My passport Elite 640gb (WDBAAC6400ACH-00) Initio INIC-1607E

My passport Elite 640gb (WDBAAC6400ACH-00) with Initio INIC-1607E C11

PROBLEM: Drive / Partition (with data on it) is not seen under windows.
Drive was randomly not accessible, unplug-replug to usb port would mount drive (that was before).

SYMPTOMS: HDD shows as NOT INITIALIZED - UNALLOCATED.
When opening DiskManagement, i get: you must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it.

OTHER INFO:
-> No password has been set on the drive.
-> When plugged to computer, HDD starts spinning with solid light
-> HDD hibernates after a while with blinking light
-> In device Manager, under disk drives: WD My Passport 070A USB Device
-> In device Manager, under DVD/CD-ROM Drives: WD Virtual CD 070A USB Device
-> In device Manager, under Other devices: WD SES Device USB Device (i believe i don't need to install drive to see drive).

HARD DISK SENTINEL:
See all results in attached pictures below & txt file.
HDD Model ID: WDC WD6400BMVV-11A1CS0 with Firmware Revision: 01.01A01

USB DEVICE VIEWER:
See result in attached picture below & txt file.

DMDE - DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery Software:
See result in attached picture below
I didn't do much with this one as I don't know what the experts are interested in here.

MY SITUATION:
This problem happened about 13 months ago. From professionnal diagnostic, there was no possible solution at that time.
I am wondering if there are new findings for such failure? And more over any success recovering data? Or is this hopeless (until someone cracks AES 256 encryption in about 10 or 20 years) ?
If further details needed, please ask. Will provide information as fast as I can.

ALSO:
a) How could we determine if it's a hardware failure (related to initio control maybe)
Or if the encryption key is corruped which prevents partition to be mounted ?
(if those assumptions are correct).

b) From Western Digital website, in the firmware update release notes, i see the following:
Firmware 1.016: Fixes: This firmware update fixes the drive’s handling of infrequent ECC errors which can cause data access issues.
Link: http://support.wdc.com/download/notes/Win_Univ_FW_Updater_Release_Notes_v3.2.0.8B.pdf
Wondering if that has anything to do with my issue.

c) If that can be of any help : I have someone in my entourage who has expertise in soldering and willing to help. The person fixes vehicule ECUs and often transfert controllers from/to boards.

Thanks in advance for the time spent looking at this tread and the help provided. Also thanks again for those who helped me before.

