Accessing WD external hard disk

Question

Accessing WD external hard disk

I'm trying to use my personal Western digial external hard disk (My passport model).

The HDD has a lock. So, when i try to unlock the HDD using the file provided by WD, i see below prompt. System doesn't let me open the file and unlock HDD. All my very important stuff is there on HDD and i cant open it :(

If you look at the date modified of the file, this came with harddisk and not downloaded from internet.

I know the risk involved and i want to proceed and use the file to unlock HDD. Can someone help me here?

More importantly this HDD was accessible from my macbook pro. All of sudden i see this problem now. I've recently upgraded my Macbook Pro to Catalina.

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Apr 1, 2020 5:05 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 1, 2020 9:32 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

Thanks for your response.

For any users who might face same problem (and land here), here is the solution that worked for me from WD forum (from https://community.wd.com/t/wd-passport-wont-unlock-after-mac-os-update/242697/13)

I’ve got some good news!

Here’s a link to the WD security download for Mac: https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=172#ctl00_WD_rpSoftwareMac_ctl03_lbtnExpand 6.7k

I can confirm that WD Security is installable AND does work on MacOS Catalina on MacBook Pro (late 2014) models!

Install WD security and run the app. When prompted, plugin your Passport. It will then prompt you to enter your Passport password. From there, you’ll be greeted with options to update your security settings which include options to (1) remove your password, (2) set a new password, (3) add auto-unlock to your computer, and a few other items.

Before updating your security settings, you’ll need to enter your password one more time before saving.

I just did this and my drive works again on Catalina!

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Answer 2

Apr 1, 2020 7:05 AM in response to ThrinathJalamadugu

The WD driver you used to setup and lock the drive is probably 32 bit. 32 bit apps do not work with Catalina. My advice is to never use the app/utilities included with third party drives to manage the drives. Only use the operating system Disk Utility to manage a connected drive.

Check if WD has an updated driver that you can use to unlock the drive.

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Accessing WD external hard disk

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