Format Locked Drive

[tomich]

Hello everyone. Im Tom, my english is not so good, since im from Argentina.

My best friend had a problem with her Netbook (Bangho B-N0X1). Apparently her hard drive got locked for no reason at all after Windows Update error.. Warranty ended last month
Hard drive is a Western Digital WD2500BEVT-00A23T0

I tried unlocking it with Victoria, MHDD, ZU, Mavr_r, HDDHackr, ATAPWD and others...
Most of the info i got it from (i read it all like 6000 times): unlocking-ata-password-for-western-digital-t8374-20.html

I tried different scripts for MHHD, including my own (and my attempt of building a Python - and later C++ - app based on http://www.datarecoverytools.co.uk/2010 ... functions/ )

All tools give NO DRQ error.. in IDE/SATA compatible/enhanced modes... I dont have another PC/moterboard to test (as i read that it may be sata controller related)

I tried A-FF HD Unlock Wizard and it says my firmware is not compatible..
i tried A-FF Repair Station and it says its compatible, but i dont want to pay (cant afford it right now).. besides.. if hd unlock wizard said incompatible firmware after a 5 minute test, i cant trust repair station after a 4 second test of the drive.

I tried Western Digital tool to write zeros to the drive.. doesnt work.
I tried WDCWDC.... passwords.. they dont work..
I tried all sorts of tools..

I booted of Hirens Boot and started HDDErase.. its been on for 1 hour and all i have is the title and a blinking "_" ... i cant tell if its working or not.
Should i restart the PC?
If so, what tool do you recommend?

Thank you very much in advance. This is my first post but i've been reading lots of threads in this forum for the last two days and im really greatfull for all the help and expertise i found.

Cheers
Tom

[tomich]

HDD Erase was not working at all.. no blinking light on Case HDD activity.. no noise in HD (besides spinning)... so i rebooted.. i tried mhdd again with same result NO DRQ...

Any way to get the password and /or format this drive?

I found an undo.bin file on the internet made by HDDhackr(wich i think is for using this drives in XBOX) from a WD2500BEVT-00A23T0 drive (same as this one).. Does this file have something to do with the sectors where the password is stored? would it help if i "flash" this file to the drive? (file attached) i dont see it similar to sectors i've seen in this forum, but at this point i have no clue of what im supposed to do..

Thanks in advance
Tom

Attachments

UNDO.zip

(972 Bytes) Downloaded 905 times

[Vulcan]

Apparently her hard drive got locked for no reason at all after Windows Update error..
[...]
I tried unlocking it with Victoria, MHDD, ZU, Mavr_r, HDDHackr, ATAPWD and others...

How do you know that the disk drive is locked, and not a different problem? Personally I think the diagnosis is wrong and the drive is not locked.

Please supply (low resolution) photos of (a) MHDD reporting that this drive is locked, and (b) the result of the MHDD EID command (F2 key) on this drive.

I booted of Hirens Boot and started HDDErase.. its been on for 1 hour and all i have is the title and a blinking "_" ... i cant tell if its working or not.

That is not working normally (as you reported later) - but this means that you don't care about the data on the disk, since you are willing to erase it. Is that correct?

[tomich]

How do you know that the disk drive is locked, and not a different problem? Personally I think the diagnosis is wrong and the drive is not locked.

Please supply (low resolution) photos of (a) MHDD reporting that this drive is locked, and (b) the result of the MHDD EID command (F2 key) on this drive.

The drive asks for a password when plugged on the netbook.. When i plugged it to my desktop PC all software solutions from windows and linux say the drive is password protected with security high.

When using MHDD, VIctoria, etc... all the tools report the drive as locked..

Im not at home right now. cant provide the pictures, but i will soon..

That is not working normally (as you reported later) - but this means that you don't care about the data on the disk, since you are willing to erase it. Is that correct?

The drive contains windows 7 with some personal pictures from my friend and a few homeworks from university.. It is not sensitive data so she'll appreciate if data is restored, but is not mandatory.. I would like to learn how to unlock the drive for personal reasons but if its easyer or faster when loosing all the data then i just want the disk working so i dont have to RMA to Western Digital and loose it for like two months (yes.. western digital responses suck here in Argentina) and/or buy a new one (they are quite expensive in here). I can reinstall the system and all required programs in an hour, copy some of my music to the drive and return it to its owner.. so with or without loosing data it will be fine.


Thank you very much for tyour response.. I will try to get the screenshots today as soon as possible.

Cheers
Tom

[Vulcan]

When using MHDD, VIctoria, etc... all the tools report the drive as locked..

OK, if the drive really is locked, but this was not done deliberately by the user, then it suggests to me a possible drive f/w problem. Therefore your chances of successful unlocking is small IMHO, even if you try the usual tricks to find the password - like those from the thread which you linked in your first post. This could be why you are not succeeding. My disk drive background is not in DR, but certainly I would never trust a drive to hold my data, after "something strange and unexplained" happened, even if you were successful with unlocking it!!

