PCI Cards: Firewire Boot Support
You cannot boot from an external drive that is connected to a Firewire
400 port on a PCI card, however depending on the card and the drive,
you may be able to boot from a volume connected to a Firewire 800 port
on a PCI card....
On-The-Go Pro: LED Behavior
The Mercury On-The-Go Pro has a blue LED at the front. The LED emits a
solid blue light when the unit is powered on and flashes during drive
activity. ...
Data Transfer: Moved Drive to External Enclosure, Files Not Visible
Some hard drives are not formatted properly to work "as is" in an
external enclosure.
If you have files on the hard you are moving, you need to back up your
data before you install the drive into the enclosure. After the backup
is complete, we recommend...
Hard Drives & SSDs: Not Visible on OS X Desktop
The most common reason a new drive will not mount to the Desktop is
when it has not been properly formatted yet. You can use the built-in
Disk Utility from OS X to accomplish this simple task. Please see the
Apple document below for more information.
ht...
Hard Drives & SSDs: Drive No Longer Mounting
This serves as a general troubleshooting document for many of our
external enclosures, however it is not a substitute for the product
notes and other information in your User Guide.
1. The first thing to check is that the drive is receiving power.
Somet...
Hard Drives & SSDs: SATA Jumper Settings
While modern SATA drives no longer ship with jumper pins, some of the
older models do have jumper pins on the back. However, SATA drives do
not require any jumpers to be set manually set. The system will
auto-assign an appropriate ID to the drive once it ...
On-The-Go Pro: Optional Power Supply
For most Mac configurations, the USB and Firewire connections on the
computer will provide enough power for the On-The-Go Pro to operate
normally. For cases where an older Mac does not provide enough bus
power for the On-The-Go Pro, an optional power supp...
SoftRAID: How Are the Modes Different?
Generally, the different RAID modes available in SoftRAID offer
trade-offs between speed and data redundancy. For example RAID 0
trades all data protection features for the maximum possible data
rates, while RAID 1 trades all speed gains for a complete se...
miniStack (All Versions): Multi-port Connectivity
When determining which connection types can be simultaneously made to
your computer, it is important to distinguish between current and
legacy versions of this drive. Certain legacy MiniStack models allow
you to connect both the USB Hub port and a Firewir...
Voyager: Hot Swapping
For FireWire 800 users, we recommend that the Voyager be the only
device connected or the last device in the chain when hot-swapping
drives. If you have other devices behind the Voyager, not all devices
will remount after a drive is hot-swapped in the Voy...
Rack Pro: Pink LEDs (Advanced Format / AF Drives)
When you use Advanced Format (AF) hard drives inside the Mercury Rack
Pro models, the individual drive LEDs will show as pink. Non-AF drives
will generate blue LEDs. To learn more about Advanced Format and how
it can benefit your workflow, please check th...
Qx2 (All): Block Size
The block size for the Qx2 is 512 bytes....
MiniStack (2012, Classic, MAX): 10,000 RPM Drives
We do not recommend the use of 10,000 RPM hard drives in any of the
MiniStack family of enclosures.
The MiniStack Classic has no fan to dissipate the heat from this type
of high performance drive, while the the MiniStack MAX and MiniStack
(current model...
Mac: Airport Extreme and Time Machine
If you have one of the original Airport Extreme base stations with
connectivity for an external drive, we do NOT recommend you set up a
drive in this way for use with Time Machine backups. This was
something Apple originally supported but no longer suppor...
eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter: Drive Not Recognized
Article applies to the following products: NWTADESATAUSB3
If your eSATA equipped drive is not detected by your computer, try
connecting the adapter to your computer's USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port
first and then connect the powered up eSATA drive to the adapt...
PCI Cards: Card or Connected Drive Malfunctioning
The most common cause of PCIe-related problems is that the card is
either not fully seated or installed properly, or it is not installed
in the optimal slot based on the amount of bandwidth it requires. In
some cases a special driver may be required (plea...
Mac: Spotlight Won't Index My Drive
If you occasionally encounter an issue where Spotlight will not index
a particular folder on your local drive or the contents of an external
drive, please see the article below for tips on how to re-index a
specific folder or drive.
https://support.appl...
