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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: April 2nd, 2013, 2:18 
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Joined: April 2nd, 2013, 1:51
Posts: 2
Location: Australia
What a nightmare these drives are when the usb breaks hey?! Anyway i've taken a minimal risk and purchased a PCB from ebay today and will wait the 5-15 working days for it to be shipped from Hong Kong. My exact board is listed on the Sellers store: ecpart888 - i spent time going through all the different boards they have listed there as a lot of them appear nearly the same to the naked eye, yet the small revisions in the version numbers may make a difference. So here's hoping. $24 including postage seems a small price to pay (ultra cheap in my opinion) if this brings the drive back to life because of the encryption scenario. My drive is working, it was purely my careless handling of it when i transported it from home to a friends house one day. The USB port is slightly ajar from the board itself and i just havent been able to find a local electronics repair guru to do it for me. Ive left a pic of the issue for the moment and ill report back the findings when the new board arrives and i try to fit it, hopefully with full success. Cheers for now.


Attachments:
File comment: broken usb on WD My Book 1.5tb drive
Photo 2-04-13 5 02 22 PM.jpg
Photo 2-04-13 5 02 22 PM.jpg [ 1.12 MiB | Viewed 14330 times ]
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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: April 8th, 2013, 7:45 
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Joined: April 26th, 2012, 1:52
Posts: 388
Location: Chicago, USA
It's great to have a thread like this.

And in my spare time I fix all the connectors for free as service to the local area. No need to charge $40 for 10 minutes work. If I need to buy parts U pay for the part.

_________________
On a clear disk you can seek forever.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: April 8th, 2013, 18:07 
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Joined: April 2nd, 2013, 1:51
Posts: 2
Location: Australia
Keatah wrote:
It's great to have a thread like this.

And in my spare time I fix all the connectors for free as service to the local area. No need to charge $40 for 10 minutes work. If I need to buy parts U pay for the part.


would be great to have a service like that here in Australia :D


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: April 23rd, 2013, 22:14 
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Joined: April 23rd, 2013, 22:09
Posts: 3
Location: Malaysia
Aussie Girl wrote:
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!


Even though this post is 2 years ago I hope I will have some confirmation from someone. I faced the same problem as the quoted post, and I assume the mini USB connector that she bought to solder on her hard disk is this one? http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?a ... m&id=P1308 (same price $1.95and from same website)

If it is I'm gonna try my luck and find some electrical repairman to help solder it for me.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: April 27th, 2013, 7:38 
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Joined: April 27th, 2013, 7:34
Posts: 3
Location: Cambodia
hi evo007,
Looks like my problem is exactly the same as yours, and I also just purchased the same PCB from the same seller! Have you got yours yet? Recovered your data? Fingers crossed...
Cheers
Phil


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: April 29th, 2013, 7:18 
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Joined: April 23rd, 2013, 22:09
Posts: 3
Location: Malaysia
evo007 wrote:
Keatah wrote:
It's great to have a thread like this.

And in my spare time I fix all the connectors for free as service to the local area. No need to charge $40 for 10 minutes work. If I need to buy parts U pay for the part.


would be great to have a service like that here in Australia :D


Any news evo? And which part exactly did you buy? Thanks


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: May 22nd, 2013, 4:13 
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Joined: April 27th, 2013, 7:34
Posts: 3
Location: Cambodia
Hi everyone,
My problem was the drive spins up ok, USB connector seemed a bit loose and nothing could be read. (I tried to connect it directly with a SATA cable also) The WD HDD has the USB bridging board, so I bought the same piece off ebay (seller ecpart888) and it arrived today. Slotted it in, fired it up, all my data recovered! Excellent.
So, if it looks like your USB connector is damaged, then try buy the exact same part # of the bridging board ad fingers crossed, all will be good!
Cheers


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: May 22nd, 2013, 6:24 
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Joined: July 7th, 2010, 4:45
Posts: 924
Location: UK
LittleBird wrote:
Hi everyone,
My problem was the drive spins up ok, USB connector seemed a bit loose and nothing could be read. (I tried to connect it directly with a SATA cable also) The WD HDD has the USB bridging board, so I bought the same piece off ebay (seller ecpart888) and it arrived today. Slotted it in, fired it up, all my data recovered! Excellent.
So, if it looks like your USB connector is damaged, then try buy the exact same part # of the bridging board ad fingers crossed, all will be good!
Cheers


Well done on recovering your data & thanks for posting your result, its good to get successful posts.

