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Western Digital hard drives not working after Big Sur update

It's not about High Sierra; it's about my external hard drive not opening after the Big Sur update. I have tried to find an update from Western Digital for the new OS but they don't list one that I can find. I am using My Passport for Mac and I think it's a 2 TB hard drive using the USB connector straight to my MacBook Pro.

I have looked at YouTube and it may be an old video but the recommendation is to reformat. And doing that will delete the contents; defeats the purpose of a hard drive.

Upon checking the launchpad under said icons it seems that I keep getting a message to the effect that the update servers are not working.

I don't know what else to do except to pest Western Digital and check back for updates. This is not a good way to treat their customers.

In a related post, I had a problem with my HP Smart app not working but soon afterward they sent me a notification for an update and now it's working.



MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.0

Posted on Jan 16, 2021 3:43 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 16, 2021 10:39 PM

I contacted Western Digital by email. I have a case opened now. It’s their product so I hope they can at least help me to get my data off the hard drive until I can get a new one. I did nothing differently from what I ever did; just plug in the USB and unlock the drive.

Besides documents I had hoped to scan boxes full of irreplaceable and very old ( some a century old) photos in a secure place before the photos deteriorated. Now I don’t know if after a few years a hard drive manufacturer may decide to stop support on a hard drive and I lose my photos anyway. I haven’t had time to do that and maybe that’s good.

Sure I can rent space on iCloud but a hard drive is mine. iCloud is not.

If Western Digital has a solution that opens my drive I will let you all know. I saw that I am not the only one who is experiencing this problem. Thanks for your support.

10 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 16, 2021 10:39 PM in response to steve626

I contacted Western Digital by email. I have a case opened now. It’s their product so I hope they can at least help me to get my data off the hard drive until I can get a new one. I did nothing differently from what I ever did; just plug in the USB and unlock the drive.

Besides documents I had hoped to scan boxes full of irreplaceable and very old ( some a century old) photos in a secure place before the photos deteriorated. Now I don’t know if after a few years a hard drive manufacturer may decide to stop support on a hard drive and I lose my photos anyway. I haven’t had time to do that and maybe that’s good.

Sure I can rent space on iCloud but a hard drive is mine. iCloud is not.

If Western Digital has a solution that opens my drive I will let you all know. I saw that I am not the only one who is experiencing this problem. Thanks for your support.

Jan 16, 2021 7:17 PM in response to K Shaffer

K Shaffer wrote:

With Big Sur upgrade, older HFS+ journaled, etc format isn't likely to work
with external drives; prior Catalina and earlier Mojave were OK with that.

HFS+ journaled formatted drives are nominally supported under Big Sur, at least according to Apple; in fact Apple recommends using HFS+ with a Big Sur computer to preserve compatibility with earlier MacOS computers, in case the drive must be used on both.


https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/file-system-formats-available-in-disk-utility-dsku19ed921c/20.0/mac/11.0


Under Big Sur, Time Machine drives must be APFS. Earlier MacOS required HFS+ for Time Machine.



Jan 16, 2021 5:36 PM in response to justadrone

With Big Sur upgrade, older HFS+ journaled, etc format isn't likely to work

with external drives; prior Catalina and earlier Mojave were OK with that.


External drives & some third party 'alleged solution' drivers don't play well.


https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=about+APFS+and+Big+Sur+upgrade&ia=web


APFS has new rules and the Mac upgrade to that, runs. Adjust your usage.

Be watchful of Time Machine & its backups, the drive only likes APFS.


Jan 16, 2021 4:08 PM in response to justadrone

Are you using Western Digital's disk utilities with the drive?


This page https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=294&lang=en has downloads/updates for Big Sur but you are really better off using the drive as a generic drive formatted appropriately for a Mac. The WD utilities may install special firmware or embed software on your Mac that might not work smoothly with Big Sur or some future OS update.

Jan 16, 2021 7:54 PM in response to steve626

This was only a cautionary since the effect was fairly well known

as Big Sur arrived as beta and rough edges were rubbed off.


Format aside; I've found evidence online and in ASC about this.


And those mostly support what I'd repeated in this thread. As

I'd mentioned at one point, that I've not upgraded past 10.14.6.


Good luck & happy trails!

🌞🌿⛵️🌤🎣🏕⛄️🌻

Jan 16, 2021 9:54 PM in response to K Shaffer

K Shaffer wrote:

This was only a cautionary since the effect was fairly well known
as Big Sur arrived as beta and rough edges were rubbed off.

Format aside; I've found evidence online and in ASC about this.

Apple is still selling HFS+ drives in its Apple Store and these are sold as compatible with 10.11 and higher. I think it is misleading (and not correct) to tell the original poster that HFS+ simply "isn't likely to work" with Big Sur. I think he/she would be better served trying to troubleshoot the issue with his/her specific drive.


If the drive was being used for Time Machine is indeed must be reformatted to APFS as Big Sur requires that. But for general storage, HFS+ drives can be used with Big Sur.

Jan 16, 2021 11:53 PM in response to steve626

Steve626:


Also the end users, as you are too, are advised to do their own troubleshooting

and if needed repairs to their devices. ~ I'm a bit further evolved than most with

about 30 years background in earlier Apple systems and newer changes.


My point was about the unsupported 'third-party' software; in topic threads

where I mistakenly replied (& was name-called) that had been problematic.


And among mac-user forums, more than a few participants have issue with

format as these systems evolve. There's many who have found problems after

Catalina, over Mojave upgrade; then found Big Sur with backups failed.


Hasn't been the first time in a decade where PC/Mac hardware maker offers

unnecessary software; provably bad for Mac, to "help" or "clean" something.


I've repaired & donated hundreds [x5] of Macs to charity in small AK towns.

And made no profit; while support time in person within 250+ mile radius.

Had 75 at time, ready to take 70-100 miles to charity thrift, at ends of the road.


Anyway, I am done with this ASC thread, and will remove "following" and

ASC notifications; as these send emails to me for each. I'm less interested.

Been part-time in discussions from May 2003, & used to be more fun here.


.Best wishes & happy trails.!

🌿⛵️🎣🌻🌤🌎🌙🌞🐝🐶

Jan 17, 2021 9:42 AM in response to justadrone

Hopefully WD will be able to help you. They have additional special utilities for troubleshooting that they don't post on their web site and that might enable you to get past the issue.


You said you "unlocked" the disk, that would be with WD's proprietary security software that "locks" a disk so access is denied until "unlocked?" Can Apple's Disk Utility see the disk?


See this in WD's support forums, it has some solutions that worked for some that had similar problems with WD's software/firmware:


https://community.wd.com/t/problem-in-connecting-passport-ssd-1t-to-big-sur/259297



Western Digital hard drives not working after Big Sur update

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