Windows 7: Problems with Firewire Driver / Devices
Windows 7's built-in FireWire (called IEEE 1394) drivers do not work
properly with some Firewire devices. These devices will either fail to
be recognized properly or lock up when initiating file transfers of
any appreciable size. Luckily there is a relati...
miniStack (All Versions): Drive Type Compatibility
LAST UPDATED: May 2018
CURRENT VERSIONS
OWC MINISTACK – no known capacity limit at this time.
LEGACY VERSIONS
NEWERTECH MINISTACK (white plastic cover, also called "V1")
– accepts PATA drives up to 750GB in size.
NEWERTECH miniStack V2 – acce...
miniStack (2012, MAX): Fan Type
The miniStack (2012) and miniStack MAX both use a 50X50X15 mm MagLev
fan.
The model number is GB1205PHV3-8AY....
Mac: USB 3.0 Bluetooth Interference (2012 Mac Mini)
For some owners of the 2012 Mac Mini and the NewerTech MiniStack
[http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack], working with Bluetooth
devices while operating the MacMini nearby can cause problems with
said devices. OWC has identified the problem
[http://blo...
miniStack (2012, MAX): Stacking Order
Because of potential signal interference issues between USB 3.0 and
Bluetooth, the miniStack or miniStack MAX should be placed underneath
your Mac Mini, not on top of it. This will ensure the best possible
Bluetooth range....
Windows XP: Formatting Drives
For instructions on how to format a hard drive using Windows XP,
please check the link below.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/309000#bookmark-5...
miniStack (2012, MAX): Power Up Issues
Both the miniStack (2012 edition) and miniStack MAX requires a USB or
Firewire cable connection to the computer, as well as a good power
connection before the drive and fan will spin up. If the data
connection cable is loose or not active, the device will...
Universal Drive Adapter: Drive Click Sound
If you connect only the power and the Universal Drive Adapter (UDA) to
your drive without also connecting the USB cable to your computer, the
drive will make a click sound. The drive is looking for a data signal
to spin up. Once you connect the UDA to a c...
miniStack (All): Fan Noise
Over time, dust can accumulate inside legacy and current model
miniStack fan housings, causing the fan mechanism to become
unbalanced. This can create unusual noises coming from the fan area.
The problem can often be fixed with careful use of compressed a...
miniStack (All): Use with Other Macs (and PCs)
Occasionally customers ask if the various miniStack models we sell can
be used with Macs other than the Mac Mini. Absolutely! The name
miniStack was given because of the form factor and design of the
enclosure. Internally, the miniStacks are very similar ...
Hard Drives & SSDs: Slow Performance - External Drives
There are many potential causes of slow transfer speeds between your
external drive and your Mac or PC. While we cannot cover all of them
in this article, here are a few tips that can help you to identify or
eliminate the possibility of the more common ca...
eSATA Extender Cable Adapter: Performance Issues
Article applies to: NWTMPQXES2
If you encounter performance issues or a lack of throughput when using
the cable adapter, the source of the problem may be the total length
of the adapter plus your eSATA cable. SATA cables have a working
length limitation...
External Drives: Daisy Chains and Bus Power
We often are asked if it is possible to daisy-chain multiple drives
and have all of them draw power from the main system bus. The short
answer is no.
Once you begin daisy chaining hard drives or SSDs, each drive in the
chain will need a dedicated power ...
Qx2 (All): Formatting Results in "Invalid Request" Error
This may be due to the drive format you're trying to use. The
recommended format for OS X is Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Try the
steps below to see if they resolve the issue.
1. Launch Disk Utility.
2. Highlight Qx2 drive icon. It should say somethin...
Qx2 (All): Drives Display as Master Boot Record
When set up for RAID some Qx2 drives will show up as Master Boot
Record (MBR) devices when used in a different enclosure, even though
they are not MBR. The reason for this is the Qx2 stores information
about the disk array (RAID volume) on some of the dri...
Qx2 (All): Boot Support by Port Type
USB 3.0 VERSION
FW 800: Any Intel Mac connected via FireWire 800 will boot from the
Qx2.
USB 3.0: Any Intel Mac connected via USB 3.0 will boot from the
Qx2. PC support will vary by manufacturer and BIOS type.
eSATA: Any SATA based Mac using a built-i...
Qx2 (All): RAID 10 - Drive Groupings
When the Qx2 is set to RAID 10, drive bays A & C create one mirrored
set and drive bays B & D create the other mirrored set. Those two sets
are then striped. ...
