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Vantec NexStar 3 Not Recognized via USB

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I purchased a Vantec NexStar 3 SATA to eSATA & USB enclosure (NST-360SU-BK) and it operates correctly when connected via eSATA, however, it is not recognized when I plug it in via USB. Vantec indicates that it should be a simple plug-and-play device that will install automatically when connected via USB. However, this is the error I receive:

USB device not recognized. One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.

It shows up in bold as Unknown Device.

This occurs with both Windows XP and Windows Vista. I am currently trying to get it to work via USB with Vista. The hard drive I am using with it is a Western Digital Caviar RE2 500GB (WD5000YS). There is no jumper on it because it clearly states on the drive that “Master/Slave jumper not required for SATA.” I have plugged it into each front USB and rear USB port, including those on the motherboard and it still produces the same problem.

I have plugged it in internally, formatted and partitioned it properly. Again, it is recognized when connected via eSATA, but not USB.

I have downloaded and installed the driver from the website, and installed USB Storage Toolbox. I have tried to manually update the driver to USB Mass Storage Device, and I have tried to search the computer (C:\Windows and all subfolders) for the best driver but still an error occurs.

All hardware and connections are plugged in properly. I have even tried a different USB cable, but to no avail. Other USB Mass Storage devices work on my computer, such as my iPod, USB thumb drive, and external IDE hard drive.

I've searched many forums and either nobody has any issues with this enclosure or they have resolved them by trying one of or a combination of the things I have done. Does anyone know what the problem might be and what I can do to fix it?


Thanks!

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Anonymous

Nextar devices are cheap and notorious for not being recognized. I myself have a 4 gb PMP which only gets recognized about one in 12 times that i plug it in. I noticed that sometimes if I restart the PC and then plug it in and out a few times it finally recognizes it. Good thing it's got an SD slot - at least I can put stuff on that much faster without plugging the device in.
This issue occurs on both vista and xp on my end too. I also contacted Nextar tech support and they told me this was not compatible with Vista, which is obviously bs. The guy said his name was John. That's funny though, I dont know any Johns that speak with a middle eastern accent lol

D

I too just purchased the Vantec Nexstar enclosure and came across problems. I had the same exact issue as you and after troubleshooting for several hours now, including physically taking it apart a couple times. For me, Vista would find the drive and give it a drive letter but when I clicked on it it would give me the error "access denied." Was really weird because the actual drive properties would even come up under device manager which in my case is also a western digital caviar 500GB which came out of the old My Book external drive. Well anyway I finally figured it out. It was a permissions issue on the drive itself. In Vista, just right click on the drive letter of the drive, go to properties, security, and select/add the user under "Group or user names". Make sure you set to full control. That should work from there. If not go under advanced security settings and work your way through there. I hope this helps you cause I know how frustrated you must be with it. I almost tossed mine out the window. Good Luck.

PJ
vhigh32@aol.com

I also just bought the blue Vantec Nexstar Enclosure IDE to USB and I am having issues with it too.
It works great on my thinkpad (XP SP2) when I am accessing an old WD 250 GB data drive of mine. When I try using it for the C: drive of my previous computer it recognizes the drive as being attached via USB and it even shows up on disk management as a healthy NTFS partition, but it doesn't have a drive letter, I cannot assign a drive letter and it also wont show up on MY Computer.
Its quite frustrating as it seems the enclosure is working fine but for some reason XP is having issues assigning a drive letter to it. Anyone have a solution to this???
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I meant to post this a lot earlier, but for people who still have this problem, it turned out to be a dead NexStar enclosure. It has absolutely nothing to do with the drivers, Vista, the file system, or an incompatible hard drive. Vantec offers a decent warranty, so if you fill out an RMA form here and provide proof of purchase, you can send them your dud and they should quickly ship out a new one to you. I got my replacement pretty quick, and it worked immediately as a plug-n-play device. Aside from the defective one, the NexStar enclosure is really nice and works well.

And just in case anybody is wondering, I installed a Seagate 1.5TB hard drive in this enclosure and it works perfectly, although Vantec claims that the enclosure will only work with hard drives up to 500GB.

ymdl1 said:
I also just bought the blue Vantec Nexstar Enclosure IDE to USB and I am having issues with it too.
It works great on my thinkpad (XP SP2) when I am accessing an old WD 250 GB data drive of mine. When I try using it for the C: drive of my previous computer it recognizes the drive as being attached via USB and it even shows up on disk management as a healthy NTFS partition, but it doesn't have a drive letter, I cannot assign a drive letter and it also wont show up on MY Computer.
Its quite frustrating as it seems the enclosure is working fine but for some reason XP is having issues assigning a drive letter to it. Anyone have a solution to this???


I have exactly the same problem, but only with my WD drive and not others like Seagate or Quantum. Very frustrating. Did you ever find a solution?

The NexStar turned out to be defective. You can return it to the store you purchased it from to exchange it for another one or file for an RMA on the Vantec website. I went through the RMA process and they sent a new one quickly, but more importantly, the new one worked exactly how it was supposed to. No errors, no headaches, just plug and play.

I too was having this problem for a long time.......I just turned the enclosure OFF and then back ON again, and the problem went away. I had been trying to clone a hard drive prior to the problem, and the cloning program encountered an error.
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