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Level 1

135 points

WD My Book Studio Edition 500GB won't mount

I know that the news is likely to be bad but here is hoping that I will get some feedback about "what next" in terms of what is possible if not possible to mount with a fix of some sort.

The problem:

I have a Western Digital My Book 500GB Firewire/eSATA/USB 2 Studio Edition external hard drive which is daisy-chained with 7 other hard drives, mostly WD and one Lacie which is the only drive to not mount.

I have done all the checks in that I have disconnected it from the daisy chain and followed the prescribed start up by unplugging, waiting, plugging it into direct power socket, pressing the rear button (also tried it with not pressing it), then plugging in Firewire/USB cables (in turn of course) into the drive and then only into the freshly restarted MacBook Pro (which is also mains connected) running OSX10.6.8.

Nothing will make the drive mount.

Replaced it into the daisy-chain, tried again with full power-cycle of the entire chain, they boot up as expected, the unmounted one remains visible in Disk Utility, checks out fine, repairs fine (since there is nothing TO repair) and still will not mount.

Unlike most (but not all) it has an Apple Partition Map, not a Master Boot Record or GUID Partition Table, if that is even relevant. The other (WD) drive with the same partition map is fine.

The question:

Now having done my research I am very disheartened to note that it is likely to be a lost cause.

I cannot afford to lose the data on there. It contains 480GB+ of film data which I was in the process of "mirroring" (but since I have 6TB of data to mirror that is a big task and I was working in strict order and only upto 5 with this one being 9 in a set of 13...) and I am keen to learn what I can possibly do to rescue this terrible situation.

Can I use firmware to "fix" its unmountability? Can I send it somewhere to have the data extracted? Can such data even be accessed, given that Disk Utility can see the drive but cannot "see" the files contained therein?

Please and thank you.

13, Mac OS X (10.6.8), also DVCPRO HD Panasonic HVX201

Posted on Oct 1, 2011 3:25 AM

Best reply

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Posted on Oct 1, 2011 6:25 AM

I had success with a friend's WD external which had stopped mounting. The drive itself was fine. I removed it from the WD enclosure, which had gone bad (I think the WD external chipsets are of very poor quality) and put it in one of these. All the data was still there.

Getting it out wasn't difficult. The plastic cover has to be pried open -- just work slowly and carefully; you don't want to bang or jar the drive. Putting it in the OWC enclosure took all of twenty minutes or less.

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19 replies

bruxxx

Level 1

45 points

Nov 3, 2013 8:44 PM in response to Chrisitude

Hi Chris,

You need to think this out carefully.

Did you contact WD support.

WD support is very good, and if you are getting some idiot, ask to be escalated to a level ii support person. I have had some of the front line people make some really stupid comments, so don't leave it at that.

First, I think it's worth mentioning that you need to have multiple redundant backup strategies ... now you know that, right?

The Passport product is not designed to be taken apart, so be careful with that.

If you decide to do that, be careful, and then you can put it in any generic enclosure, but you may void your warranty with WD or course.

Does the drive have a power connector, and if so have you connected both whatever data connector and the power connector to it?

Have you verified everything in the path that you are using to try to access this box with another box to make sure the USB/FW ports, cables, hubs, etc, are working?

Finally, if the drive is dead, you will need to pursue this with a data recovery company. I have no experience doing that. Some now charge are reasonable flat fee for trying, and do not charge you further if they cannot recover your data. Be sure you get a complete quote to decide if your data is that valuable.

Sorry I don't have much more to add.

First off, get in touch with WD and find out your official options.

Nov 3, 2013 9:14 PM in response to bruxxx

Hi Bruxx,

Thanks soo much for such a prompt response...and yes I agree, on the multiple back ups. This is the only drive without the multiple back up, as this was info taken off a computer before it went nuts on me.

Anyway, it's an old drive, one of the first 500gb drives, so warranty is out.

This one does not have a power connector, but runs off the laptop power. I have treid it with other usb cords as i have a few of these drives :-( and also on a different computer. So the cable is working. I did connect it back once and leave it one for a while since and it got quite warm, so i removed it again...not sure if that indicates something.

Is it worth trying the IDE / SATA cable or try and pick up a replacement Circuit board to try getting the information off? before going to a data recovery company?

bruxxx

Level 1

45 points

Nov 3, 2013 10:29 PM in response to Chrisitude

> Is it worth trying the IDE / SATA cable or try and pick up a replacement Circuit board to try getting the information off? before going to a data recovery company?

I'm telling you, check with WD even if you think the warranty is expired. Their drives are warrantied for a very long time.

Yes, it is worth trying to take the drive out and putting it in another enclosure because the enclosure electronics might be what is failing.

If that doesn't work contact data recovery.

MacBraveheart Author

Level 1

135 points

Nov 4, 2013 12:05 AM in response to Chrisitude

Ah- bu I could at least see my precious drive (warranty was not the issue- I needed the data, not the drive per se) in Utility! It just wouldn't mount.

And once I got the data recovery software I was saving the McB Data Planet left right and centre. Super investment and saved me a couple of hundred over a third party doing it for me.

WD My Book Studio Edition 500GB won't mount