Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery

[Felix Krull]

I can't afford to spend any money on it. Maybe a little if someone does the soldering, but it seems that may not even work.

[Felix Krull]

Also, I can't actually find the same PCB.

[Felix Krull]

Wonderful news!

I connected the original PCB back up to the drive, and actually clamped the USB port back into place... It was a last resort, but to my surprise, it's actually worked, and stayed connected long enough for me to actually recover all my data.

So, if anyone has this same problem, please try this, if the USB port isn't too badly damaged. Just make sure the clamp you use is plastic, NOT METAL, or anything else that will conduct.

[loki]

Wonderful news!

I connected the original PCB back up to the drive, and actually clamped the USB port back into place... It was a last resort, but to my surprise, it's actually worked, and stayed connected long enough for me to actually recover all my data.

So, if anyone has this same problem, please try this, if the USB port isn't too badly damaged. Just make sure the clamp you use is plastic, NOT METAL, or anything else that will conduct.

Well done

Loki

[JosephII]

Ok I have a WD Essentials 500GB HDD whose usb port broke from the PCB board. I attached a SATA to USB adapter to the dive removed from the enclosure and my computer sees it however I can't see any of my video files on it. I found a new (removed from new HDD) PCB that matches mine exactly in terms of all the different numbers (serial, revision etc)...if I purchase this part will I be able to simply attach it to my drive, put the drive back in the enclosure and continue to operate my HDD as normal? The part does have a 30 day return policy..is it worth it or are all of my files gone forever? Thanks in advance
Peace & Love

[kevin_ga]

I have the same problem with my 1TByte WD MyBook. After two days, I finally found the answer. WD uses a firmware chip on the USB to SATA board that encrypts the data. Any data written on the drive (including partitions) can't be read when the drive is removed from the adapter card. Google initio-1607E for more information. I even tried to retrieve data using a variety of recovery tools & no luck. I am buying a sacrificial MyBook for the USB adapter. The new SATA drive will go into my desktop system, BTW, I priced data recovery services from a recommended WD partner, $700 (US) minimum.

[JosephII]

I have a 500gb WD My Book Essential that had it usb port break. I purchased a "new" (removed from brand new HD controller board 4061-705059-003 REV. P1 ) which was the same model as originally in the unit. I connected the controller card, it mounts fine in Windows XP...however I cannot see any of the several video files that were stored on my HD. All that I can see is a WD Smartware image approx. 630mb that contains said software. Question is my video data really gone or is their something that I can do to recover my data now that my HD is operational? Thanks in advance
Peace & Love

[harddrivespecialist]

Joseph and Kevin,

You have to make sure you retain original External PCB's, they contain encryption codes which are crucial for your drive. Does not matter if they are broken or not.

[harddrivespecialist]

I have the same problem with my 1TByte WD MyBook. After two days, I finally found the answer. WD uses a firmware chip on the USB to SATA board that encrypts the data. Any data written on the drive (including partitions) can't be read when the drive is removed from the adapter card. Google initio-1607E for more information. I even tried to retrieve data using a variety of recovery tools & no luck. I am buying a sacrificial MyBook for the USB adapter. The new SATA drive will go into my desktop system, BTW, I priced data recovery services from a recommended WD partner, $700 (US) minimum.

double post.

[JosephII]

Joseph and Kevin,

You have to make sure you retain original External PCB's, they contain encryption codes which are crucial for your drive. Does not matter if they are broken or not.

Thanks. How can I recover my data do I need to solder something from the original PCB to the donor PCB? It's very important to my lively hood that I get this data back. I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thanks in advance.

Peace & Love

[navlag2007]

I think u should try partition find and mount. I was in your same scenario. 3 different usb controllers would not decrypt drive. All I would get was unallocated space in disk mgmt. In ''my computer'' all I would get was smartware icon like you. Once I tried the program named above, all the controllers decrypted the drive without a problem. I had same model as yours just different revision. Also, I don't think revision is an issue with our drives considering I had 2 different revisions( 2 of the 3 were same revision) decrypt my drive.

[navlag2007]

Joseph II - Does your drive autoplay normally? Or does only the smartware icon come up with no drive letter for your actual drive? If it's the latter, u should try program from my previous post.

[JosephII]

Naviag2007- The Smartware comes up and it is about 666mb, and the drive isn't shown in the "My Computer" section, I can see it in the "Device Manager" however....also when I go to to "Disk Management" it shows the Smartware (with a drive letter assigned to it) and 465gb of unallocated space. I had a thought... Between the 465gb and the 666mb that's roughly 466gb...which means that there is approx. 34gb of actual data that I can't see presently....is there any way I can (might be the wrong term here) image that data on to DVD's and reformat the drive and put it back? Also which software title was that again? and if you could please just give me a laymens explanation on how to use it to recover my files. 1nce again Thank you

Peace & Love

[northwind]

Between the 465gb and the 666mb that's roughly 466gb...which means that there is approx. 34gb of actual data that I can't see presently

No. A 500GB data will not show you 500GB on disk management, it will show you less. This is correct.

