the drive in the external enclosure is plugged in at that time.

I guess what I'm really asking is: if everything is working correctly, should the drive just show up in /dev? (or is there another step somewhere that I'm missing?)

It should, but there are a lot of variables. You may want to check to see if your controller has the latest BIOS. Your PC BIOS may also be an issue. Of course, the Linux kernel you are using may have a bug.

Do a search on a command to add and remove SCSI hard drives. Also use cdrecord -scanbus to initiate a sleeping SCSI drive. You may have to use the command to add SCSI drives even after running cdrecord -scanbus.

Make sure the module is loaded for your controller.

Thanks for your replies. I checked Promise's site (thanks macemoneta), and I do have the most current BIOS on the card. After much more blood, sweat and tears I've decided that this just might not happen. I was able to get the external hard drive mounted (had to get it up during the boot process, which had many errors both from the card's BIOS and the sata_promise module), but I really is not what I'm looking for. I'd really just like to be able to plug it in, back it up and unplug it. Doesn't look like it wants to do that. Plus, I've been wanting to upgrade this server for a while, this is a good excuse to go nuts at Newegg! Thanks for your help!