Sometimes if the USB port is loose you can use a g clamp to clamp it to the pcb & it will make a good enough connection for you to recover the data.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/S-PCL3050-Mod ... 2c6ce5e3a4

Loki


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: May 22nd, 2013, 22:18 
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Joined: April 27th, 2013, 7:34
Posts: 3
Location: Cambodia
Yep, I tried clamping, holding fingers etc. Could read the drive for a split second then nothing. So from then I figured it must be the USB part, and ebay sorted me out.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 4th, 2013, 10:39 
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Joined: January 12th, 2013, 23:17
Posts: 4
Location: Croatia
Hi everybody, it's been a while since my last post. I just wanted to let you know how I fixed my problem with the WD essential :D
One page ago I gave a detailed view of my problem and after many months I finally managed to gain access to my files. First I did everything loki & sathyan suggested but it didn't work out. My PCBA did get electricity, but it didn't transfer electricity onto my HDD and even after I gave it to a pro he just couldn't find the frakking problem (he checked everything but to no avail).After the 1st try, I ordered a similar PCBA from ebay, but it didn't work out. All the numbers matched, but the Revision didn't. I know a couple of people had no problem with that, but it looks like mine did and I had to match everything precisely. I wanted to make a chip transfer from my old PCBA to the new one, but I could find anybody skilled enough at first...after that it was a money issue (scumbag pro).
Since I couldn't find any exact match and couldn't afford the "pro help", I gave up.
After a couple of months I found out that my neighbor uses a WD essential, so I somehow got my hands on the PCBA (he was really scared I would break something, but in the end I convinced him :wink: ) tried it ....and I found the perfect match of my PCBA! I put it onto my HDD fired it up and everything worked. The PC didn't find anything at first and wanted to make some changes to the master boot record and an initialization, but I just started the WD smartware software and everything from there on was just history.

Hope my little story helps somebody who has a similar problem. I just want to point out that, in the end, all I needed was the exact PCBA (number on the board and little label!) to fix my issue.
Thank you loki & sathyan and all the others for the help.

Stay away from hardware encrypted drives like this one and switch to generic ones, if you're concerned about somebody snooping around your files and you really want encryption then use TrueCrypt


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 6th, 2013, 10:41 
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Joined: April 23rd, 2013, 22:09
Posts: 3
Location: Malaysia
loltromen wrote:
Aussie Girl wrote:
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!


Even though this post is 2 years ago I hope I will have some confirmation from someone. I faced the same problem as the quoted post, and I assume the mini USB connector that she bought to solder on her hard disk is this one? http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?a ... m&id=P1308 (same price $1.95and from same website)

If it is I'm gonna try my luck and find some electrical repairman to help solder it for me.


Well I went to a guy who does soldering services and he told me the USB connector from the link above does not match my WD harddisk. So I have no idea which USB connector Aussie Girl bought from that website as the one I found from the link above is the only USB 3.0 connector.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 6th, 2013, 16:15 
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Joined: April 26th, 2012, 1:52
Posts: 388
Location: Chicago, USA
Pics please, unless you posted them earlier, in which case provide the message number.

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On a clear disk you can seek forever.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 11th, 2013, 12:26 
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Joined: June 10th, 2013, 19:34
Posts: 2
Location: Bristol
Hello everyone.

I'm new to this site/forum but I just need some help. I have a wd elements portable SE, and my connection port is broken. If ou can see from my picture, one of the pins have disappeared :( I believe this is because it was because the hard drive was knocked off he table and was pulled from the cable. Anyway when connection to my laptop, it is not connectable.
I have seeked a friend who does data recoveries, but he had informed it wasn't fixable due to the connection port being soldered on to the hard drive inside. Apparently with other portable hard drives, the hard drive can be put into a new case, but as the connection port is soldered onto the hard drive, it couldn't be transferred.
I've phoned western digital as I still have one months warranty, but they said that they could recover data for me, but can exchange the drive for a new one. So therefore I would loose all my data.
I phoned their recommended data recovery companies that was listed on their website and they were quoting me £300+!
Therefore I went to my local IT shop; Pc world and they also told me they couldn't do it as it was soldered on.
Therefore I don't know what to do?! They recommend changing the port but how do I do that? I'm not really a "computer geek" (please don't take offence), so I have no idea what pcb are, as I have read on this forum.
So what do you recommend me to do. The information on there are very important to me. They have 4years worth of photos on, including some once in a life time holidays. So I would really like them back. I know the first thing I would do is to put them on a CD.
Anyway any help would be really appreciated! :D


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File comment: The connection port.
image.jpg
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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 11th, 2013, 12:34 
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Joined: November 9th, 2006, 15:15
Posts: 2983
Without knowledge of PCB, or electrical repairs, etc this is not something you can do yourself. Your local PC repair shop should be able to help, but im not sure.

