HGST HDS724040ALE640 - Clear password

[Diggie]

Hello everyone,

I hope you are able to help me out with the following.
I have a whole bunch of HDS724040ALE640 drives of which several have a USER password.
It appears that the Master password has also been changed for its no longer the default one (32 spaces or WDCWDC etc.).

I tried using ZU, but got the message that it is not supported.

1st question:
In Sediv I cant seem to find this exact model. Does anyone know if it might still work?

2nd question:
Like I said, I have several of the exact same model and firmware. Would it be possible to read out the firmware/bios to compare and see where the password is stored, and in turn be able to change it?

3rd question:
What other options are there?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!
If you need any more info, please let me know.

[Diggie]

An addition:
In my research I stumbled on this post:
http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3063

Here it turns out that there might actually not be a password set, but rather a drive failure.

When I remove the PCB and connect it, MHDD for example states that it still has a PW.
But I am not sure about how my HGST drives are made to know if it is the same issue as described on hddoracle or not.

Anyone have any more ideas about this?