Mediasonic only SELLS worldwide

But they won't support their products if you were unfortunate enough to buy them.

During the 'Hard drive Disasters' of a few months ago, Seagate sent me back a replacement hard drive without the enclosure (that's another story of crappy support, but I digress), so I ordered one from PC Case Gear. A Mediasonic ProBox HDL-SU3 3.5' SATA Hard Drive Enclosure, marketed as a "Hotway ROCK HDL-Series".

It was delivered forthwith, and there didn't seem to be an issue....at first. Then I noticed that Hard Drive Sentinel was 'blank' in regards to identifying the drive/case. Windows ID'ed the drive (make, volume, storage)Being tech savvy, I went through the check list of troubleshooting (this is my polite way of saying "Don't try to give me advice, I know what I'm doing) and still nothing.

After a week, I contacted HDS. Turns out that the issue is with the MediaSonic case chipset. It's not sending the data needed.

From HDS:

Originally, when USB 3.0 enclosures released, we contacted them to make sure that the new products should contain the required functions. But the problem is that for some manufacturers, their customers are not really important and ignored this.

Personally I'd be more than happy if I can change, modify the software in any ways: if there would be a problem/bug in Hard Disk Sentinel, I would surely fix it and add support for this enclosure. But as the limitation is related to the enclosure itself (its chipset), I can't really improve.

Since the problem was the chipset, I contacted MediaSonic.. this is their reply (keep in mind, they sell worldwide)

Hi, We only provide support to our customers who purchase our products from our distributors in North American.

If you meet the above criteria , please provide photos showing front and back of the enclosure and a copy of receipt.

Regard, Vincent Mediasonic Support

Vincent's reply is disingenuous as my email address clearly shows I am NOT in the North America, and I informed them I purchased the item at PC Case Gear, an Australian company. They don't/won't provide a firmware update unless you bought it from North America distributor.

So, my local to me friends, and those also NOT in North America, steer clear of MediaSonic aka Hotway Rock HDL Series. Because if there's a problem, you're screwed. (They could have at least offered a kiss first, yes?)