Due to the HDD being encrypted, your best option is to get it repaired. Assuming there is no other problems, this can maybe be done a little cheaper than the £300 you are quoted, but to be totally honest around £300 sounds normal for standard data recovery, and most DR firms do not offer repairs as a service.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 11th, 2013, 12:40 
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Joined: November 9th, 2006, 15:15
Posts: 2983
Quote:
I believe this is because it was because the hard drive was knocked off he table and was pulled from the cable.


I missed this part :(

At this point, its pretty possible (likely) that there are other problems apart from the obvious connection problem. Most companies will offer a free evaluation where they can identify the exact problem and give you a real idea of the problem. Mostly these are no obligation evaluations and you can decide to proceed, have your media returned or wait until you can afford the costs of recovery. At the very least, you get an accurate diagnostic and realistic opinions as to the potential results should you proceed.

I understand this is not what you wanted to hear, but with little skills or knowledge in PCB/DR/ soldering etc and the chance of further complications resulting from being knocked off the table, its the best course of action.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 11th, 2013, 14:04 
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Joined: April 26th, 2012, 1:52
Posts: 388
Location: Chicago, USA
Replacing the connector is an easy thing for an experienced electronics technician. It's a shame that so-called techs botch jobs like that regularly.

Electrical repairmen aren't skilled for this delicate work either. They're used to working on big and brawny wires and stuff that needs a 100-watt soldering iron. Not this small stuff that needs and air pencil or 10-watt iron and a warming heat source from the other side.

But, anyhow, since the disk was pulled from the table and hit the floor, who's to say what kind of internal damage has been done. I'm talking about the motors and spinning discs and stuff - parts that are inside the sealed/sterile environment of the disc housing itself. Not the black casing, but the silver "box" inside the black casing.

A broken connector shouldn't be a show stopper to a data recovery operation. How else would they work on damaged drives? A full service data recovery lab would be able to replace the connector in an instant. I could replace it over lunch and still have time for a sub. So this friend of yours isn't up to snuff. I feel that he is just running off-the-shelf utilities. Just a guess.

Why do so many people go to IT shops? These are the worst kinds of places to get disk repairs and data recoveries done! The burn boards when replacing parts. They throw away parts they don't think they need. The run a disk to death with software. They don't image a disk in a logical-recovery situation. They treat the disk as a black box and beat it into submission. They have a gung-ho attitude of we can fix anything!

But to their credit, Pc World recognized their own limitations and turned the job down.

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On a clear disk you can seek forever.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 11th, 2013, 14:15 
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Joined: April 26th, 2012, 1:52
Posts: 388
Location: Chicago, USA
I took another close look at the damaged connector. And with tweezers it is possible to bend the bent pin back into place thus allowing the disk to be powered up for testing purposes.

Of course it's a temporary fix and breaks as soon as you touch the cable the wrong way..

_________________
On a clear disk you can seek forever.


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: June 12th, 2013, 18:24 
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Joined: June 10th, 2013, 19:34
Posts: 2
Location: Bristol
Hello

Thank you for the reply everyone. Now saying that, I don't know what's wrong with the drive. I just thought it was the connection port as it looked liked there was a pin missing. When I went into PC World he doubled checked by connecting it to his computer and it wasn't detectable.
Also you said about bending the pin back, I can't seem to find a pin to bend back.

Anyway thank you for the replies. I think my only hope is to find some computer shops or something to try and get it fixed.

Kim


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: December 13th, 2013, 21:13 
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Joined: December 13th, 2013, 21:08
Posts: 1
Location: Israel
Hi All,

I have a WD My book essential.

Firmware update was not successful and the drive isn't readable.

would another bridge board do the work ?

any other suggestions ?

Thanks
Lior


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 Post subject: Re: Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery
PostPosted: January 2nd, 2014, 14:56 
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Joined: January 2nd, 2014, 13:51
Posts: 4
Location: Germany
Hello,
Hope someone of you can help me. The WD MyBook Essential 1.5 TB of my dauphter lost its drive letter and can't be assigned newly (Windows 7 64 bit). The attempt to re-assign a drive letter again failed. Windows told me the drive is write protected.
The drive is now at PC dealer's shop - via my ex wife. The guys from the shop already disassembled the box and are optimistic that they will be able to recover some data. So I conclude the USB adapter board can be excluded to be the problem.
However, I doubt the guys will succeed. I collected already some experience with HDD with moderate success...

Is there some data recovery SW available that works without having a drive letter assigned?
Last time I used 'Recuva' but as far as I remember it requires to get a drive letter.

Does s.o. know which drive is mounted in the WD MyBook Essential 1.5 TB and does the PCB have an 8-pin HDD memory - that can be swapped with moderate effort?

Thanks for your help!
bigboreshooter


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