Is it you from whom I received the key sector at my email address?
Can you please send me a private message with your real name?

No, I don't send you anything. I'm waiting for a reply from the client about the price.
Best regards

_________________
Data Recovery Technician - If Data is important don't DIY without knowing the real problem.

Hi Roberto
So I have a WDBFJK0020HBK-04 drive that I cannot access. Windows says to "initialize and format". Seems to be an older drive because the HD date code is 3 Feb 2014.
I've been reading up a bit on trying to access this drive but am a bit confused. Everywhere I read says JMicron / Initio / Symwave / PLX are the chips for AES encryption, but (after opening the case), I cannot see these chips on the WD controller board. If I'm guessing what the chip should be, it's marked as ASM1051W (Looking at the infofaster's photo above, my controller board is smaller...almost like a little triangle).

I guess my first question is: is this an encrypted drive? I'm really hesitant about taking it out of the case and booting into windows to see about recovery (after reading Mr Kaeding's comment about people ruining the MBR by doing that.....). If it is encrypted, would your tool work? Much thanks!

you're not there yet

You'll have to show us MBR or the second sector.
Then we'll be able to tell you if the drive is encrypted.

For many or the most cases the answer is: Yes

You should connect the drive to a running Windows PC via another working USB converter.
Then you can use tools like DMDE to show us the first sectors of the hard drive.

Best Regards,
Roberto

Hi Jermy... If I'm not there yet, maybe a little help in the right direction?




Hi Roberto - thank you for the the reply. I have a USB/e-sata drive caddy that I can plug the WD drive into.
But wouldn't that risk modifying the MBR, if I connect that way?

I also have a Ubuntu USB stick that I can boot to if needed.
If it wasn't for the fact my 78-yr old father decided to use this My Book as his master photo drive, I'd just toss the enclosure and format the drive.
But...I need to try to get his photos back.

The same Mr. Kaeding (in all likelyhood) wrote me this a few months ago when inquired about the issue I exposed in the previous page :
> “DO NOT connect to a Windows machine without a write-blocker. Windows corrupts sector 0 whether you ask it to or not.”
I tried to look for a free write-blocker for Windows but couldn't find any, it seems to be a very specialized kind of tool, aimed for forensic purposes ; and the person I was trying to help gave up, so I stopped investigating...
Does anyone know a reliable write-blocker, freeware or relatively cheap ?
Otherwise it should be safer under Ubuntu indeed, you just have to find another way to extract the required sectors (you can probably do that with a simple dd command).

Which comment were you refering to above ? Was it on this forum or elsewhere ?

The posting I was referencing was a July 12th post on a WD community forum. I don't know if it's against site rules to link, but it was the first link that came up in Google, which was where I started my research into trying to recover the photos on the drive.

As for accessing the drive, I'm a bit limited.
I'm not a data recovery company, just a regular PC user looking for some help/direction with recovery.

Before I start sticking the drive into my drive caddy, I'm just trying to do my homework and avoid making a crappy situation worse.
I'm not a rich person person by any means, but if there is software that can read the drive and allow me to copy the photos to another drive, I'm willing to purchase it.

To block windows writing, you can just alter few bytes inside MBR (for example you might change last two MBR bytes from '55 AA' to 'FF FF'), windows will not mount any partition and it will not try to write or modify anything.
At this point, only data recovery softwares will be able to handle it.

You can use DMDE DOS to change those bytes.

_________________
My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI

Hey there, I am in a situation where I am attempting to recover information from a WD My Book 3TB drive. It has the Symwave chipset. I am unsure of where to start but am looking for some help in the right direction.

What can I provide that may help with starting this process?

Roberto,

Hey Roberto can you send me an Email.
I might have job for you!

MH.Video@icloud.com

Greets

I have sent you an email.


Best Regards,
Roberto

Hi Roberto,

i found your thread and this forum while searching how to unlock my two WD drives (WD My Passport Ultra, WD My Passport).
It sounds very interested that you could possible found out the password to unlock the protected WD drives.

Could you tell me please, if you would help me, what do you need (when not sending the drives) and how much would it cost me to recover the password for both drives?
(Since i am from germany, you can write me / PM me in german.)

Btw, i am using Windows.

Many thanks in advance and best regards
Thorsten

Robert,
Found this thread after beginning to work with reallymine. I'm a new member and cannot send PM yet. How can I get more details? Thank you.
Jay

Which details do you need?

Hi Roberto,
How to contact you? Can you let us know your email address?

Thanks,
ND

Roberto,

How much would it cost to decrypt my WD Passport if I sent it to you. I have forgotten my password for it and has a lot of memories on it that I would like to get back off it.

Hi Roberto, is the decryption software still available

may i have an offer? i need to unlock my passport

Hi Roberto!

I need your help, I have a mybook 3TB and the usb interface has stopped working.
I never used any of the tools for it, I did not enter a password so it's the standard password.
The drive is error free, no s.m.a.r.t issues.

Can you help me decrypt it?

Regards
Mickecx

P.S My email mickecx@gmail.com