Hard Disk Sentinel

Code:: -- General Information -- Application Information ------------------------- Installed Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hard Disk Sentinel 4.10 PRO Registered To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unregistered version, please register. Current Date And Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 27/11/2012 17:29:38 Health Calculation Method . . . . . . . . . . . : Analyse data field (default) System Information -------------------- Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : E: WD Virtual CD 070A / 1030 (CD) -- Physical Disk Information - Disk: #2: WDC WD6400BMVV-11A1CS0 -- Hard Disk Summary ------------------- Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2 Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SAT Standard USB/ATA Vendor Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : VID: 1058, PID: 070A Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : WDC WD6400BMVV-11A1CS0 Firmware Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 01.01A01 Hard Disk Serial Number . . . . . . . . . . . . : WD-WX80AA938283 Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 609803 MB Power State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Sleeping (since 27/11/2012 17:29:17) Current Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 28 °C Power On Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 116 days, 0 hours Estimated Remaining Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . : more than 1000 days Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent) Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent) The hard disk status is PERFECT. Problematic or weak sectors were not found and there are no spin up or data transfer errors. No actions needed. ATA Information ----------------- Hard Disk Cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1240341 Hard Disk Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16 Hard Disk Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 63 ATA Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ATA8-ACS Transport Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SATA Rev 2.6 Total Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1250263728 Bytes Per Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 512 Buffer Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8192 KB Multiple Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16 Error Correction Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 50 Unformatted Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 610480 MB Maximum PIO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4 Maximum Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2 Active Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2 Maximum UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 300 MB/s (6) Minimum Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . . . : 120 ns Recommended Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . : 120 ns Minimum PIO Transfer Time Without IORDY . . . . : 120 ns Minimum PIO Transfer Time With IORDY . . . . . . : 120 ns ATA Control Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid ATA Checksum Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid Acoustic Management Configuration ----------------------------------- Acoustic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Acoustic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Enabled Current Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Max performance and volume (FEh) Recommended Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . : Min performance and volume (80h) ATA Features -------------- Read Ahead Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled DMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Ultra DMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported S.M.A.R.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Write Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Host Protected Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Advanced Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled Advanced Power Management Level . . . . . . . . : Intermediate power management levels with standby (96) Extended Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Power Up In Standby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported 48-Bit LBA Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Device Configuration Overlay . . . . . . . . . . : Supported IORDY Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Read/Write DMA Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported NOP Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Trusted Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported 64-Bit World Wide ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0150E24E42AEDB28 Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Media Card Pass Through . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported General Purpose Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Error Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported CFA Feature Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported CFast Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Long Physical Sectors (1) . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Long Logical Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Write-Read-Verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported NV Cache Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported NV Cache Power Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported NV Cache Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Free-fall Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Free-fall Control Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Nominal Media Rotation Rate . . . . . . . . . . : 5400 RPM SSD Features -------------- Data Set Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported TRIM Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Deterministic Read After TRIM . . . . . . . . . : Not supported S.M.A.R.T. Details -------------------- Off-line Data Collection Status . . . . . . . . : Never Started Self Test Execution Status . . . . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed Total Time To Complete Off-line Data Collection : 15600 seconds Execute Off-line Immediate . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Abort/restart Off-line By Host . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Off-line Read Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Short Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Extended Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Conveyance Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Selective Self-Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Save Data Before/After Power Saving Mode . . . . : Supported Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave . . . . . . . : Supported Error Logging Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Short Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . . . : 2 minutes Extended Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . : 181 minutes Conveyance Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . : 5 minutes Last Short Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started Last Short Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started Last Extended Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . : Never Started Last Extended Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started Last Conveyance Self-test Result . . . . . . . . : Never Started Last Conveyance Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . : Never Started Security Mode --------------- Security Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Security Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Security Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 79 minutes Security Enhanced Erase Feature . . . . . . . . : Supported Security Enhanced Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . : 79 minutes Security Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No Security Locked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No Security Frozen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No Security Counter Expired . . . . . . . . . . . . : No Security Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : High Serial ATA Features --------------------- S-ATA Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes S-ATA I Signaling Speed (1.5 Gps) . . . . . . . : Supported S-ATA II Signaling Speed (3 Gps) . . . . . . . . : Supported S-ATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6 Gps) . . . . . . . : Not supported Receipt Of Power Management Requests From Host . : Supported PHY Event Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Non-Zero Buffer Offsets In DMA Setup FIS . . . . : Not supported DMA Setup Auto-Activate Optimization . . . . . . : Supported, Disabled Device Initiating Interface Power Management . . : Supported, Disabled In-Order Data Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Asynchronous Notification . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported Software Settings Preservation . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled Native Command Queuing (NCQ) . . . . . . . . . . : Supported Queue Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 32 S.M.A.R.T. ------------ No. Attribute Thre.. Value Worst Data Status Flags 1 Raw Read Error Rate 51 200 200 000000000000 OK Self Preserving, Error-Rate, Performance, Statistica.. 3 Spin Up Time 21 153 151 000000000CEC OK Self Preserving, Performance, Statistical, Critical 4 Start/Stop Count 0 98 98 0000000009E7 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 5 Reallocated Sectors Co.. 140 200 200 000000000000 OK Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical, Critical 7 Seek Error Rate 0 100 253 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Error-Rate, Performance, Statistical 9 Power On Time Count 0 97 97 000000000AE0 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 10 Spin Retry Count 51 100 100 000000000000 OK Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical, Critical 11 Drive Calibration Retr.. 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 12 Drive Power Cycle Count 0 99 99 000000000621 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 192 Power off Retract Cycl.. 0 199 199 00000000038F OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 193 Load/Unload Cycle Count 0 199 199 000000001289 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 194 Disk Temperature 0 119 87 00000000001C OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Statistical 196 Reallocation Event Count 0 200 200 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 197 Current Pending Sector.. 0 200 200 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 198 Off-Line Uncorrectable.. 0 100 253 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count 199 Ultra ATA CRC Error Co.. 0 200 200 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical 200 Write Error Rate 51 100 253 000000000000 OK Error-Rate, Critical Transfer Rate Information --------------------------- Total Data Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 MB, 0 MB since installation (27/11/2012) Total Data Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 MB, 0 MB since installation Average Reads Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0,00 MB Average Writes Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0,00 MB Current Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s Maximum Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s Current Read Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s Current Write Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s Current Disk Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 %