Guardian Maximus: Rebuild - HDD Positions
IMPORTANT
In the event of a drive failure, you must ensure the good drive with
your data is installed as HDD1 (the drive that attaches to the bridge
card) and the new drive you are writing to is installed as HDD2 (the
drive that attaches to the SATA cab...
Qx2 (All): 2.5" Drive Converters
Yes, you can use the Newertech AdaptaDrive bracket NWTADPTADRV to
install 2.5" drives into the Qx2.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/ADPTADRV/
[http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/ADPTADRV/]
You can also use the Icy Dock converter tray for ...
Professional Data Recovery Options (DriveSavers)
If you have already contacted Technical Support
[http://eshop.macsales.com/Service/contact/] and are still having
trouble accessing information on a drive(s) purchased from OWC, you
may want to consider working with one of our professional data
recovery p...
Qx2 (All): SPAN - Drive Capacities
When the Qx2 is set to SPAN mode, all installed drives show up as one
large single volume. The total size will depend on the drives
installed; YOU CAN USE DRIVES OF DIFFERENT CAPACITIES.
A span is an array (not RAID) in which the data is written
sequent...
Qx2 (All): Device Not Shown in Windows (My Computer)
NEWLY PURCHASED QX2:
If your PC recognizes the Qx2 is connected but the device does not
appear within My Computer, you need to format the factory-built disk
array. Please be sure to select a drive letter during the formatting
process. Formatting tips f...
Qx2 (All): Fastest Mode for Video Editing
Video editing is a high bandwidth workflow; speed is very important.
Therefore, setting up the Qx2 as a RAID 0 "Stripe" with either two or
four drives, is likely to be the most useful configuration for a video
workflow. Using other RAID levels when captur...
Qx2 (All): RAID 5 Rebuild Times
The time required to rebuild the RAID 5 volume depends on the capacity
and speed of the drives and whether or not you will be using them
while they are rebuilding. A typical rule of thumb if you're
not accessing the data during the rebuild
process is roug...
Qx2 (All): Dedicated Cache
The Qx2 does not include a dedicated cache as part of its design.
However users can benefit from using HDDs with onboard caching. ...
Qx2 (All): hot-swapping drives
It is possible when using one of the RAID modes to swap out a failed
drive while the Qx2 power is on, however the Qx2's alarm will sound if
you do this; hot-swapping is not the intended behavior. The preferred
practice is to power down the Qx2 before you ...
Qx2 (All): Vibration Dampening and Acoustic Coupling
The QX2 enclosure does not include any internal vibration dampening
materials to prevent acoustic coupling between the installed drives.
However whenever possible for the standard versions, and always for
the enterprise versions, we make an effort to use ...
Qx2 (All): Drive Failure and LEDs
QX2 (USB 3.1 GEN 1)
If a drive fails in the Qx2, the drive's LED will turn off. If the
drive fails but can be rebuilt, the drive's LED will flash orange.
QX2 (USB 2.0)
If one of the HDD LEDs lights up solid red and at the same time the
Rebuild LED l...
Qx2 (USB 3.0): Arrays, Rebuilds, and Formatting Options
This document addresses some common points of confusion. Please use
see the user manual for more detailed information.
http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/manuals/mercury_elite/OWCMANMEQX3_R3.pdf
[http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/manuals/mercury_el...
Qx2 (All): Daisy Chains
Yes, you can daisy chain from the QX2 using either of the Firewire 800
ports. Note that in the case of the Qx2, every device in the Firewire
chain including the Qx2 itself needs to have its own power supply. The
Qx2 will not bus-power any Firewire devices...
RAID Enclosures: Common Questions
WHAT IS THE RECOMMENDED OPERATING TEMPERATURE FOR MY RAID ENCLOSURE?
This depends on the specific model. Please check the product web page.
The "SPECS" section near the bottom of the page will provide the
recommended operating temperatures and non-opera...
Qx2 (All): RAID 5 Capacity
ALL VERSIONS:
For standard RAID 5 mode (using all four drives), the total capacity
will be as large as 3 drives. For example if you are using four 1TB
drives the useable capacity would be 3TB.
USB 2.0 VERSION ONLY:
When Mode 9 (RAID 5: 3 Drives + Spare)...
Qx2 (All): Replacing a Failed RAID Drive
If one of the drives in your Qx2 has failed, OWC recommends you
replace that drive with a new drive of identical make, model, capacity
(and if possible) firmware. The process for doing this is covered in
detail in your user manual.
