Q: Mavericks corrupts external hard drive

R C-R wrote:

 

Gameon2007 wrote:

I really think Apple should have put an update warning before downloading the update as it looks like this has been a known issue for a couple of months.

Since your drive was reformatted with the telltale "MyBook" name, you can be sure it was the WD utility software that caused your disaster. Apple neither makes nor distributes this software -- you had to get it from WD (either by download or included with a WD drive) & install it.

 

As with all such third party software, it is the responsibility of its maker to make sure it is compatible with new OS X releases, & to a lesser extent the responsibility of users to do the same. Apple works with developers to help them do this but even so, not all issues are discovered during testing & unfortunately, that's what happened here.

 

Once WD became aware of the problem, it sent emails to users who had registered their HD purchase with WD, advising them to either uninstall their software before upgrading to Mavericks, or wait & not install Mavericks until WD (with Apple's help) resolved the issue.

 

For those users who already had upgraded with the WD software installed, WD advised them to disconnect their external drives ASAP & uninstall the WD software before reconnecting them. For those who had already had their external drives reformatted -- & this apparently does not happen to very many users, relatively speaking -- as mentioned earlier WD offers free data recovery software.

 

WD also has released updated versions of its utility software which (at least in theory) eliminates the possibility of unexpected reformats. Users that really need the capabilities that software provides can download & install it; otherwise it is best not to use it at all, since Disk Utility & OS X itself provide all the capabilities most users need.

 

So, while it is completely understandable why you would want Apple to include a warning about  this, it isn't something Apple or WD could have done until the problem was discovered, & once it was it was WD's responsibility to warn its customers about the potential problem its software could cause its customers. It did so to best of its ability, released a fix as soon as it could, & is trying to assist any of its customers who lost their data as a result of using the WD software recover that data.

 

As already suggested, you need to stop using the drive ASAP & contact WD about getting the recovery software. It would also be a very good idea to review any other third party software you have gotten from any source besides Apple to make sure it is the most up-to-date version available & is fully compatible with Mavericks.

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Some of the mac geeks on this site MAKE MY BLOOD BOIL , lecturering on Apple resposibilities . It's really about  compassion and  apple have none.

 

You blokes who fix macs for a living jump on here waving the apple flag making comments like above should stick to  fixing them.

 

APPLE ADVERTISES AND SELLS WD EXTERNAL DRIVE ENCLOSURES in otherwords it distributes them and recommends them.

 

So a warning from them to its customers would have been appreciated by its customers.

Do other operating systems have this problem with external drives, No.!

rc-r stick to what you know.

CALLOHANh wrote:

 

Some of the mac geeks on this site MAKE MY BLOOD BOIL , lecturering on Apple resposibilities . It's really about  compassion and  apple have none.

 

You blokes who fix macs for a living jump on here waving the apple flag making comments like above should stick to  fixing them.

 

APPLE ADVERTISES AND SELLS WD EXTERNAL DRIVE ENCLOSURES in otherwords it distributes them and recommends them.

 

So a warning from them to its customers would have been appreciated by its customers.

Do other operating systems have this problem with external drives, No.!

 

I do not understand your rantings, as there are no links to anything to backup your claims (?).

But you can tell Apple directly

FEEDBACK    http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Cheers

Pete

CALLOHANh wrote:

 

You blokes who fix macs for a living.....

They don't. They're just users who give of their time to try and help - although in many cases it's a shot in the dark because nobody can know exactly how you have configured your computer for your own needs. So all advice offered should be acted upon with caution. Also ignore all advice that comes with an "attitude".

As for the enduring "external WD drive issue" that so many people are reporting:  obviously if you weren't having this issue, with the same drive, before you installed Mavericks, it's not you but Mavericks that is causing the problem- no matter what some may say.

R C-R wrote:

 

So, while it is completely understandable why you would want Apple to include a warning about  this, it isn't something Apple or WD could have done until the problem was discovered, & once it was it was WD's responsibility to warn its customers about the potential problem its software could cause its customers. It did so to best of its ability, released a fix as soon as it could, & is trying to assist any of its customers who lost their data as a result of using the WD software recover that data.