USB VIEWER

Code:: ---===>Device Information<===--- English product name: "My Passport 070A" ConnectionStatus: Current Config Value: 0x01 -> Device Bus Speed: High Device Address: 0x03 Open Pipes: 2 ===>Endpoint Descriptor<=== bLength: 0x07 bDescriptorType: 0x05 bEndpointAddress: 0x81 -> Direction: IN - EndpointID: 1 bmAttributes: 0x02 -> Bulk Transfer Type wMaxPacketSize: 0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes bInterval: 0x00 ===>Endpoint Descriptor<=== bLength: 0x07 bDescriptorType: 0x05 bEndpointAddress: 0x02 -> Direction: OUT - EndpointID: 2 bmAttributes: 0x02 -> Bulk Transfer Type wMaxPacketSize: 0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes bInterval: 0x00 ===>Device Descriptor<=== bLength: 0x12 bDescriptorType: 0x01 bcdUSB: 0x0200 bDeviceClass: 0x00 -> This is an Interface Class Defined Device bDeviceSubClass: 0x00 bDeviceProtocol: 0x00 bMaxPacketSize0: 0x40 = (64) Bytes idVendor: 0x1058 = Western Digital Technologies, Inc. idProduct: 0x070A bcdDevice: 0x1030 iManufacturer: 0x01 English (United States) "Western Digital" iProduct: 0x02 English (United States) "My Passport 070A" iSerialNumber: 0x03 English (United States) "575838304141393338323833" bNumConfigurations: 0x01 ===>Configuration Descriptor<=== bLength: 0x09 bDescriptorType: 0x02 wTotalLength: 0x0020 -> Validated bNumInterfaces: 0x01 bConfigurationValue: 0x01 iConfiguration: 0x00 bmAttributes: 0x80 -> Bus Powered MaxPower: 0xFA = 500 mA ===>Interface Descriptor<=== bLength: 0x09 bDescriptorType: 0x04 bInterfaceNumber: 0x00 bAlternateSetting: 0x00 bNumEndpoints: 0x02 bInterfaceClass: 0x08 -> This is a Mass Storage USB Device Interface Class bInterfaceSubClass: 0x06 bInterfaceProtocol: 0x50 iInterface: 0x00 ===>Endpoint Descriptor<=== bLength: 0x07 bDescriptorType: 0x05 bEndpointAddress: 0x81 -> Direction: IN - EndpointID: 1 bmAttributes: 0x02 -> Bulk Transfer Type wMaxPacketSize: 0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes bInterval: 0x00 ===>Endpoint Descriptor<=== bLength: 0x07 bDescriptorType: 0x05 bEndpointAddress: 0x02 -> Direction: OUT - EndpointID: 2 bmAttributes: 0x02 -> Bulk Transfer Type wMaxPacketSize: 0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes bInterval: 0x00 iSerialNumber: HEX : 575838304141393338323833 Converted in ASCII = WX80AA938283 => MATCHING MY HDD S/N http://www.idea2ic.com/PlayWithJavascript/hexToAscii.html

Your drive should be recoverable.

Just need to take it to a real pro.

Recommend member member5963.html in Belgium.

Best wishes

ISTM that your problem could be a logical one. The USB-SATA bridge electronics is obviously working, and the fact that you can see the SmartWare stuff at the end of the drive means that the drive is essentially functional.

I suspect that DMDE probably can't read sector 0 because of some Windows protection issue. You may need to give yourself administrator privileges.

Any decent pro can do this and for relatively low cost.
I also suspect that the 'professional' evaluation you took was not so professional.

By the looks of it, this is definitely recoverable.

Firstly dont initialise the disk.

I agree that it is most likely a logical issue as it reads the correct serial number, model id, sizes, vcd & smart

I'd be instrested in seeing Sector 0
If you download & run winhex as administrator, click on tools>Open Disk & then select your WD drive under Physical Media can you upload a screen shot of sector 0 (dont make or save any changes to the hex)

You don't say if you have tried running any data recovery software? ie R-Studio, RunTime Get Data Back for NTFS (assuming it was formatted as NTFS of cause?) etc

Loki

First of all let me please thank each one of you for the inputs.

@fzabkar : My windows account is set as administrator. I ran DMDE 2.4.4 as administrator :
-> I still get the same error message : Disk#0 Sector O (try 0): WinError 5. Access is denied.
-> I then selected "ignore", DMDE searched on "Partition searching... #2 LBA: 0" and returned same error message but for sector 1 : Disk#0 Sector 1 (try 0): WinError 5. Access is denied.

@loki : I ran WinHex 16.7 as administrator :
-> It still refuses to read sector 0 with error message : access is denied.

Using both softwares, I was able to open a working HDD I have on my machine. That means the software are properly working (and I guess that I am not making any mistake).

@loki :
-> I did try in the past running data recovery software with no luck. Though I didn't try the one you refered - should i ?
-> For what I remember I believe the HDD was formated in NTFS but i'm not 100% sure.
-> I don't recall if I did try to initialize the disc in the past (that was a long time ago and I doubt I did) but if I had tried, what damage would have been caused ?

@northwind / @labtech
-> Do you think you can assess if data are recoverable on this drive ?
-> Giving remote access to my machine is definitly an option (TeamViewer,LogMeIn).

- - - - - - - - - - - -
If problem is LOGICAL, how can I assess it ? It seems it was important to be able to read sector 0 which seems not possible.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
If the encryption key within the INIC-1607E was messed up and would prevent my partition to be mounted,
we could say that the DATA on my HDD, even if it was extracted, would be unreable as not decrypted ? Correct ?
- Is there a possibility to check if the key is corrupted ?
- Is that key stored in two different location ?

- - - - - - - - - - - -
What else can I look at to assess if I have any chance of getting my data back ?

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I have seen this before on this model.

In my case it was a problem with a corrupt encryption key on the platters.

Fortunately in my case, the backup key in the Service Area (firmware) was OK and I was able to recover.

Unfortunately (for you) this is not DIY or able to be performed remotely due to the drive being needed to be connected to special hardware.

We can take a look at this if you ship it over to UK.

@pcimage : Thanks for your imput and answer. I fully understand that my issue is not a DIY project.

The original goal of my post was to find out if there were any progress or fix for similar issue (as my HDD problem had no solution about a year ago)
The second goal of my post is to try properly understand the issue I am facing and - if there is now a solution - be able to find the right person
Finally, I hope this thread may also help users facing the same issue I have, by providing them with detailed information and feedback.

- - - - - - - - - -

Anyway, there are lots of forum and articles on the web that mention two kinds of problem close to what mine seems to be :
- Locked drive
- Firmware problem
However I haven't seen much topics that refers to corrupt encryption key.
Does anyone know if this problem is falling under the firmware issue or locked drive ? Or is it a total different subject ?

/

Regarding firmware problem, DataCent provides the following explanation :

All Western Digital hard drives are also well-known for their firmware problems. Firmware of the drive is not located on the logic board as most people think. Main part of firmware is stored on the platters in so-called Service Area. Service Area occupies the negative cylinders of the surface and contains a number of firmware modules. If one of the modules gets corrupted the hard drive fails to initialize correctly and stops working making the data inaccessible. In such case the drive usually spins up fine, it doesn't click but has one of the following symptoms:
- it is not found in BIOS at all
- identifies with its factory alias(for example WDC ROM MODEL-MAMMOTH---,WDC ROM MODEL-HAWK---),
- shows up with wrong S/N (for example WDC-ROM SN# XYZ---) or capacity,
- identifies fine but fails to read any data or boot up operating system giving I/O device errors whenever you try to access LBA sectors.