USB 2.0 Version -
htt...
Qx2 (All): Adding Drives to an Existing RAID
It is not possible to add more drives to an existing Qx2 RAID without
reformatting the logical volume.
To add additional drives to a new RAID array, please consult the user
guide for your Qx2 mode:
USB 2.0 Version -
http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_cent...
Qx2 (USB 3.0): RAID Modes Explained
The Qx2's RAID levels are explained in detail below.
SPAN: The drives show up as one large single volume but the total size
will depend on the drive with the smallest capacity. Spanning is an
array (non-RAID) that is written sequentially to, across the ...
Qx2 (All): Cross-Platform RAID Format
If you are running Windows Vista SP1 or later or Mac OS 10.6.5 or
later, you can format your Qx2 volume to use the exFAT file system.
This will allow the drive to be recognized by both Macs and PCs, and
elimintes the 4GB file size limit imposed by earli...
Qx2 (USB 3.0): RAID Levels Supported
The current USB 3.0 Qx2 model (JMicron chipset) supports RAID 0, 1, 5,
10, span, and independent modes....
Windows (XP, 2000): Formatting Problems
If you are using a legacy or current OWC drive enclosure with Windows
XP or Windows 2000, and you find that you cannot reformat the drive or
assign a new drive letter, this is most likely due to an OS
incompatibility with the newer GUID partition map sche...
eSATA Extender Cable Adapter: Correct PCIe Slot
Article applies to: NWTMPQXES2
The NewerTech eSATA Cable Extender Adapter must be installed into
the top PCIe slot in your Mac Pro. It cannot be moved to a different
slot because the length of the extender cable would not allow for
it....
OS X, macOS: Apple Partition Map vs. GUID Partition Table
There are two types of partition map schemes recommended for Macs;
once applied they will determine some of the formatted drive's
capabilities.
APPLE PARTITION MAP (APM)
1. Seen and usable on all PowerPC and Intel based Mac
machines.
2. Bo...
OWC Custom Drive Icons
If you would like to use one of our custom icons with your drive(s),
please use the page linked below. It contains large thumbnails
depicting all the icons, as well as instructions for how to add the
icons to your drive's on-screen appearance.
http://es...
Hard Drives & SSDs: Actual Formatted Capacity
When formatted, all drives will be recognized as having less space
available than the number of GB or TB designated in the product
name. The reason for this is that operating systems consider 1GB to
equal 1,024 bytes, while manufacturers consider 1GB to b...
Universal Drive Adapter: USB Hub Issues
OWC and Newertech recommend that you connect your Universal Drive
Adapter (UDA) directly to the computer to reduce the likelihood you
will encounter any problems.
Since the power output on USB Hubs can vary by significant amounts,
connecting the UDA to ...
Hard Drives: Identifying Unusual Noises
While all hard drives will exhibit some mechanical noises when reading
or writing data (and some are definitely louder than others),
sometimes you may hear some unusual noises which you cannot positively
identify (either the noise or its cause). In cases ...
FireWire Enclosures: Sleep Issues with 10.9 and later
External enclosures from OWC and NewerTech that use FireWire chipsets
made by Oxford and JMicron may exhibit a behavior whereby the drives
do not spin down when the computer sleeps. This behavior exists on
Macs running OS X 10.9 or later and does not occu...
Mercury Elite Pro Dual (Thunderbolt): No Power Switch
For this enclosure, the Thunderbolt connection itself effectively acts
as a power switch. Even if the power supply is plugged into the drive,
if there is no active data connection between the host computer and
the Elite Pro Dual, the enclosure will remain...
eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter: Avoiding Drive Sleep
If you are running on OS X and you would like to ensure that any eSATA
drive connected to your eSATA to USB 3.0 adapter does not go to sleep,
please use the script link below to achieve this. Instructions are
included in the .zip file.
http://download.m...
Qx2 (USB 3.0): Independent Mode
Any USB 3.0 Qx2 (JMicron chipset) purchased prior to 2/7/14 will need
a firmware update installed to enable independent drive mode. To
install this firmware update, please download the attached file and
follow the included instructions. USB 3.0 Qx2's purc...
Qx2 (USB 3.0): Power Draw
The current USB 3.0 Qx2 (JMicron chipset) utilizes a staggered spin-up
when first powering on the drives; the power draw is around 50 Watts.