 

I agree that the blame probably lays mostly with WD (in the 'MyBook reformatting' cases). The user should also take some responsibility for not checking & updating the installed software before upgrading the entire OS.

There is something Apple can do to protect new users who upgrade, use the xprotect system to block the software from loading. http://www.thesafemac.com/mmg-builtin/

Apple currently block old versions of Flash Player & Java for security reasons in addition to known malware. Shouldn't older versions of WD's software also be blocked for new users who are still upgrading to 10.9?

Use http://apple.com/feedback to suggest it.

There are more disk producers than only WD that deliver some software with it or with some models.

Yes, but how many of those makers use the 'MyBook' name after reformatting disks?

Tom in London wrote:

As for the enduring "external WD drive issue" that so many people are reporting:  obviously if you weren't having this issue, with the same drive, before you installed Mavericks, it's not you but Mavericks that is causing the problem- no matter what some may say.

Except that if an external drive is suddenly reformatted with the characteristic "MyBook" name, then the command to do that could not possibly have come from Mavericks because that name is not anywhere in the OS itself.

Besides, WD has in effect admitted it was a flaw in its code by issuing updated software (it claims) eliminates that possibility. That was done without changing one single line of code anywhere in Mavericks, just in its own software. That should be proof enough for what the cause really was.

Drew Reece wrote:

There is something Apple can do to protect new users who upgrade, use the xprotect system to block the software from loading. http://www.thesafemac.com/mmg-builtin/

Unfortunately, xprotect, Gatekeeper, et al can't protect users from the effects of software they have already told the system it is OK to install. And since the WD software installs system level software, users must grant it explicit permission to do that by authenticating with an admin user name & password, thereby removing it from quarantine.

CALLOHANh wrote:

APPLE ADVERTISES AND SELLS WD EXTERNAL DRIVE ENCLOSURES in otherwords it distributes them and recommends them.

Apple sells external HD setups, nothing further is stated or claimed.

There is no issue with any physical hard drive by ANY Mfg., .... said that on page 1 of this thread.

Hard drives: work and run..., fail and crash, spin and shuttle data on command,...they dont format or partition themselves, never was that the case.

Unless needed for a RAID array, all HD control software is garbageware, ...always has been.

Its fluffy nonsense some HD mfg. (WD and Seagate) peddle with their drives in hopes to sell more X drives than Brand-Y drives. 

Nothing good or helpful comes about by or from use of HD software.

people for years here have said (and elsewhere):

1. A new HD is a brick, remove from package, format it, then use it.

2. Never ever never  install HD software.

IBM technicians were screaming doom and gloom about fragile ferromagnetic data storage 20 years ago.           Back when hard drives cost as much as a new car costs.

Apple's terms of use in activating any computer (same as all other computer mfg.) state clearly "not responsible for loss of data"

WD was not proactive in testing its wares with OS 10.9, and claimed on its own website "10.9 compatible",.....well it wasnt.

If you only have one copy of your priceless data off the computer, youre running with scissors on the edge of an active volcano,      its a tragedy that will, without fail, unfold itself.

"An external hard drive is a device used to backup your other two external hard drives, because you should not trust any of them,...they all want to betray you"  - Rules of data management   S. Slagowski

The installer for OSX 10.9  scanned the boot partition and warned users about various incompatible software (e.g. PPC applications, etc.). Of course at that time Apple probably didn’t know about the WD software issues. BUT>>>> by the time Apple released 10.9.1, Apple must have known about the issue of WD software repartitioning external hard drives. WD had already released a pubic statement to that effect.

So at the very least, Apple missed an opportunity to protect users updating to 10.9.1 by scanning their boot partition and warning them about any WD software found causing possible external drive problems BEFORE updating to 10.9.1.

For example, if the scan found WD drivers, Apple could have recommended that users discontinue use of external drives until they had contacted WD for the WD uninstaller or updated drivers, etc.. But of course, Apple encourages users to apply OSX updates automatically or within the next 24 hours via nagging notifications

—GetRealBro

So Apple should just concentrate on developing their OSX around one individual External Drive manufacturer and just ignore any others?

Pete

Gameon2007 Sorry to hear that.  You can find the steps you need in this thread.  First, remove all the WD files and software on your machine. Or update it.  But better to remove it.

