For example, an eSATA port multiplier allows multiple external SATA drives to be connected to one eSATA port on the computer. Also called a "port expander," another example is a USB hub ...

Sure enough, when he plugged the port multiplier board in (after a bit of what he refers to as “professional wiggling”), the appropriate entry showed up in lspci. But there was a problem.

The IntelliProp IPP-SA128A-PM (SATA Port Multiplier with Sandbox) device is an IP core that provides SATA Port Multiplier functionality with support for up to 15 SATA storage devices. The IP core is ...