My WD Passport for mac won't recognise its own password or show up on the desktop

Help me understand---the Passport has password protection separate from anything Mac OSX provides? Wasn't aware they were doing that.

However, if you installed the WD software that came with the drive, that could be part of the problem. WD's backup software is intrusive and, for me, slowed overall computer performance--including lockups--to the point I gave up on it. Time Machine without any third-party backup programs is the least intrusive backup scheme. There are also recent reports here of WD software not playing well with Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks.

If the WD software folder has an uninstaller, try running it. Also, the Passport does not have its own power supply and must get power to turn the platter motor and run the electronics from a USB port. Often, this is more power than a USB port on a notebook computer can provide, especially as the drive ages. You may bneed to get a powered USB hub (has its own power supply from teh wall) and place it between the Passport and the MBP. The self-powered hub will make up any shortfall of current in the USB port.

So the password was accepted prior to repairing the disk, but not after, is that correct?

I would also like to see screenshots of the drive in Disk Utility. Plug it in and open DU, go to the First Aid tab, select the drive and take a shot of the DU window. Repeat that with the Partition selected and post both here please.

WD and their lack of support for Mavericks:

A recent email from WD reads:

Dear WD Registered Customer,

UPDATE: November 1st, 2013

As a valued WD customer we want to make you aware of new reports of Western Digital and other external HDD products experiencing data loss when updating to Apple's OS X Mavericks (10.9). WD is urgently investigating these reports and the possible connection to the WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager and WD SmartWare software applications. Until the issue is understood and the cause identified, WD strongly urges our customers to uninstall these software applications before updating to OS X Mavericks (10.9), or delay upgrading. If you have already upgraded to Mavericks, WD recommends that you remove these applications and restart your computer. If you have already upgraded to Mavericks and are experiencing difficulty in accessing your external hard drive, please do not save anything to the drive, disconnect the drive from your computer, and contact Western Digital Customer Service at http://support.wd.com/country/ for further assistance.

The WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager, and WD SmartWare software applications are not new and have been available from WD for many years. However, solely as a precaution WD has removed these applications from our website as we investigate this issue.

Sincerely,

Western Digital

Which is basically Western Digital informing you that their out-of-date utilities don’t support Mavericks.

In any case those utilities are not the most effective. The moral of the story is: the first thing you should do after buying a WD drive is to format it as HFS Extended (Journaled) and not install ANY of their utilities but instead use reliable applications like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper - or Time Machine.

To expand just a little, the Western Digital software worked so badly that in many instances the user lost all data. WD provided free data recovery software (which did not work for all users), so some just never got their data back.

What does Disk Utility have to say abut the drive?

The problem here is knowing whether DU is reporting the actual state of the disk or WD's software is in the way.

Have you completely removed the software (or do you have another Mac to plug this drive into)

And (have to ask) is there data on the drive that is not replaceable?

Don't update to Mavericks yet, let's fix this first.

Is this one of those WDs with hardware encryption, or does it encrypt using WD software you install.

I only ever bought a single WD with hardware encryption and decided I didn't like it as if the 'hardware' controlling that encryption failed there might be no way to access data.

I far prefer their Elements range with no hardware encryption and then use Disk Utility to create encrypted sparsebundles - in that way OS X controls the decryption/decryption when you open the sparsebundle, so if your Mac goes belly up you can still use another, and generally only drive failures cause major issues, though premature ejection could cause issues to the sparsebundle structure if writes were in progress at the time.

Good luck, not sure there's a straightforward answer here if at all - may be sensible to talk to WD.

AC

Once freed of the WD software and repartitioned and formatted I would expect that drive to function normally. It is your choice of course (and drives are cheap) . The critical thing is to remove the WD software once and for all, then the state of the drive may be assessed.

Check with WD as to how to remove it entirely, I'll ask for help around here as well (may take a while). If it can't be easily or completely removed then an erase and restore is indicated. And that requires a current and complete backup.

Not knowing what version of OS X you are running:

The following external hard drives should not be bootable on Intel-based Mac computers systems through FireWire (1394a/b):

• All My Book (+SmartWare)
• All My Passport (+SmartWare)

The external hard drive must contain a Mac OS Extended (HFS+) partition with GUID for Intel-based computers or Apple Partition Map on PowerPC-based computers. For directions on how to partition and format an external hard drive, please follow the directions below:

Ensure that the external hard drive is connected to the computer and powered on. Open the main drive (the drive that contains the operating system).

Open the Applications folder.

Open the Utilities folder.

Open the Disk Utility application.

The drives are displayed on the left side of the window. Click on the drive (the upper listing with the numerical capacity) that you wish to partition.

Once the drive is selected click on Partition tab.

Click on the Options button to select the partitioning scheme.

Click on GUID for Intel-based computers or Apple Partition Map for PowerPC-based ones and then click on the OK button.

You will see several options for setting up the drive. Once you have selected the number of partitions, the format type you want (Mac OS Extended), and a volume label, click the Apply button. Click the Partition button to confirm your selection and begin the partition operation.

• Following the completion of this process, the drive will appear on the desktop. It is now ready for installing a bootable operating system on it.

Source:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1787

Using a WD drive with Time Machine running Lion:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1694/related/1/session/L2F2LzEvd GltZS8xMzE4NDM1NTg0L3NpZC91WDcxWW5Haw%3D%3D

The disk looks fine, not so the partition, and it's the WD software causing it (I believe).

How much time do you want to spend, an erase is looking likely (unless you can get help from WD).

Had you actually filled this disk completely, or is the space used readout erroneous?

Using the other Mac have you tried a disk repair, if you did what did DU say on that Mac?

johnnywills wrote:

Also,

Went into WD drive utilities and ran a SMART test which it passed, a quick Drive test which it passed and a complete drive test which it cancelled itself... So im guessing it failed. Cant seem to find an uninstaller...

Still hoping...

I'll put out a call for anyone with more experience with the WD software and its effects.

If you have to erase this drive how big a problem will that be for you?