I think I now see the misunderstanding I had from your first post. You did not give exact details of what you were doing, but you said:

All tools give NO DRQ error

At first, I thought you meant that the tools always give that error, for every command. Now I see you probably meant that the tools give that error only when you try to unlock the drive. Please can you clarify exactly what you meant.

If all the tools report a similar error when you tried to unlock, then this must mean that you believe you have found the user and/or master password - but you did not say you had discovered this. Please explain exactly what you are doing, when you get that reported error.

The drive contains windows 7 with some personal pictures from my friend and a few homeworks from university.. It is not sensitive data so she'll appreciate if data is restored, but is not mandatory..

Thanks for confirming.

[Vulcan]

(Edited to add: Some BIOSes also "freeze" the drive (to prevent a rogue program from locking the drive with an ATA password). If the BIOS in this Netbook does that, then we can rule out a malicious program setting a password.)

[dick]

Hi, Can you enter the netbook bios and check the current security status for the drive?

[tomich]

If all the tools report a similar error when you tried to unlock, then this must mean that you believe you have found the user and/or master password - but you did not say you had discovered this. Please explain exactly what you are doing, when you get that reported error.

Thanks for replying Vulcan
Example:
I run ZU and get "DRQ Not found" error.

I run scripts on MHDD and get "NO DRQ " error where the script calls "sectorsto" for example:
sectorsto = 21.bin (or 22bin/42bin/etc)
And that happends even if i delete the lines "checkdrq" from mhdd scripts.

I Run ATAPWD and get a "Command rejecter" error when trying to set/unlock/disable/enable password

I run Mavr_r and get error code (dont have it with me right now.. will post it later) and a DRQ Error.

Other tools have gave me similar errors (like Victoria) related to DRQ - Data ReQuest(Timeout i assume).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've read that this errors may be sata controller-related, so i will try the same programs on another PC as soon as i have access to one.

The password is still locked, and i dont have any output file from any tool to view the password (no 21.bin or 22.bin or 42.bin file from mhdd scripts, no output from Mavr_r, etc).

Hi, Can you enter the netbook bios and check the current security status for the drive?

Thanks for replying Dick
No, i cannot tell the security related to the HARD DISK in the netbook.
If I boot with the disk connected: I get an "insert HDD password" prompt for booting or for accessing the BIOS. I am unable to access any information.
If I boot without the disk: I can boot normally into live usb OS's, i can enter de bios.. And netbook works ok.. Inside the BIOS there is no security enabled, but also there is nothing related to the hard drive security. My guess here is that options related to hard drive security only appear when the hard drive is connected, and dont show up when you boot w/o a hard drive.

I¡'ve tried pluging the disk while inside BIOS config.. most of the times it just reboots. But if i do it very very quickly previously setting the disk to "User" instead of "Auto".. i can have disk plugged while inside the BIOS, but no option appears, no extra info.. no hdd detection(even if switching again to "Auto"). and of course, when i reboot with dik plugged. i get "insert hdd password" screen


Bios itself has no password at all.. i've tried setting a user and admin password for boot and bios, and then plugging the disk.. all i get is BIOS user password and then hdd password.. bump.

Cheers
Tom


PS- Sorry for the delay on screenshots. Im sick (flu) and im finishing some other work on the PC.

[tomich]

OMG.. i replyed to this yesterday morning.. why does my post not appear?

Long story Short

Please can you clarify exactly what you meant.

• When i run the scripts from unlocking-ata-password-for-western-digital-t8374-20.html in MHDD i get "NO DRQ" error in lines like this:
  sectorsto = 21.bin
  or
  sectorsto = 22.bin
  or
  sectorsto = 42.bin
  or
  sectorsto = WHATEVER
• When i run ZU with the disk wither as primary or secondary i get two error codes and:
  NO DRQ!
• When using ATAPWD to set/unlock/disable password i get:
  command rejected
• When trying to unlock with Victoria: DRQ Error..
• When using Mavr_r i get "NO DRQ" error...

As you can see.. i only get this error when trying to read the drive password and/or unlocking the drive. MHDD does not output any file.

Hi, Can you enter the netbook bios and check the current security status for the drive?

• If the drive is on Netbook i get a promt to enter HDD password when trying to boot, when trying to select boot device and when trying to enter BIOS.
• If i boot netbook WITHOUT the drive i can boot flawlessly from usb, i can enter the BIOS, there is no Hard Drive security option in BIOS (but i think this option only appears when drive is plugged and password entered)
• If i boot the Netbook WITHOUT the drive, and change sata1 to User i can hot plug the drive without the computer to automatically reboot. But i cannot acces the drive, nor is detected, nor i see security options reffering to HDD Password.. as soon as i reboot (with drive plugged) i get "enter HDD Password" prompt.