Following steps posted here I found and removed the WD files on my machine:

The WD software wasn't in my Applications folder, instead I found files in:

~/Library/Application Support (WDDriveManager)

~/Library/LaunchDaemons (com.wdc.drivemanagerservice.plist)

I ran the Western Digital uninstaller, which seems to be no longer available from the WD website. Maybe someone's hosted it elsewhere or these files can be just manually deleted.

After running the WD uninstaller, I then manually deleted the uninstaller pref file from/Library/LaunchDaemons

Then manually deleted com.westerndigital.WD-Software-Uninstaller from/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools

I also trashed the WD uninstaller.

That worked for me to remove all the WD software & files from my machine.  I think. Touch wood no problems since then.

You can also look at the following steps to manually remove the software:

Using Apple’s Activity Monitor from /Applications/Utilities quit the following processes:

WDDMService

WD Quick View

SmartwareServerApp

Delete /Library/LaunchDeamons/com.wdc.WDDMService.plist (Entry that causes WDDM to start.)

Delete /Library/LaunchDeamons/com.wdc.WDSmartWareServer.plist (Entry that causes the SmartWare Server to start.)

Delete /Applications Support/WDSmartware (Removes all SmartWare support programs)

Delete /Application/WDSmartWare (SmartWare user interface)

Delete Library/Preferences/com.wdc.smartware.plist

From System Preferences->Users Login Items remove WDQuickview for all users. (Entry that runs WD Quick View when a user logs in. There should be a single entry for all users. Deleting it from one any account should remove it for all accounts.)

It's also been noted here you can use Terminal to find things that Spotlight cannot handle (it won't show /System or hidden files etc).

The command is:

sudo find -x  /  -iname com.wdc.\* -or -iname com.westerndigital.\*

-or -iname com.wd\*

This should show any WD files you need to remove

Also advised here is to run etrecheck http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck to find any WD files.

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For data recovery, WD are giving out license keys to data recovery software called EasyRecovey 11.  That's not always been offered upfront by customer support so if they don't make it availabe to you at first, persist with them.

I have also used Data Rescue 3 and testdisk to recover files in the past and in this instance. Both giving good results.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Prosoft%20Engineering/56100/

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

There's no guarantee you'll get everything back with any data recovery software but if as advised here you don't do anything more to the disk (except run the recovery software on it) there's a good chance you'll get a great deal of the data back.

Good luck.

And I agree, though it is the software manufacturer's responsibility to make sure their software is updated and works with updated operating systems this is a unique case, in so far as I can see, in that an incompatability issue can cause this data loss on external hard drives.  Even though every company out there recommends backing up your data in reality so many people do not, or do but let the routine lapse (as I did).  Having a notice from Apple that there is a major issue with that one particular piece of software from WD would have been the warning many people needed.  I had products registered with WD but didn't get the notification from them many others did. There's a bit of to and fro about if Apple or WD are to blame for this. Personally I'm not happy with either company at the moment, and the 'Not our problem' attitude from Apple is I think misplaced in this instance.

Isn't the same true of Flash and Java? They were allowed by the user at install time and now Apple blocks them.

petermac87 wrote:

 

CALLOHANh wrote:

 

Some of the mac geeks on this site MAKE MY BLOOD BOIL , lecturering on Apple resposibilities . It's really about  compassion and  apple have none.

 

You blokes who fix macs for a living jump on here waving the apple flag making comments like above should stick to  fixing them.

 

APPLE ADVERTISES AND SELLS WD EXTERNAL DRIVE ENCLOSURES in otherwords it distributes them and recommends them.

 

So a warning from them to its customers would have been appreciated by its customers.

Do other operating systems have this problem with external drives, No.!

 

I do not understand your rantings, as there are no links to anything to backup your claims (?).

 

But you can tell Apple directly

 

FEEDBACK    http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Try Apple store site - imacs/macs - accessories if that's to hard to locate for you i will post a link.

Gave Apple feedback in october, so don't need your link.

cheers

H.

Need your link to your specific evidence though. Second time I have requested it.

Also can you point out the folk on here you fix Macs for a living?

Thanks

Pete