I have 3 SATA devices (2 hard drives + CD/DVD). I am Not running any type
of RAID. Do I need the Marvell Storage Controller enabled (it currently
is) or it OK to disable it in BIOS?
You can disable it without any problems and speed up boot time a bit.
Ed
It's not just for RAID. For IDE compatibility SATA, its drivers
don't need to be installed. It can be disabled in BIOS, but the
back panel eSATA connector will also be disabled.
Is this what handles all IDE drives? I notice when my systems boots
(different ASUS MB but same Marvell stuff) it lists my IDE DVD drive.
The Marvell controller has two parts, a SATA controller, and
a legacy ATAPI controller for IDE drives. By default, the SATA
controller uses IDE compatibility mode with SATA drives - no
driver necessary. The RAID driver must be installed for AHCI
or RAID settings. This applies to Intel, Marvell, and JMicron
SATA controllers.
Yes, I found this out the hard way.
> Yes, I found this out the hard way.
Is the P6T esata the same as P5Q Deluxe, i.e. not hot pluggable? Kind
of a bummer in my opinion.
In IDE compatibility mode it's physically hot pluggable, but
the change won't be seen until after a reboot. The RAID/AHCI
driver must be installed for auto-detection. The same applies
to the internal Intel SATA connectors. My Asus P5B Dlx
also works this way.
> The RAID/AHCI driver must be installed for auto-detection. The same
> applies to the internal Intel SATA connectors. My Asus P5B Dlx also
> works this way.
You're right, I did find a claim that hot plugging would actually work
with one of the Marvell drivers, the plain SATA but not RAID, "Marvell
6121 SATA Driver V1.2.0.57 for Windows XP & 64bit XP & 32/64bit
Vista". And it does, it's a solution for Windows only and as such not
sufficient. But it's good to know it can work. I'll just keep my esata
box plugged in the esata bracket in one of the Intel SATA connectors,
though.