If i plug Drive to my Desktop PC either as sata1, sata2, sataX, single drive or with my own hard drive, i dont have any security option in BIOS, im not prompted to enter any password at boot time. It detects HD ok.

Note
S.M.A.R.T. Reports Excelent conditions.
Western Digital Data Lifeguard reports the drive as in excelent state.
"NO DRQ"= Data ReQuest TimeOut errors only appear when trying to unlock drive. i've tested DRQ responses on other situations (as when consulting S.M.A.R.T. info, in example) and i get no error. In this cases the drive is responding to data request on time.

Screenshots
I have not had time to take the screenshot because of work/university/more work/more work.. but i think on plugging the drive today. What screenshots do you need?

UNDO.bin from HDDHackr
Does the file i attached previously has anything to do with the drive password? its from another drive, maybe i can flash it into this drive? or if its the area where the apssword is stored i can try HDDHackr tool to make a bin file of my drive.


Thanks in advance(again) and thank you very much for your responses and interest.

Cheers
Tom

[Vulcan]

@tomich:

Thanks - with those new details from you, I don't think anything would now be gained from screenshots.

a) If you have questions about a file from "HDDHackr", I suggest that they are the best place to get an explanation of what it does.

b) Based on everything you have said, with the added explanation you've now given about exactly when you are seeing errors, I do not believe that the drive is locked normally - this is why you are getting errors when trying to read the ATA password(s) from the SA of the drive using the MHDD; it's not a normal situation. In my experience, you would not get those errors if the drive was locked normally.

Therefore IMHO this is not a problem that you're going to solve with DIY. It'll need someone who has the drive in front of them, with experience in WD drives and their firmware, to perform a diagnosis of (and hopefully fix) that drive.

[PapashaBeppe]

When i run ZU with the disk wither as primary or secondary i get two error codes and:
NO DRQ!

You need new ver ZU. (Betta 1.1)

[tomich]

Zu Beta 1.1 gives me "DRIVE IS NOT UNLOCKED" error.. this beta really sucks.. no decent error output..

Im thinking on using GRABBFIX and MHDD .. but i dont quite understand GRABBFIX yet.. my guess is that this new drive (manufactures in late 2009) has password stored somewhere else.. i mean, i know is in module 2, but i think module 2 is somewhere else.

If anyone has some advice on GRUBBIX it will be appretiated.

I re tested everything on a NVIDIA chipset based motherboard with same errors(NO DRQ). But this motherboard does not supoprt SATA IDE mode, so i cannot use most of the programs there.. i will try to retest everything again in a decent motherboard this week.

I emailed western digital asking for master passwords, but im not hoping any miracles there. Anyone here has a list of western digital apsswords other than WDCWDC... ??

Value 92 of the IDENTIFY ATA command is 0xFFFE, so Master Password has not been changed..

Any other idea?
Do you know how i can get the values used in the MHDD scripts?

Thanks in advanced
Tom

[PapashaBeppe]

this beta really sucks.. no decent error output..

On standart PC (SATA in compatible mode chipset=i865, or via JMicron converter on i440BX,LX) ZU unlock any WD. Notebook's chipsets not supported. (NVIDIA,VIA not tested)

Any other idea?

HDDUnlock,A-FF.

[Ninja27]

hi fellas, Tom como estas chabon? i have the same HDD here with me WD2500BEVT-00ZCT0, and its master password locked same like u'rs Tom, in almost same situation, i try all kind of method to unlock without luck, i'm wait for another controller just for try, but i loose all hope, if u get any advance or tip, really would appreciate, and stand with me about anything u need.

[smswt]

hi there, i have the same HDD here with me WDC WD1600BEVT-00A23T0, and its master password locked same like u'rs , at just same situation, i try all these kinds of methods to unlock but no luck, i'm wait for another solution ......................................... If any post from you gyes that could heip..................................... Thanks in advance

[smswt]

hi there , may be every one fails to find out the solution....................................................

[loki]

There are solutions that DR companies use like PC3000 UDMA, Atola, Salvation Data etc but these are expensive hardware tools to buy. If you take it to a DR company they will remove the password for a fee & proof of ownership.
AFF Repair Station software has already been mentioned & it says it supports all WD drives but will cost $49.95

The issue is not that it cant be done its just that people dont want to pay to do it.


Loki

[smswt]

anyway thanks for reply..............................thank you

[fzabkar]

Just a comment on HDDHackr. You MUST NOT use a foreign UNDO.BIN file, even if it is from the same model. I believe that there is a way to use HDDHackr, but you need to know EXACTLY what you are doing. There are other free utilities that are able to read MOD 02, eg NazYura's utilities, but you would need to configure your SATA controller in legacy IDE mode, using the traditional ISA port addresses.