OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini Guide

Assembly Manual & User Guide
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
1.1.1 Mac Requirements
1.1.2 PC Requirements
1.1.3 Supported Hard Drives
1.2 PACKAGE CONTENTS
1.3 USING THE OWC MERCURY ELITE PRO MINI
1.3.1 Connecting the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
1.3.2 Power Options for the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Quad interface
model
1.3.3 Power Options for the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini USB 3.0 & eSATA
6.0 Gb/s interface model
1.3.4 Powering on the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
1.3.5 LED Indicator
2 ASSEMBLY & INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
5 APPENDIX
6 TECHNICAL SUPPORT
6.1 BEFORE CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT
6.2 TECHNICAL SUPPORT HOURS OF OPERATION
3 FORMATTING
3.1 MACINTOSH FORMATTING
3.2 REMOVING AN EXISTING GUID PARTITION
3.3 WINDOWS FORMATTING
4 TROUBLESHOOTING & TIPS
4.1 TROUBLESHOOTING
4.2 USAGE TIPS
5.1 FAQ
5.2 ABOUT DATA PROTECTION
2.1 HARD DRIVE ASSEMBLY & INSTALLATION

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 1 - Introduction
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 System Requirements
1.1.1 Mac Requirements
•Minimum PowerPC G4 CPU, 128MB RAM
•eSATA interface, Mac OS X 10.3 or later
•FireWire® interface, Mac OS X 10.2 or later (Quad model only)
•USB 2.0 interface, Mac OS X 10.2 or later
•USB 3.0 interface - see your interface card manufacturer for specications
(eSATA / USB 3.0 model only)
1.1.2 PC Requirements
•Minimum 500MHz Intel Pentium III CPU, 128MB RAM
•eSATA interface, Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7
•FireWire interface, Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows 7 (Quad model only)
•USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 interface, Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows 7
1.1.3 Supported Hard Drives
•Any 2.5” SATA 9.5mm or 12.5mm hard drive
•Any 2.5” SATA Solid State Drive (SSD)
1.2 Package Contents
Firmware, images, and descriptions may vary between this manual and the
unit shipped. Functions and features may change depending on the rm-
ware version. Visit the product webpage for the most recent specications.
*USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 cable included with all solutions. USB to Power cable only included with USB 3.0 /
eSATA model. FireWire 800 cable only included with Quad Interface model.
➀ ➁ ➂
➄
➃
Item ______
➀ OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
➁ Flexible eSATA cable
➂ USB 3.0 (A to Micro-B) cable*
➃ Screws to attach hard drive
➄ USB to DC power cable*
➅ USB 2.0 (A to mini-B) cable*
➆ FireWire 800 (1394b cable)*
➇ Software CD bundle (not all models)
➈ User Guide & Owner’s Manual
➈
Assembly Manual & User Guide
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
➇
➅➆

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 1 - Introduction
Cable Connections:
The OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini family has multiple interfaces to work with
any computer system.
➀ DC IN port - Use an auxiliary power source (external wall adapter, or USB
power adapter plug) in this port. See section 1.5 for more details.
➁ On/O Switch - Turn the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini on and o here.
➂ eSATA Port - Use with your eSATA interface for high speed connection.
NOTE: Requires external power source. See section 1.3.2 and 1.3.3 for more
details.
➃ FireWire 800 (1394b) Ports - Connect one FireWire 800 port to your
computer using the included cable and use the other FireWire 800 port to
connect additional peripherals.
➄ USB 2.0 mini Port - Connect one of your computer’s USB ports to the
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini here using the included cable.
➅ USB 3.0 micro Port - Connect one of your computer’s USB ports to the
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini here using the included cable.
1.3.1 Connecting your OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
➃➄
➅
Quad
Interface
Dual
Interface
➂➀
➁
1.3 Using your OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 1 - Introduction
1.3.2 Power Options for the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad
Interface model
The OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Quad Interface is designed to bus power
using the FireWire 800 or USB 2.0 connection from your computer. If you
choose to use the eSATA interface, connect both the FireWire (either 800-
800 or 800-400) and eSATA cables to your computer, the OWC Mercury Elite
Pro mini will use the power provided by the FireWire interface to power the
drive as the eSATA connection is data only. You can also purchase a separate
power adapter, if your computer does not have a FireWire connection. That
adapter is available at:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MOTGPWR/
1.3.3 Power Options for the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini USB
3.0 & eSATA 6.0 Gb/s interface model
The OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Dual Interface is designed to bus power
using the USB 3.0 connection from your computer. If you choose to use
the eSATA interface, connect USB to DC Power cable to your computer,
the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini will use the power provided by the USB
interface to power the drive as the eSATA connection is data only. You can
also purchase a separate power adapter, if your computer does not have a
USB connection. That adapter is available at:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MOTGPWR/
1.3.4 Powering on the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
To use the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini, connect your preferred interface
cable to the drive and the computer. Turn the power switch to the ON posi-
tion, and verify the blue LED on the front of the drive is illuminated.
Your drive should mount on your computer’s desktop, or a dialog box will
appear if you have a new, unformatted drive installed.
1.3.5 LED Indicator
The OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini has a single blue LED at the front of the
hard drive enclosure. It will illuminate blue when powered on, and ash
during drive activity (both reading and writing).

