WD MyBook for Mac 3TB doesnt show up anymore

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Level 1

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WD MyBook for Mac 3TB doesnt show up anymore

Hello there. I have been using my WD MyBook for Mac 3TB for months now, maybe even half a year. It was/is formatted as Mac, so no problem there id assume. But since last night, it did show up but i wasnt able to click on it and access it. Now it doesnt show up at all anymore.

Before it did show up in Disk Utility, i tried verifying it and repairing it, but it said something about information missing, i dont remember the complete message.

Now it is completely gone from Disk Utility. I downloaded firmware, tried running it but also the firmware couldnt find the MyBook at first. Then the third try, it did find it somehow, and it updated, even tho the firmware was up to date.

The MyBook is just working, showing light and making noise. Ive tried different USB ports, nothing worked. Restarted my iMac about 5 times, no succes.

I have a iMac 21.5'', Intel Duo Core 3.06 ghz, 8GB RAM. Running version 10.8.2, did software update, everything is up to date.

I am really annoyed by this, since it contains over 1.7GB in movies and tv shows. Also my complete Time Machine backups are on there.

Can anyone help me?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Nov 16, 2012 4:13 AM

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Answer 1

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Nov 16, 2012 5:22 AM in response to Viktor93

Presumably it is still under warranty? Have you contacted the vendor or WD?

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Answer 2

Viktor93 Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2012 5:23 AM in response to Klaus1

No i have not, since i am afraid that if i do that, i will have to get it repaired/replaced, which will lead to complete loss of 1.7TB of data i guess.

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Answer 3

Nov 16, 2012 5:25 AM in response to Viktor93

I would recommend trying the following two steps, as explained by our Expert User "rkaufmann87":

iMac SMC and PRAM reset:

SMC RESET

Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and ALL peripherals.
Wait 15 seconds.
Attach the computers power cable.
Wait another 5 seconds and press the power button to turn on the computer.

PRAM RESET

Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

Hope this helps 🙂

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Answer 4

Viktor93 Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2012 6:03 AM in response to Radiation Mac

Tried both of the resets, didnt work.

Everytime i restart my iMac, it is viewable in Disk Utility. When i click Verify, it is loading for ages, then i click cancel or abort or w/e. Then it freezes and i have to force quit Disk Utility. When i open Disk Utility after that again, it isnt viewable anymore.

When i restart, and dont click on Verify but instead click on Repair, it says: 'Alert: some information was unavailable during an internal lookup.

Here is my log:

2012-11-16 12:15:15 +0100: Disk Utility started.

2012-11-16 12:16:04 +0100: Verifying and repairing partition map for “WD My Book 111A Media”

2012-11-16 12:16:04 +0100: Starting repair tool:

2012-11-16 12:16:04 +0100: Checking prerequisites

2012-11-16 12:16:17 +0100: Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map

2012-11-16 12:16:17 +0100: Error: Some information was unavailable during an internal lookup.2012-11-16 12:16:17 +0100:

2012-11-16 12:16:17 +0100: : Some information was unavailable during an internal lookup.

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Answer 5

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Nov 16, 2012 7:50 AM in response to Viktor93

It might just be the chipset/controller in the enclosure that's bad, not the drive itself. WD externals are known for doing this. They are crap.

You might want to crack it open, take out the drive and stick it in a decent enclosure. I've done this before for someone who had a similar problem, although it didn't fail within 3 mos. More like a year and a half.

Maybe one of these

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MEP944FW8EU2/

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MEFW934FWU2K/

Or see if you can arrange with WD to put the drive in a new (crappy) enclosure, under warranty.

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Answer 6

Rudegar

Level 10

170,766 points

Nov 16, 2012 8:39 AM in response to WZZZ

tried connecting it to another computer maybe a friends or relatives ?

just for troubleshooting purposes

my 1TB wd mybook got worse and worse over time when I turned it on I could hear the hd trying to spin up and often fail

turning it on and off untill it spinned up correctly made it work for a bit but as soon as it would go into power saving mode the problem

was back suppose it's psu didn't provide enough juice to spin the hd up every time

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