Use Compact Express slot to interface eSATA

Question

Hi,
I'm using an Embedded Controller PXI 8108, with a Compact Express slot.
I want to place the hard drive in an external enclosure and use an eSATA Compact Express interface to
connect to the enclosure.
There is a NI white paper (http://www.ni.com/white-paper/8604/en) which decribes the properties of the eSATA Compact Express card necessary
and I believe I have the correct card, see Solution 2 in white paper.
However when all is connected and powered the system does not boot.
The first thing I suspect is the BIOS Boot Order, but I see no way of choosing the Compact Express Slot/external
drive as a device from which to boot from 1st.
The Compact Express (eSATA) card was bought from Maplins (UK), part number: A34FK. The manufacturer
is st-lab.com , part no.: C-240 .
Any clues please ?
Gary.

Answer 1

Hi Gary,
I would suspect a couple scenarios:
(a) Your ExpressCard SATA adapter lacks the ability to be a boot device, or
(b) Your ExpressCard SATA adapter is bootable, but could not be configured by the BIOS, or
(c) Your ExpressCard SATA adapter is bootable, but was not correctly set as the first boot device in BIOS setup.
Scenario (a):
Here is a relevant snippet from the white paper you linked:
Another consideration is that ExpressCard eSATA adapters that use the PCI Express interface need to have an onboard Option ROM to allow OSs to boot from the external hard drive. Option ROM typically contains software, also called firmware, which is called by the BIOS of the embedded controller and informs the BIOS of the accessory’s functionality. As a general rule of thumb, if an ExpressCard eSATA supports some type of RAID, it most likely has an onboard Option ROM. 
In this situation, a different ExpressCard that provides an Option ROM would need to be used.  There is a recommended card in the white paper, although in truth it can be tricky to know without testing the ExpressCard unless you get lucky and see it documented on the specification sheet.
Scenario (b):
From BIOS Setup, ensure that the setting named "SCSI Drive Boot" (on the Boot Settings menu) is Enabled.
Although your device is not a SCSI device, this setting controls whether or not all disk based boot devices like SCSI (including a SATA adapter) can be set as bootable.
For good measure, I would also ensure that PXE Network Boot is Disabled to prevent other unrelated Option ROMs from loading and possibly conflicting.
Scenario (c):
The PXI-8108 BIOS boot menu has a tiered list of boot devices.  If your device is bootable, it may not initially show up on the top level list.  If, for example, more than one bootable hard drive exists, a new submenu item labeled: "Hard Drive BBS Priorities" would be generated on the Boot Setup menu page.  Go into that submenu and priortize your device to the top of the list.  Most likely it would be under "Hard Drive BBS Priorities", but I suggest doublechecking all the "Device" BBS Priorities entries that you see, if any.
-JoshH