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 2 - Assembly & Installation Instructions
2 ASSEMBLY & INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
This guide will get you up and running quickly, demonstrating how to
install your own 2.5” hard drive into the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
enclosure.
Your computer is a static-sensitive device.
It is susceptible to invisible damage if not
protected during installation.
We recommend proper grounding by using
a grounding strap. Make sure to work in a
clean and static-free area, and avoid wearing
clothing that retains static charges.
For more information, please visit
http://www.macsales.com/static
Got tools? If you don’t have the tools necessary to complete this
installation, Newer Technology has a fantastic toolkit available that includes
everyhing you need to perform this installation as well as most common
computer hardware installations.
It’s available at:
http://www.macsales.com/tools

2.1 Hard Drive Assembly & Installation
Use a Phillips P0 screwdriver to remove the 2 screws holding the rear
backplane cover in place.
➀
➁Once the screws are
removed, the rear
backplane cover
will easily come
o. Set it aside to
continue.
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 2 - Assembly & Installation Instructions

Chapter 2 - Assembly & Installation Instructions
➂From the rear of the enclo-
sure, press inwards on the
rear ports to slide the inner
chassis out towards the
front of the enclosure.
Once you have opened
the enclosure. remove the
bag of screws you will nd
inside it to use in a future
step.
Once the inner chassis is removed from the outer enclosure, you will see the
SATA data & power combo connector where your 2.5” SATA drive will attach
to the bridge card.
➙
➃
➙
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini

Place your drive mechanism into the chassis, lining up the connector, and
slide the drive towards the ports to rmly ax the drive into the SATA
connector.
➄
With your ngers holding the drive mechanism into the enclosure, turn it
over so you can see the screw holes that you will need to use in the next
step.
➅
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 2 - Assembly & Installation Instructions

➆ Using the Phillips P0 screwdriver and
the included screws from the plastic bag,
attach the drive mechanism to the enclo-
sure through the rubber grommets.
Once you have installed the drive mechanism, take the outer enclosure and
look at the end of it. You will see on the bottom there are 2 metal channels;
on one side of the outer enclosure the metal channel extends all the way to
the edge of the outer enclosure, and the other side is inset to allow the rear
port cover to t ush when attached.
Slide the inner chassis through the outer enclosure from the side that has
the metal channels ush with the edge. Place the rear port cover onto the
outer enclosure in the inset in the metal channel and attach it using the
Phillips P0 screwdriver and the 2 Phillips screws you removed to begin the
assembly process.
For information on how to connect your OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
to your computer, please refer to section 1.3: Using your OWC Mercury
Elite Pro mini before proceeding.
➇ ➈
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 2 - Assembly & Installation Instructions

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting
3 FORMATTING
3.1 Formatting your OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini on a Macin-
tosh with OS X (For a new drive, or to reformat an old drive)
Click on the “Initialize” button. (If this does not appear, open Disk Utility
located in /Applications/Utilities)
Select the device with no volumes attached to it; in this picture, that would
be the 320.07 GB OWC device. Click on the picture of the drive icon next to
the text.
➁
IMPORTANT NOTE: This procedure will erase all data on the hard
drive in the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini. Back up any important
data before proceeding!
➀

Once you’ve selected the OWC device, you will notice the above change in
the Disk Utility application. Click on the “Erase” tab in this picture.
You then need to name the volume that you want to format, and erase it.
Type the name of the volume in the space provided and then choose your
desired format (Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is default, and preferred).
Click the Erase button.
➂
➃
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting
Click the erase button to conrm you wish to erase the disk.
After a few moments, the erase command will complete and the OWC Mer-
cury Elite Pro mini volume will mount on your desktop. You can quit Disk
Utility and start using your drive.
➄
➅

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting
3.2 Removing the GUID Partition Scheme
Only for XP, 2000, ME and earlier. (XP 64-BIT, Vista & Windows 7 can continue to the next section)
➆ Type exit and hit enter.
➇ Close the command prompt window.
You may now proceed with formatting the drive.
If you are not installing a brand-new hard drive into your enclosure, it
may have a GUID drive partition already installed on it, especially if it
was originally used with a Macintosh. Unfortunately, this is not readable
by Windows without special software. If you wish to use your storage
solution on a computer running Windows, you will need to repartition
and reformat using the following instructions.
➀ Go to the DOS command prompt by
selecting “Run” from the Start Menu.
➁ Type cmd into the text box, and click
the“OK” button.
➂ Type diskpart and hit enter.
➃ Type list disk and hit enter.
➄ Type select disk xreplacing xwith the number of the disk you want
to reformat. (Typically, you will see an asterisk (*) under “GPT” for the disk
requiring formatting.)
➅ Type clean and hit enter.
WARNING: The clean command will destroy ALL data on the disk you run it on!!! Be sure
there is nothing you need to keep on your drive before proceeding.