Did you try to scan your hdd with some recovery software? Try R-Studio trial and see if it detects any data. If not, then your decryption has failed. I understand you're not too tech savvy, else i 'd ask you to run WinHex and tell us what you see...

[fzabkar]

@JosephII,

Since you are using Windows XP, then here is a single-click method to extract the information that we would need to confirm whether your data are encrypted.

Extract the following archive to the one folder and execute the SIrun.bat file. The procedure will generate a report file named SIout.txt.

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/SecInspect.zip

[Aussie Girl]

Hey guys, I had the same problem with my USB connector breaking off and I was unable to access 1TB of data off my WD My Book 1TB. I have got it working so wanted to let you all know, as I have read all of these forums looking for advice.

First I tried putting the hard drive into an external case - the drive was not accessible and did not work.

Then I tried accessing the data through a recovery program, which was able to see the drive and data - however after 10 hours of reading it - it was encrypted.

Finally I went and bought a new mini USB connector for $1.95 from Altronics in Australia and then went to a local electronics repairer who charged me $40 and was able to solder it on. He told me it is extremely common and they break all the time.

I want to upload a photo of the soldered circuit board, because I had looked everywhere for one. But I have no idea how to do that on here? Anyway the guy did a great job and I can access all the data! I learnt a big lesson having 71,000 photos stored solely on my hard drive!

Hope this helps... If anyone wants to see how it was soldered let me know and I'll send you the pic!

[BlackST]

Hey guys, I had the same problem with my USB connector breaking off and I was unable to access 1TB of data off my WD My Book 1TB. I have got it working so wanted to let you all know, as I have read all of these forums looking for advice.

First I tried putting the hard drive into an external case - the drive was not accessible and did not work.

Then I tried accessing the data through a recovery program, which was able to see the drive and data - however after 10 hours of reading it - it was encrypted.

Finally I went and bought a new mini USB connector for $1.95 from Altronics in Australia and then went to a local electronics repairer who charged me $40 and was able to solder it on. He told me it is extremely common and they break all the time.

I want to upload a photo of the soldered circuit board, because I had looked everywhere for one. But I have no idea how to do that on here? Anyway the guy did a great job and I can access all the data! I learnt a big lesson having 71,000 photos stored solely on my hard drive!

Hope this helps... If anyone wants to see how it was soldered let me know and I'll send you the pic!

A broken USB connector is not a problem neither is considered an HDD fault , it's normal wear and tear. The problem is for average joe to do the job correctly without making a disaster. The total price was $40 + 1,95 + some hours of life for searching and moving.... that is not exactly zero.

[fzabkar]

Finally I went and bought a new mini USB connector for $1.95 from Altronics in Australia and then went to a local electronics repairer who charged me $40 and was able to solder it on.

Congratulations!

That's a tiny fraction of what you would pay for a "professional data recovery". BTW, some Aussie guys would have done it for even less. :-)

[colpick]

Hey guys, I had the same problem with my USB connector breaking off and I was unable to access 1TB of data off my WD My Book 1TB. I have got it working so wanted to let you all know, as I have read all of these forums looking for advice.

First I tried putting the hard drive into an external case - the drive was not accessible and did not work.

Then I tried accessing the data through a recovery program, which was able to see the drive and data - however after 10 hours of reading it - it was encrypted.

Finally I went and bought a new mini USB connector for $1.95 from Altronics in Australia and then went to a local electronics repairer who charged me $40 and was able to solder it on. He told me it is extremely common and they break all the time.

I want to upload a photo of the soldered circuit board, because I had looked everywhere for one. But I have no idea how to do that on here? Anyway the guy did a great job and I can access all the data! I learnt a big lesson having 71,000 photos stored solely on my hard drive!

Hope this helps... If anyone wants to see how it was soldered let me know and I'll send you the pic!

hi aussie girl i to have the same problem and have ordered a new connector be good if you could please send me pic of soldered job mail to pickup05@btinternet.com cheers colin

[remy1492]

thanks for this topic.

My MyBook 2TB would not power on. I took the drive out, mounted it in the PC case and found it needed INITIALIZATION. Being in a rush, I said yes, to initialize it. still no data. then I found out online about its hardware encryption, the chip, the board and my huge mistake buying this thing.

I figured Id give it another shot in its case and plugged it all back in to see what would not work. Well............it powered on! Great, but now it cant see the original data. It will see the WD CD partition on the drive but the WD tools wants me to set up the drive.

Ok............ so here is the question:
I initialized the drive in win 7, which obviously was not a good move, perhaps it erased a boot record or something that WD had to recognize the hidden partition.
--Can I UNDO this initialization?
--so.....what is the next step?

--Do I go ahead use the WD program and Set Up the drive? Will that repopulate the previous files (which is about 1 TB of movie .ISOs)? Will it enable R-studio to get access to those files and sectors even if I cant see them when it re-sets up that area?

As it stands right now, R-studio just sees encrypted large files on the drive. I am thinking if the PCboard chip uses the same encryption again, perhaps it may see all the original files and not overwrite them/format the drive.

And what a great time to lose a drive, HD prices have doubled here in the US due to Thailand floods.

thanks
Remy