OWC mercury elite pro will not power up

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Level 1

37 points

OWC mercury elite pro will not power up

This external drive will not power up. It tries to and then dies down. The external power supply has a constant green light.

The external drive is connected to the mac mini with a firewire 800 cable with a thunderbolt attachment.

"External < firewire 800, mac mini > thunderbolt attachment."

This is the second power supply replacing the first due to the same reasons. Out of warranty.

Is there any other replacement power supply than OWC? I believe the drive is good.

Thanks.

Mac mini, macOS 10.12

Posted on Jul 28, 2022 7:32 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

68,408 points

Aug 1, 2022 5:54 AM in response to novanut

Have you also tried using the other Thunderbolt port on the Mini to make sure it is not an issue with the port on the Mini?

How about removing the internal drive from the enclosure and testing it with a USB to SATA Adapter, drive dock, or another enclosure? If you have a 3.5" drive, then the USB to SATA Adapter will need to have its own power supply to power the larger drive. You may be able to salvage the current physical drive to help save on costs and keep your data on it.

You may also want to check the health of the drive by running DriveDx and posting the complete text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

90,688 points

Jul 29, 2022 1:21 PM in response to novanut

No problem, you’re welcome.

Actually I suspect that there maybe something going on inside the external drive enclosure that is killing the power supplies.

If OWC is unwilling to help you out as woodmeister50 suggests. Then I think that I would just replace the external drive with another or optionally buy an empty enclosure and move the drive into it.

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

90,688 points

Jul 28, 2022 10:36 AM in response to novanut

What year model is your Mac mini?

If the OWC drive has both a FireWire and a USB cable/connection? Then you will be better off using the supplied USB cable, instead of the FireWire cable and adapter.

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Answer 4

Jul 29, 2022 12:37 PM in response to novanut

I would have a serious talk with OWC technical support to resolve the issue. Make it very clear the number of supplies that have failed.

FWIW, any supply should be able to power its device 24/7.

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Answer 5

Allan Jones

Level 9

77,738 points

Jul 29, 2022 9:53 AM in response to novanut

I just looked up the manuals for all OWC Elite Pro variants:

https://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/index.cfm?page=/manuals/item/mealprosingledrive.html

and every one shows a usb port. Can you post a picture of the back of the drive?

The long-obsolete OWC Neptune series of externals had only FW400 ports:

https://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/index.cfm?page=/manuals/item/owcneptune.html

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Answer 6

novanut Author

Level 1

37 points

Jul 29, 2022 11:36 AM in response to den.thed

I stand corrected. The drive does have a USB port. However, it did not come with that cable and I do not have one.

I believe the problem is the external black box (power supply) not working. The first one which came with it died. I purchased another and it worked for several months before it too died. The current and former boxes did have a constant green light.

I do not back up the mini very often so maybe leaving the power supply always plugged in may have caused it to fail.

At this point I would like to know if there is any other, more reliable, power supply out there that will work.

Thanks again for your input.

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Answer 7

novanut Author

Level 1

37 points

Aug 1, 2022 7:10 AM in response to HWTech

I have not tried the other thunderbolt port but will and report back.

When my first power supply went down I incorrectly ordered another identical drive with power supply. I removed my drive and placed it in the new enclosure. It worked perfectly. I then put my drive back in its enclosure and returned the new drive and power supply to OWC and ordered just the power supply.

I have an older mac pro, 2005, and I don't think the external drive will work with it. I still think it's the power supply issue.

At this point I'm starting to see indications that my mac mini may be in trouble. Spinning beach balls on safari, mail, after effects and others causing me to force quit. My OS is sierra 10.12.6. The reason I haven't upgraded is because I still use AE CS4 constantly and can't afford adobe's monthly charges.

Thanks again for everyone's inputs.

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