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting
3.3 Formatting your OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini on Windows
2000 and later
Instructions for other operating systems can be found at http://www.macsales.com/format.
① With the drive connected to the com-
puter and powered on, right click on the “My
Computer” icon and select “Manage” from the
menu. The “Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard”
window should appear.
If the Wizard does not appear, expand the
Storage menu by clicking on the plus (+) sign.
Then, right click next to the
disk number of the drive
that you have just con-
nected and click Initialize to
bring up the Wizard.
② In the next window,
there should be only one
drive listed. That will be the
drive that you connected
via eSATA, FireWire or USB.
Make sure the box next to
the drive name is checked and click “Next.”
③ The Wizard will perform
its tasks, and you will get the
following screen. You may
click “Finish.”
IMPORTANT NOTE: This procedure will erase all data on your hard
disk drives in the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini. Back up any impor-
tant data before proceeding!

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting
④ Your drive will
appear similar to
how Disk 1 does
below. Notice that
the space on the
lower right reads
as “Unallocated.”
Right click in this
space and choose
“New Partition.”
⑤ The “New Parti-
tion Wizard” will
launch. Click “Next” to
continue.
⑥ Specify your partition type as
“Primary,” and click “Next.”
⑦ The wizard will display the
maximum partition size for your
drive. It is strongly recommend-
ed that you do not change the
default value. Click “Next”

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting
⑧ If you like, you can specify
the drive letter designation for
your new drive. Otherwise, one
will automatically be assigned.
Click “Next.”
⑨ Before you can use
the drive, it must be
formatted. On most
systems running Win-
dows 2000 or later, it
is advisable to specify
the le system as NTFS.
Leave the Allocation
unit size as “Default,”
and feel free to give the
drive whatever name
you prefer. Be sure to
check the box “Perform
a quick format”.
If you do not, it will likely take several hours for your drive to format.
Click “Next.”
⑩ At the end of the
Wizard, you will see
a summary of the
information that you
specied during the
previous steps. Click
“Finish.”

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting
⑪ Once you have
nished with the
formatting wizard,
you will see that
your new drive
(represented as
“Disk E” in this
case) will display
a message of
“Formatting.” This
should only take
a couple of min-
utes if you chose
the quick format
option.
⑫ After a moment
or two, the drive’s
status will change
from “Formatting”
to “Healthy.”

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 3 - Formatting
⑬ At this point, you may close the Computer Management win-
dow. Your drive is ready to use and can be found in “My Computer.”
Using your new Storage Solution on both Macs and PCs?
MacDrive™ takes the guesswork out of sharing les. Whether you are transfer-
ring les between home and the oce, a class room lab and your dorm room
or even on the same computer, MacDrive makes it painless.
In fact, you’ll hardly know MacDrive is working.
Once installed MacDrive will automati-
cally give you access to any Mac disk you
pop into your computer. MacDrive even
puts an “apple” icon on the Mac disk, just
to keep things clear.
You can access les on the Mac disk just
like you would with a Windows format-
ted disk. Open les from the disk or from
within a program. Mac les automati-
cally get the right icons and le name
extensions under both Windows and
Mac OS.
Works great with software from Mi-
crosoft, Adobe, Quark, FileMaker, Avid,
Digidesign, Corel, NewTek and more.
You can nd MacDrive at:
http://www.macsales.com/macdrive

OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Chapter 4 -Troubleshooting & Tips
4 TROUBLESHOOTING & TIPS
4.1 Troubleshooting
Some of the most simple problems can be traced to power or connectivity
issues. Verify that your cables (both ends!) are properly plugged into the
computer and storage solution. If they are, and the storage solution is still
not working properly, try connecting to another interface and see if the de-
vice works properly. If these suggestions do not work, try the OWC Mercury
Elite Pro mini on a dierent computer, if available to you.
If the blue power light is not coming on at the front of the OWC Mercury
Elite Pro mini, try a dierent interface or a dedicated power adapter.
OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini models can also be bus powered using a “Y”
USB adapter cable if your computer’s USB port does not provide enough
power to use the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini Quad, OWC oers custom “Y”
cables that will draw power from two separate USB ports - they are available
for purchase at: http://eshop.macsales.com/search/auxiliary
4.2 Tips
To properly dismount any connected hard drives from your computer, you
need to follow a few simple steps.
• For Macintosh systems:
There are two methods to umount disks with Macintosh systems. Either
drag the icon for the hard disk you wish to dismount to the trash can, or
click the eject icon next to the hard disk name in under the “DEVICES” tab in
the sidebar in any nder window.
• For Windows systems:
1. Go to the System Tray (located in the lower right corner of your screen).
Click on the Eject icon (a small green arrow over a hardware image).
2. A message will appear, detailing the devices that the Eject icon controls.
i.e. “Safely remove...” Click on this prompt.
3. You will then be given the following message. “Safe to Remove Hardware”.
It is now safe to unhook the OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini.