> Up to now, it sounds very much like hardware failure.
>
>   
My thoughts as well until I ran the experiments ...
>> I went so far as to try a new 3124 based card, new cable and I even
>> found a copy of the eSata PMP enclosure at a local store to swap that
>> out (gotta return it all - way expensive).
>>     
>
> What do you mean by eSata PMP enclosure?  Is it a different PMP device?
>
>   
It is an external PMP box, 5 drive bays - it is the exact same 
manufacturer and is based on the same PMP:
0x1095:0x4726 r31, 7 ports, feat 0x1/0x9
>> I can hook the card and storage enclosure to a windows box and can see
>> the PM and the drives (and the config space).
>>     
>
> Hmmm.......
>   
Yeah - I was perplexed at this point as well ...  I even upgraded the 
BIOS in the card, just hoping ...
>> The 1 thing I did do was attempt to migrate the machine from a DS20 to a
>> DS20L.
>>     
>
> What are DS20 and DS20L?
>
>   
They are Alpha system variations - DS20L is a 1U version of a DS20 (with 
many updates).

> That's one weird story.  I don't have much idea at this point.  Can you
> try to grab failing kernel log and post it?  You can either connect a
> harddrive directly, get a system up from there and grab failing
> detection log or set up serial or netconsole.
>   
I've attached a few logs - one that references how things looked when it 
all worked.
I've logs of both the original Norco 4618 card (lspci64.2 and 
dmesg.txt.2) and with the
newer generic 3124 card (dmesg.txt.newcard lspci.newcard.2).

I'm not so good with deciphering the PCI-isms - maybe I just need a 
shorter cable now!?

...tom