Just an update, I plugged in a older 320 GB SATA drive (formatted with windows OS on it) about two years old. STILL NOT RECOGNIZED on either a MAC or PC. I can hear the drive spin up. Light just stays on, no flicker. Wow! I was very excited but then still no drive seen.

Anybody...??
You sure it is a USB 2.0 and it works with another device or memory stick? Gotta rule out item by item.

Searching around it seems that the Vantec / WD Green drives have some issues. I'd go with a WD Black drive and see how that works.

A Vantec CX enclosure would be a cheaper solution. They only cost $25-$30. I have two WD green dives in these enclosures and they work flawlessly.

The Vantec CX is only for 2.5" drives and only does USB 2.0 so its not a replacement for the Nexstar 3.

Do a search for Vantec Nexstar CX 3.5 , they do make the CX for larger drives as well.

I spoke to Vantec tech support. They have recognized that "certain drives" have issues with their enclosure. In short, they will be replacing my powersupply, which of course is "out of stock"...

Vantec=crap

Last update

New power supply; now it works. The troubling thing is that I changed the unit twice with the same issue - seems to be a quality control problem with their products.

I was having the same issue with a Vantec Nexstar 3 and a WD Green WD10EADS. It was showing up as "Mass USB storage device" but no drive letter. I also own an older Nexstar and everything worked if I used the older Nexstar's power supply with the Nexstar 3 (power supply specs were identical). I noticed that with the Nexstar 3's power supply, there was no drive spinning up sound after switching it on. Exchanged the power supply at the store and everything works.

If your Vantec doesn't get a drive letter, listen for typical drive spinning up and head calibration power up sounds. If you get the blue light but don't hear a thing, it could very well be the power supply.

Note that the bad power supply was able to power an older smaller and probably less power demanding drive in the Nexstar 3, so weak (not bad) power supply is probably a better term.

The WD Green drives are very low power, much lower than any older 3.5" drives. High power draw would not be an issue with them so it must be a faulty batch of power supplies. It's possible that the WD green drive does not draw enough power for the PS to work properly, especially if it is a switching power supply. That should not happen though.

fla_2, is your Vantec Nexstar 3's original power supply the same as mine:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=368&pictureid=1657

I have an older Nextar 3 with a Welland brand PS. It has no problems with WD Green drives. The SATA port does not always work but that's more likely an issue with the motherboard SATA controller.

Yes the original "bad" power supply looked identical to yours (specs, brand, everything). The replacement one from the store looks identical too so I'm not that certain about its long term reliability although it works now.

One difference I noticed is that my old nextar's power supply that worked with the new nexstar 3 has the serial number printed directly on instead of on a sticker like the new ones have.

Also the old nexstar power supply has a much shorter list of supported nexstar models printed on the other side (because fewer existed back then) but it still worked with the newer nextar 3.

Thanks for confirming that. I'm going to plug the Opti power supply into the wall but not into the case and then leave my multimeter on it for a few hours to see if the output varies or craps out.

I also looked up the Welland-brand power supplies mentioned earlier in this thread and found that they output at 26W versus the 34W on the Opti so I'm not inclined to play around with ordering one if raw power output is the issue.

If the Opti power supply is the culprit I'll probably dig out one of my old 200W ATX power supplies and run the 12V and 5V into that case from it to see what happens.

External drive power supplies are fairly universal. The usually provide 12v/5v at similar power levels. The plugs on the end of Nextar power supplies are a different size and configuration from some others though. An ATX power supply will not likely work well. They need extra motherboard logic to become live.