bauer172

Q: MiniStack USB3 and 2012 Mac Mini

I just ordered my 2012 Mac Mini.  I have a new MiniStack USB 3 hard drive that I plan to use with it.  I read that USB 3 can cause Bluetooth and Wifi interference leading to dropped mice and keyboard connections over bluetooth.  If you are interested check out the Intel white paper or the OWC blog which addresses this for the Mini.  I'd like to get some feedback from the community about the experience with this:

 

Are people out there using the new MiniStack with the 2012 Mac Mini over USB 3? What is your experience with the Bluetooth interference, problem or no problem? 

 

OWC sells a shielding kit to mitigate the problem on the Mini.  I'm curious if anyone has tried using this and if it fixed their problem?

 

I appreciate any feedback you might have.

 

Thanks.

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 5, 2013 5:40 PM

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Q: MiniStack USB3 and 2012 Mac Mini

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  • by rpqdcikp ,Helpful

    rpqdcikp rpqdcikp Feb 5, 2013 6:09 PM in response to bauer172
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Feb 5, 2013 6:09 PM in response to bauer172

    I have a newerTech ministack 4 tb connected via USB 3. I have had no issues and am also using a trackpad and bluetooth keyboard.

     

    Also have not noticed anything effecting my wireless..

     

    Love the external drive though nice and quiet and starts up in an instant

  • by bauer172,Solvedanswer

    bauer172 bauer172 Feb 11, 2013 4:20 PM in response to rpqdcikp
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Feb 11, 2013 4:20 PM in response to rpqdcikp

    I tried the 2TB MiniStack with my refurb 2012 mac mini i7 and Bluetooth Magic Mouse.  So far in some limited tests I have not had any problem.  We'll see if that changes if I start pushing the drive when editing home movies.  So far I'm relieved.

  • by John Isvik,

    John Isvik John Isvik Feb 14, 2013 4:16 AM in response to bauer172
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 14, 2013 4:16 AM in response to bauer172

    I got my 2012 Mac Mini and a Newer Tech 1TB MiniStack. My Magic Trackpad is completely useless in combination with this setup. Cursor extremely unreliable and impossible to place accurately. Trackpad BT connection goes on and off all by itself. Had to go back to my Logitech MX Revolution mouse. I was really getting fond of gestures on the trackpad, so I'm slightly annoyed by this issue. Making customers open up their hard-drives themselves to install a shielding kit is NOT acceptable customer service.

  • by rei_vilo,

    rei_vilo rei_vilo Sep 26, 2013 2:47 AM in response to bauer172
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Sep 26, 2013 2:47 AM in response to bauer172

    I confirm the interferences of the NewerTech miniStack connected through USB3 on the Mac mini.

     

    Among other consequences:

    • Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad erratic behaviour
    • random characters from the Bluetooth keyboard
    • loss of WiFi connection

     

    I tried all those solutions:

    • NewerTech miniStack on top of the Mac mini
    • NewerTech miniStack below the Mac mini
    • NewerTech miniStack at 20 cm from the Mac mini

    with no results so far.

     

    This affects both Bluetooth and WiFi.

     

    It is an officially recognised USB3 issue, as mentioned in this white paper USB 3.0* Radio Frequency Interference Impact on 2.4 GHz Wireless Devices published April 2012.

     

    OCW sells a Bluetooth module shielding kit (USD5) to reduce the interferences but this solution requires to open the Mac mini and possibly voids the warranty. See Shielding Resolves USB 3.0 Conflict with Bluetooth for a video.

     

    Since the miniStack has multiple connections, I switched to FireWire 800. It is not as fast as USB3 but all interferences are gone!

     

    From a legal point of view, this may be considered as a hidden defect.

  • by MiltonThales,

    MiltonThales MiltonThales Oct 17, 2013 3:47 PM in response to rei_vilo
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 17, 2013 3:47 PM in response to rei_vilo

    Thanks for the tip about using Firewire 800.  I have the OWC mini stack, and my Magic Mouse was useless when the drive was connected with USB 3.0.  Problem disappears when Firewire connection is used.   I also installed an OWC SSD in the second drive bay, AND installed their sheilding kit while I was inside.  Unfortunately, it seems totally ineffectual. 

     

    I am going to try a different USB 3.0 drive to see if the problem recurrs.  There isn't much shielding that I recall inside the mini stack. 

  • by Konstrukteur,

    Konstrukteur Konstrukteur Sep 20, 2016 1:34 AM in response to bauer172
    Level 1 (16 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 20, 2016 1:34 AM in response to bauer172

    I have come across a fan related issue in multiple Ministack 2012 enclosures. While fans start spinning when I turn the Ministack on, they do not resume spinning when drives return from standby/idle and stay off. This caused already a couple of dead hdds in our setting and other drives experienced temperatures around 70C.

     

    Strangely the enclosures are quite clean inside, this could mean that the fan behavior has been consistently this way since we bought them. The enclosures have been bought through official channels between 2014 and 2015.

     

    I am starting to believe this might be a production related or architectural related problem this model has. The day after I contacted Newertech the enclosures where unavailable for purchase. Usually I had good experiences with the company, but data storage is very important.

     

    I tested different settings by turning the enclosure on, accessing the drive, letting the drive idle (usually 10 min) and go into standby, reaccessing the drive and inspecting fan behavior. I switched HDD vendors, cable, interfaces, computers, OS-X versions, this leaves the enclosure.

     

    Could someone please give me a feedback? I would like to figure out if my enclosures just all went bad with the same problem or if we all have a very huge problem! My drives heated up to 70C and should be around 40C, with 60C the maximum advised temperature from the drive vendor.