After the initial spin-up, normal-to-heavy usage will produce a power
draw of about 38 Watts; this can vary by sma...
Does the Rack Pro RAID Manager Support SSL?
Currently the RAID Manager for the Rack Pro (with hardware RAID) does
not support SSL. A request has been made to our vendor to support
this, however we do not expect that to happen for the foreseeable
future....
Mac: Disk Utility Secure Erase
If you need to securely erase a hard drive or SSD, you can use the OS
X / macOS Disk Utility to perform this task.
* Open the Disk Utility.
* Using the Sidebar, select the volume you wish to erase.
* Click the Erase tab.
* Choose a drive format ...
Qx2 (USB 3.0): Fan Information
BEARING TYPE: ball bearings
MEASURED DECIBEL LEVEL: < 30db
DIMENSIONS: 92x92x25mm
FAN RATE: this fan is not temperature controlled. It runs at a
constant rate.
FAN FAILURE: if the fan fails the Qx2's fan alarm will sound. ...
Qx2 (USB 3.0): Firmtek 2ME4-E Compatibility
The 2ME4-E card from Firmtek is not compatible with the USB 3 version
of the Qx2 (JMicron chipset)....
RAID: Should I Replace a Failed Drive?
Note: this topic does not deal with data parity, mirroring or other
back-up related technologies.
In most situations, when you have a failed drive in a RAID enclosure,
you should remove the failed drive immediately from the RAID and
replace it.
Not re...
SoftRAID 5: RAID 1 - "Missing Secondary Disk"
If your copy of SoftRAID displays a message saying that your RAID 1 or
Mirrored RAID is "Missing a Secondary Disk. . .", there is typically
an easy resolution to this problem. The most common solution is to
adjust the appropriate "Timeout" setting in Soft...
SoftRAID: Display Sleep (Volume Unmounts)
If you are still using SoftRAID 5.0.7 or earlier, there is a bug where
connected RAID volumes sometimes dismount if the Mac's Display Sleep
feature is activated.
If you see this behavior please visit www.softraid.com/thunderbay
[https://www.softraid.co...
Hard Drives & SSDs: OWC Formatting Guides
Please visit this page for our latest formatting
recommendations: https://www.owcdigital.com/support/formatting
[https://www.owcdigital.com/support/formatting]...
Spotlight and Time Machine: Impact on Application Performance
Unless you have disabled it, occasionally the Spolight indexing
feature in OS X will run in the background when you are using other
applications. Spotlight indexing can (for a brief time) cause other
applications that are running -- including benchmark so...
Rack Pro RAID Manager: Preventing Drive Spin-down / Sleep / Standby
Occasionally problems can arise with the Rack Pro + RAID Manager
configuration, if the drives spin down. This happens when the unit
goes into Sleep or Standby mode. To avoid drive spin down and
potential problems, select "No Standby" in the RAID Manager o...
Mercury Elite Pro (U3/FW800): MacPro6,1 and 10.9.5
Some of our 5TB enclosures including one variant of the Mercury Elite
Pro (OWCME3QH7T5.0) ship with Toshiba hard drive model MD04ACA500. If
you are using a USB-enabled enclosure with this Toshiba drive
installed, and you connect the enclosure to the USB 3...
ThunderBay 4 mini: Power Draw
In limited testing, the OWC ThunderBay 4 mini was found to draw power
within the ranges shown below. Examples for both hard drives and
SSDs are provided. Please note that within each category, the amount
of power drawn will vary slightly based on drive ma...
ThunderBay 4: Power Draw
The OWC ThunderBay 4 enclosure is rated to supply up to 150 watts of
power in total when four drives are installed, however in limited
testing power draw rarely exceeds 80 watts....
USB Enclosures: Limitations when Creating Bootable Partitions
NOTE: if you are running OS X 10.11 or later, your Disk Utility
interface will look different than the one shown below. For more
information on creating partitions in 10.11, please click here
[http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/formatting/Mac_Formattin...
OWC Drive Dock: USB Hot-swap Limitation
AFFECTED PART NUMBERS: OWCTB2U3DKR2
When connected via Thunderbolt, you can power each drive bay on and
off independently (and swap out either of the drives) without
affecting the other drive. When connected via USB, it is possible to
unmount either dri...
