M6600 Owners Thread

[Bokeh]

I feel your pain - my drive is 2x 2TB worth of source videos that I was planning to connect via eSATA; luckily the WD Studio II enclosure that holds them also has FireWire connection which is slightly faster than USB 2.0 (yet not even close to eSATA, of course).

However the fact is that the optical drive enclosure (Dell e-media bay) I got form Dell is working OK. Interestingly, it doesn't need external power source - it's powered by the port itself. I haven't found the model number apart from what is written on the label (not found on Dell pages, though): model number PD02S.

So, even with SATA operation set to RAID, the eSATA port can be functional - it's good to know though it doesn't actually work with Lacie, not just my WD. We need to file a case on this - maybe some future BIOS release will solve the problem?

Piotr

Trying to figure out how to get the eSata port NOT to work. Mine works with any config.

Are both of the drives that people are having problems with multi-drive enclosures? If so I can try to find one at work and test it.

One other thing - were the drives formatted by a Mac?

[MoldCAD]

Yep - my WD Studio II is a 2-drive enclosure, and it works like a charm with all other machines but the M6600.

But your post has intrigued me - I'm gonna fetch another eSATA cable and try again; will keep you posted.

[baniels]

If anyone here is having trouble with Optimus and no video output at boot with the e-port plus, please let it be known here.

[Bokeh]

If anyone here is having trouble with Optimus and no video output at boot with the e-port plus, please let it be known here.

It does output video during the post with Optimus enabled when docked to an e-port plus, but only through the VGA port.

[Dell-Mano_G]

If anyone here is having trouble with Optimus and no video output at boot with the e-port plus, please let it be known here.

The no video output at boot via the DP or DVI ports until the OS driver is loaded is a known NVIDIA limitation with Optimus. There is no fix for this from NVIDIA. This is not a Dell specific limitation but an Optimus limitation. If you turn Optimus off in the BIOS you should now have video output at boot.

[baniels]

Is there any hope of a fix in the future?

...known NVIDIA limitation with Optimus. There is no fix for this from NVIDIA.

[maxh]

Let us know what external eSata HD you are testing.
So far both WD Studio II and Lacie 4TB 4big Quadra will not work via M6600 eSata.

I've been using the below docking station with esata and various hdds with no problem on my m6600:
Welcome to www.Kingwin.com: Enclosures - EZD-2535

[Bokeh]

Yep - my WD Studio II is a 2-drive enclosure, and it works like a charm with all other machines but the M6600.

But your post has intrigued me - I'm gonna fetch another eSATA cable and try again; will keep you posted.

I put out a request for a multi-disk drive to test here at work and got a response. Will be able to test it out this afternoon after a 1pm photoshoot.

At this point we do know that eSata works - in Raid - in AHCI - docked and undocked - with the M6600.

What we do not know is whether there is a problem with multi-disk enclosures.

I also tested out a Seagate external eSata drive and it worked. I called over to our Tech Department that has an M6600 and got them to plug in an eSata drive and it worked.

At this point MoldCAD and LLavelle might want to go back and update their posts about eSata not working on the M6600 at all. These statements might confuse people since we know it does work with 3 drives on 3 machines here. If either of you could test with a single drive enclosure it would help out a lot.

[LLavelle]

Trying to figure out how to get the eSata port NOT to work. Mine works with any config.

Are both of the drives that people are having problems with multi-drive enclosures? If so I can try to find one at work and test it.

One other thing - were the drives formatted by a Mac?

Lacie 4 x 1TB RAID 5.
Not mac formatted.

M6600 is factory configured RAID 0 with BIOS set to RAID (all factory settings).

Dell-Mano, What can you say about factory configured M6600's being shipped with unusable eSata port?

[LLavelle]

Trying to figure out how to get the eSata port NOT to work. Mine works with any config.

Are both of the drives that people are having problems with multi-drive enclosures? If so I can try to find one at work and test it.

One other thing - were the drives formatted by a Mac?

I've been using the below docking station with esata and various hdds with no problem on my m6600:
Welcome to www.Kingwin.com: Enclosures - EZD-2535

What is your BIOS setting? Based on your hardware sig you do not (cannot) have internal RAID on your M6600.

Is your external HD box also RAID?