(source: http://datacent.com/datarecovery/hdd/we ... +Essential)

//

SalvationData seems to have an updated tool that deals with FW issue :
- http://www.salvationdata.com/data-recov ... doctor.htm
- http://www.recoverytoolsrus.com/support ... age_id=162

Maybe those upgraded tools were not available when my HDD encountered this issue and could now deal with it !?

The solutions have been available longer than a year. So, tools availability is not the issue.

One can't quite answer specifically to your's drive's problem as direct testing with more advanced equipment is necessary to rule out problems with the service area as you have read from datacent. Then more analysis is necessary.

As result, over the forum can't do much as frequently, though similar in theory, failures are unique to each drive as far as where damage is located and how much of it.

Good pro recommendations have been given to you. Try them if data is important. If not, buy one or some of the tools you found in your links and have tinkering for a while as much studying and experience developing is necessary. These are realistically the only two options.

Or if you are financially well off, then sent to a real pro, then they will recover it hopefully. Once you get the data back, then you know recovery is possible. At this point, then you can buy tools and find out for yourself how to do it.

@grom34, your drive's firmware appears to be OK. If it were not, then you would not have access to the SmartWare area at the end of the drive.

pcimage is alluding to a sector near the SmartWare area, outside the accessible user area. This sector needs to be replaced with a copy in the System Area on the platters. I'm sure it can be done as a DIY project, but you would need to know which module in the SA stores this information, and which sector holds the encryption key. There was a thread that discussed the encryption key and where it was located (on a HP SimpleSave external), and there are freeware tools to access the SA, but you would need to modify your drive to give you access via SATA. In short, if I understand pcimage correctly, the job appears to be DIY-able, but not easy. And that's assuming that his diagnosis is correct.

fzabkar wrote:@grom34, your drive's firmware appears to be OK. If it were not, then you would not have access to the SmartWare area at the end of the drive.

pcimage is alluding to a sector near the SmartWare area, outside the accessible user area. This sector needs to be replaced with a copy in the System Area on the platters. I'm sure it can be done as a DIY project, but you would need to know which module in the SA stores this information, and which sector holds the encryption key. There was a thread that discussed the encryption key and where it was located (on a HP SimpleSave external), and there are freeware tools to access the SA, but you would need to modify your drive to give you access via SATA. In short, if I understand pcimage correctly, the job appears to be DIY-able, but not easy. And that's assuming that his diagnosis is correct.

Your correct in what your saying that you need to copy the key from the correct SA module to the correct sector but as for the DIY bit it depends on the users skills & SA software. I was going to post more about this but it is not for general public & shouldn't be. Lots of DR people including me spent a lot of time & money researching how to do this.

Loki

Come on, Loki, imagine how popular you could be... :mrgreen:

BlackST wrote:Come on, Loki, imagine how popular you could be...

Never going to happen.
So you can guess how unpopular I'm going to be

Loki

No, you are always popular. But on the wrong side (the right side, depending on the point of view) :lol:

BlackST wrote:No, you are always popular. But on the wrong side (the right side, depending on the point of view)

Loki

interest topic. :idea:

PROBLEM: Drive / Partition (with data on it) is not seen under windows
same problem like me.