Mercury Elite Pro Dual (U3/FW800): FireWire 800 and Yosemite
If a customer has a Mercury Elite Pro Dual
[https://www.owcdigital.com/products/external-storage/mercury-elite-pro-dual-overview]
(OWCMED3FR---), and the device will not mount when connected to a Mac
that is running 10.10 Yosemite, there may not be anythi...
OWC Enclosures: JMicron, FireWire, and ProTools
All OWC drive enclosures which include a JMicron FireWire 800 (1394b)
chipset, are fully compatible with the ProTools audio platform. Oxford
FireWire chipsets are not a requirement in this workflow....
OWC Enclosures & Drive Docks: 4Kn Drive Compatibility
CURRENTLY MOST OWC STORAGE SOLUTIONS DO NOT SUPPORT NATIVE 4K (4KN)
HARD DRIVES; ONLY THE OWC THUNDERBAY 4, OWC MERCURY ELITE PRO QUAD,
OWC RACK PRO MINI-SAS, THUNDERBAY 4 MINI (LEGACY PRODUCT), THE
UPCOMING OWC THUNDERBAY 6, AND OWC'S JUPITER ENTERPRISE ...
OWC Enclosures, Drive Docks, & SSDs: FileVault and BitLocker Support (2017)
As of April 2017, all current OWC storage enclosures, storage docks,
and SSDs tested as compatible with Apple FileVault and Windows
BitLocker. Tests were run on a variety of host hardware and operating
systems including Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows 10 Pro, Ma...
Mercury Elite Pro (U3/FW800): Seagate Drive Compatibility
RELEVANT PART NUMBERS: OWCME3QHKIT0GB, OWCME3QHKITSW
UPDATE: 08/25/17
Please note that the following drives should now work with the Mercury
Elite Pro enclosure, but only after a firmware fix has been applied by
OWC.
Please contact Customer ...
eSATA Extender Cable Adapter: Cable Length
Article applies to: NWTMPQXES2
If you encounter performance issues or a lack of throughput when using
the cable adapter, the source of the problem may be the total length
of the adapter plus your eSATA cable. SATA cables have a working
length limita...
Carbonite: Thunderbolt™ Compatibility
At the time of this writing, based on information provided to us by
Carbonite, we can confirm that their online data backup services do
not support storage devices connected via Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt 2,
or Thunderbolt 3. Additionally, wireless storage ...
Qx2 (All): Accelsior E2 Incompatibility
Please note the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Qx2
[https://www.owcdigital.com/products/mercury-elite-pro-qx2] is not
compatible with the eSATA ports on the Mercury Accelsior E2
[https://www.owcdigital.com/products/mercury-accelsior-e2] series of
SSDs.
ALTER...
macOS (10.13 and later): Unformatted Disks Not Visible
Because of how the Disk Utility is set up in macOS 10.13 and later, by
default unformatted drives will not appear in the sidebar list until
you choose View > Show All Devices....
ThunderBay 4: Incompatible 2.5 inch SSDs
Please note that all ThunderBay 4 with Thunderbolt 3 units purchased
prior to October 29, 2018, are incompatible with the SSD models shown
below. This issue does not impact the ThunderBay 4 with Thunderbolt 2.
IF YOU PURCHASED THE PRODUCT BETWEEN 10/29/...
OWC ThunderBlade: macOS Boot Drive Setup
LAST UPDATED: 10/4/19
RELEVANT PART NUMBERS:
* OWCTB3TBV4T1.0
* OWCTB3TBV4T2.0
* OWCTB3TBV4T4.0
* OWCTB3TBV4T8.0
* OWCTB3TBV4T01
* OWCTB3TBV4T02
* OWCTB3TBV4T04
* OWCTB3TBV4T08
Please note that it is not possible to use the ThunderBl...
OWC ThunderBlade: Windows Unmount Behavior
RELEVANT PART NUMBERS:
* OWCTB3TBV4T1.0
* OWCTB3TBV4T2.0
* OWCTB3TBV4T4.0
* OWCTB3TBV4T8.0
Please be aware that due to circumstances beyond OWC's control, when
the ThunderBlade volume is ejected or unmounted from Windows 10, there
can be a subs...
OWC Thunderblade: Thermal Recommendations
Please note that during demanding use-cases the Thunderblade enclosure
will heat up. This is expected — the case is designed to act as a
radiator, drawing heat away from the internal components. Because of
this, we do not recommend stacking multiple Thund...
