https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/ SoftRAID Discussion Board en-US Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:53:39 +0000 wpForo 60 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4615 Fri, 08 May 2020 22:12:34 +0000 Looks like there is no easy option. You need to find an enclosure from 2010 to work. It seems like the data is not valuable enough for a data recovery effort, but I could look into that if you want. This is one of the downsides of hardware RAID in general, it adds a point of failure to the system (controller card) and hardware that is more than a few years old is hard to get ahold of. I have seen even "Major" hardware RAID brands like Promise no longer offer support for enclosures just 3 years obsolete. Well I got 10 years out of it without a single previous issue, so I can hardly complain. Thanks for all your help!]]> Hardware Compatibility WiseHaus https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4615 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4613 Fri, 08 May 2020 17:16:25 +0000 Hardware Compatibility SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4613 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4610 Fri, 08 May 2020 12:24:33 +0000 I have investigated and discovered that the two enclosures are the same hardware, but different firmware. The change was enough that you cannot swap drives into the other. I am looking for any options you may have. Much appreciated!]]> Hardware Compatibility WiseHaus https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4610 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4608 Thu, 07 May 2020 23:25:56 +0000 Hardware Compatibility SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4608 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4607 Wed, 06 May 2020 21:17:11 +0000 post the model numbers of both Qx2 units. i can check if they have any differences 1) The older enclosure is: Description: OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 eSATA,FireWire 800+USB 2.0 4-Bay SATA Desktop RAID Storage Enclosure with selectable RAID 0,1,5,10 Hardware RAID, NRAID Span Options. Add your own drives! Supports 2TB drive mechanisms. Oxford 936 chipset, 1 Year Warranty Order Date: November 3, 2010 OWC item number: OWCMEQX2KIT0GB 2) The newer enclosure is: Description: OWC Mercury Elite Pro Qx2 eSATA,FireWire 800+USB 2.0 4-Bay SATA Desktop RAID Storage Enclosure with selectable RAID 0,1,5,10 Hardware RAID, NRAID Span Options. Add your own drives! Supports 4TB drive mechanisms. Oxford 936 chipset, 1 Year Warranty Order Date: November 2, 2012 OWC item number: OWCMEQX2KIT0GB]]> Hardware Compatibility WiseHaus https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/paged/2/#post-4607 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4606 Wed, 06 May 2020 18:26:10 +0000 Hardware Compatibility SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4606 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4605 Wed, 06 May 2020 17:36:22 +0000 You are sure you are putting them in the correct order? that is critical. Some RAID controllers write data to the disks immediately, so you are screwed if you ever swap positions on drives. BUt if you have it right, the volume name or at least the LUN (looking like a raw uninitialized disk) should show up. (Maybe the controller failed, if not) How mission critical is the data? I am reasonably sure I have not messed up the ordering. When I removed the drives the first time, I labeled each one Drive A, B, C, and D. Unfortunately the disk does not seem to be visible to the computer even as an un-initialized drive. No sign of it at all, which is why I thought that perhaps the enclosure might be the problem. However, other than swapping in the drives from my other Qx2 enclosure, I could think of no way to isolate that possibility. Of course if the enclosures are potentially different as you suggest, then that test is not as definitive as I had hoped. The data is not mission critical, so it's not worth sending the disks to a professional repair service for example. I'd simply like to recover the data if possible, plus I am a bit on the stubborn side. :)]]> Hardware Compatibility WiseHaus https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4605 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4604 Wed, 06 May 2020 16:36:52 +0000 Hardware Compatibility SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4604 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4601 Wed, 06 May 2020 10:16:52 +0000 If it is a different model, yes it is different. (You need the same product number there have been difference versions over the years. Even when you get the "failure" alert, see if either the volume appears, or if it can be seen by SoftRAID or Disk Utility. I replaced the 4x2TB drives back in the original Qx2 enclosure. I can confirm that I still get the alarm sound and the array is not visible with Disk Utility (or other disk repair software). I also tried removing each of the four drives in succession and booting with only three drives. I get the same result regardless of which drive I remove. I gather it is looking a bit dire for the possibility of resurrection here. I appreciate the assistance so far in any case.]]> Hardware Compatibility WiseHaus https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4601 https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4600 Tue, 05 May 2020 23:04:21 +0000 Hardware Compatibility SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/hardware-compatibility/owc-mercury-elite-pro-qx2-with-softraid-xt-5-8-3/#post-4600