Hi all,

First of all, please note that I am in no way an HDD guru, but I am an advanced user in general.

Here's the situation. The WD My Passport WDBACX0010BBK was working fine for months until a few days ago, it was plugged and nothing happened. I tried it on multiple computers with the same results.

The Symptoms :

• Searches for drivers when plugged in. Ends up as follows :
  
  • USB Mass Storage Device ..................... X Ready to use
    
  • WD My Passport 0730 USB Device .......... X Failed
    
  • WD SES Device USB Device ................... X Failed
    
• Does not show up in My Computer.
  
• Does not show up in Disk Management.
  

Steps taken :

• Installed WD SES Driver. No luck.
  
• Disabled the SES from the Device Manager (takes forever) then re-enabled it. Now :
  
  • I still can't see it in My Computer.
    
  • I can see it in Disk Management, but it shows as 128 PB (I wish!!!), and not initialized. Attempts to initialize it fail.
    
  • It is detected by GetDataBack, but fails to do anything.
    
  • WD utilities (Firmware updater and WD Smartware) see it, but ask for a password. I have never set a password.
    
• Tried spinRite on boot. Does not detect it.
  
• Tried SeaTools for DOS on boot. Does not detect it.
  

I did search the forums and read that a SmartWare password cannot be recovered with DIY techniques, but I think the fact that it asks for a password is just a symptom, and that the other problems are causing it. As I said, I am not an HDD Guru, and I am asking for your expert opinions!

Help?

Thanks,

Simo

Oh, a little detail btw : I did of course try to use another USB cable. That isn't the problem.

Help?

Not DIY. These are not easy to recover. Send to professional as a lot of advanced testing is necessary.
Also, do ample research on who you are sending the drive to if deciding to do so. Must be a specialized data recovery place.

_________________
Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

When smartware asks for a password, is there anything in the "hint" ?

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Hi,

Thanks for the answers!

@labtech : Thanks, I did have doubts about it not being a DIY, but I have to try... To be honest, I cannot afford professional recovery service right now...

@pcimage : Nope, the "hint" is empty. I tried various... I googled everywhere for a "default" smartware password, but seems like there isn't...

I think pcimage meant that firmware is corrupted, not a password set. Thats a hint.
If this drive has normal SATA interface, you can check it by opening external enclosure, connecting drive to SATA controller on PC.
Check how BIOS is recognising device (drive name and LBA is correct) . Boot to the disk utility like HDAT2 (not WIndows) and see whether you can read sector 0. If you can, then try to clone entire drive, but probably it will be impossible (as per pcimage hint).

Hi SAjunky and thanks for the reply.

First thing I have done was opening the enclosure, expecting to find a regular SATA controller. Unfortunately, there wasn't. It was a direct USB3 port :


So unfortunately, I cannot connect it directly

Other suggestions?

Thanks,

Simo

Data will be safe and sound inside the drive - store it till you can afford it.


Of course, otherwise why the need for a Smartware security if a "passepartout" is available ?

P.S. unfortunately, like all "security systems" , if something goes wrong someone or something is locked out outside, SMARTWARE is no exception but it is just like a safe, a door or alarm system.... - nevertheless, it seems to fail QUITE OFTEN.

OK I guess there's nothing I can do...

Any idea how much that job would cost from a pro (Canada / USA) ?

Thanks,

Simo

You should at least get the drive analyzed first, as the cause of "failure" can be multiple, so it is impossible to tell.

P.S. why ask for USA/CANADA if your location is Paris ? No EU ?

I move a lot :p

I was in Paris when I created this account a few years ago. I am now in Morocco. Before that, I lived in Montreal, Canada... :p

Anyway, doubt I can find someone here in Casablanca, so I will send it to family in Montreal.

Updating profile now

Thx!

Your hard drive is still SATA, believe or not. It has just onboard SATA to USB converter. Search this forum I remember it was a photo with places you could take out signal and wire it up to SATA controller. But data will be still encrypted.
Or post PCB picture on the forum, I think you get help for contact points, as it is only the first challenge. The other one will be to diagnose drive, get it back to life and finally clone.
To many challenges, one mistake end story...

I do know the drive is SATA... But it has no SATA ports

I don't think I will be playing with the "Wiring it up to a SATA controller".... I know my limits

Thanks anyway,

Simo