HDD Model ID: WDC WD6400BMVV-11A1CS0 with Firmware Revision: 01.01A01
my HD wdc green 500Gb, "firmware rev 01.01a01"

history : wdc green was as primary and then damage. so buy 1 wd blue
run win xP 3. wdc blue as primary, and want to repair wdc green as damage hd with "bad sector"
conect Green use sata as slave.
1 times run can see as F: (but 0 data)(full red, likely 0 raw)
position run hd tune pro "health"
2. power Off unplug and plug cable
3. power on and "magic" is gone
in my computer no drive "number 2" or "F:" :?:

i can see in device manager "2 HD",
my Wdc Green can see in hdd reg , device manager , dlgdiag tool , defragler.

will update after get solution

problem :are same does seen on window , same firmware
different :OS, wdc 3.5' , internal atack "slave drive"
client : wd green 500 with bad sector :mrgreen:

pic

tester 1 or 2 hour before post
green as slave 1 and master 2 in bios(unplug and plug to change slot esata)
colour :
black : use for protect my serial , in waranty Replace
dark blue : protect my name :lol:

Green : drive E is drive 1. even though start 5xxGb , that not 2nd drive

update : defragler , not shown drive F. except when detected 0 "in my computer"
hd reg , hd tune pro , dlgdiag can know my green drive

screen short, when drive F can see in defragler and my computer before my green do "magic" in my computer :lol:

UPDATE: The drive has been sent to different DATA Recovery companies but unfortunately it could not be recovered. As explain by jono-ats, the encryption key is stored in two different locations on the drive. When the encryption key is corrupted, you would need one to recover the other. In my case, both encryption keys were either missing or corrupted, making the recovery job not possible as of today (if I’m explaining it wrong, I’m sure an member will correct me).

I would like to truly thank Jon from Data Savers (“jono-ats” from this forum) for his professionalism and continuous help on this case. I can’t express you more my gratitude. Let me also thank the HDD GURU forum for existing and all the members for their inputs on the topic ; more specifically fzabkar, DR-KIEV and pc-image.

Now, I would like to share my experience with other users who could be facing a similar issue. 99,99% of individuals (me included) are being told by their instinct to try and fix their issue by themselves. That’s quite a normal reaction considering how many times you’ve probably fixed software bugs on our computer OS and so on....

My advice: the very first thing is to ask yourself how worth is your data. If you think they really are worth then DO NOT ATTEMPT ANYTHING ON THE DRIVE as you could make things worse and loose the last chance you ever had to recover your data. Also don’t waste time blaming the drive manufacturer for what’s happening to you as he sold you a storage solution and not a backup solution. I had to explain that many times to friends who wanted me to sue WD. Well, the only one to blame was myslef for not making backups, end of the story on that aspect. Just be aware that all drives fail, it’s just a matter of time.

Now, the next thing would be to understand what the problem is with your drive. Once you do (if you do), then you’ll have to assess if this is something you could handle by yourself based on your skills. And that’s where you will need to be reasonable!! I spent a lot of time trying to understand what was going on with my drive and when I did, I was reasonable enough to accept that there was nothing else I could do without putting my data in danger.

Data Recovery is a very specific field that requires, as many other professions, equipment - skills and experience. Sure there are “easier” jobs you could potentially handle by yourself, but for all the others you are just taking a second bet. Remember, first one was to live without duplicated data…. :-)

Anyway, I hope this will help some of you not waste time or making things worse….

As for my case, I will be holding to my drive hoping one day someone will find a solution to bypass WD encryption tool or (and that’s going to take probably a looooooooog time) someone will brake AES 256bits encryption system. Untill then, I miss my data every day and have well learned my lessons. It’s definitely much cheaper and LESS PAINFULL to setup a backing up solution….

Hi every one.

It's been a while since my HDD failed (11.2011) so I decided to update this topic to see if there were new findings on that topic.

For the record, the encryption key of my AES 256-Bit based hardware encryption drive got corrupted, making the recovery job not possible back then.

For those who wants to get a quick and clear idea of how this hardware encryption works on Western Digital drive, see bellow link:
http://computersciencelabs.blogspot.fr/2010/11/256-bit-based-hardware-encryption-on-wd.html

I assume my drive is now a bit old and issues with this specific drive aren’t popular anymore on the forum. But based hardware encryption issues is probably still an up to date problem.

Thanks for any feedback on that matter. I still have hope (as you can see) that I'll get my data back on day !

(also a special Hi to jono-ats who had helped me a lot. And also fzabkar & DR-KIEV. Hope you are all doing well guys).

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