OWC Thunderblade: Thermal Notes
Last Updated: June 1, 2018
* If you have more than one ThunderBlade as part of your workflow,
do not stack them during use. This can interfere with their ability to
dissipate heat, which can lead to unexpected behaviors.
* For the same reason, d...
OWC Express 4M2: Drive Compatibility
OVERVIEW
The Express 4M2 enclosure only works with NVMe (PCIe 3.0) SSDs. SATA
M.2 drives will not function if installed.
Note that you cannot distinguish an NVMe M.2 drive from a SATA-based
drive just by looking at the M.2 connector key. Both types of...
OWC Drive Dock (All): Toshiba HDD Sleep Issue
RELEVANT PART NUMBERS:
* OWCTB2U3DKR2
* OWCU3DRVDCK2
* OWCTCDRVDCK
Please be aware that if you are booting from certain Toshiba 3.5 inch
HDDs you may not be able to use the Mac operating systems' sleep modes
as expected. In some cases the sys...
ThunderBay (Thunderbolt 3 Models): Drive Sleep Issue
RELEVANT PART NUMBERS:
* OWCTB36LRTxxx
* OWCTB36SRTxxx
* OWCTB36LRKIT0
* OWCTB36SRKIT0
* OWCTB3SRTxxxx
* OWCTB3IVTxxxx
* OWCTB3SRKIT0GB
* OWCTB3IVKIT0GB
Please note that we have recently verified an issue that may impact
your Thunde...
Envoy Pro EX (USB-C): IP67 Information
WHAT DOES AN IP-RATED DESIGNATION MEAN?
The IP or “Ingress Protection” ratings are an international
standard used to define different levels of intrusion to an object.
The “IP” rating lists two digits that have specific meanings and
indicate a certain ...
Drive Dock (All): Mac Booting Behavior
PART NUMBERS:
* OWCTCDRVDCK (USB-C - 3.1 Gen 2)
* OWCTB2U3DKR2 (TB2, USB 3.1 Gen 1)
* OWCU3DRVDCKN (USB 3.1 Gen 1 only - Legacy)
Please note that depending on the type of Mac you're using, the
ability to Option-boot may require a slightly differe...
System Hang / Crash: macOS 10.15.4 and Large File Transfers
Our SoftRAID team has identified a scenario in macOS 10.15.4 that
often results in a system hang or crash, when performing large file
transfers between two or more volumes. This can happen both with
SoftRAID and non-SoftRAID volumes. Please review the blo...
OS X / macOS: Creating Encrypted Disk Image Files
NOTE: This article was adapted from the related Rocket Yard feature
[https://blog.macsales.com/44393-how-to-create-encrypted-disk-images-with-disk-utility-to-protect-private-data/] by
OWC Contributor, Tom Nelson. It is supplied here as a courtesy to
custo...
Envoy Express: Maximum Bandwidth
PART NUMBER: OWCTB3ENVXP00
Please note that in order to be compliant with Thunderbolt 3
certification requirements for this specific device type, a maximum of
2 PCIe 3.0 lanes can be used. This means the maximum theoretical speed
of the device is ~ 1500...
Thunderbolt 4: Are My Thunderbolt 3 Products Obsolete?
As we mentioned in an earlier Rocket Yard post, “Intel Introduces
Thunderbolt 4: What Is It and Does It Matter?
[https://blog.macsales.com/63715-intel-introduces-thunderbolt-4-what-is-it-and-does-it-matter/]”
Intel released the specifications and expectat...
SoftRAID Solutions: Serial Number Location
If you're just starting out with SoftRAID, we recommend reviewing our
detailed web guides, as well as the inline or online help system that
ships with your version of SoftRAID.
SoftRAID XT
[https://www.owcdigital.com/assets/products/softraid/softraid-xt...
Thunderbolt 3 mini Dock: USB Devices in Windows
Please note that for some PCs, laptops in particular, the default USB
power management settings in Windows 10 may cause a number of
unexpected behaviors with USB devices, including:
* Devices which are idle for a few minutes may spontaneously power
do...
OWC Diagnostics: Multi-purpose Windows Utility
As of August 2020, we have expanded our OWC Diagnostics utility.
Previously this was available only through our Support Team but going
forward will be a publicly available download, as we continue to
expand its capabilities.
This utility makes it easy t...