Question I need help restoring the partition on my WD 8TB My Book ?

Darkmatterx · 2024-10-08T06:28:29-0400

Without any noises or fanfare, my 8TB My Book stopped being recognized by my PC. At first the HDD didn't show up at all, but after a few reboots it did. In Disk Management it showed as not initialized and unallocated, with no partitions.

I think this is a corrupted MBR or whatever they use for 8TB drives. This is a non-boot drive just for storing files. It's still in it's housing and has always been a USB attached drive with 1 large partition.

I still don't know why the drive is now showing unallocated in disk management when all I did was a typical reboot. /shrug

What's the best way to go about diagnosing/confirming & fixing this? I'm hoping that file recovery won't be needed if the drive's MBR got partially corrupted.

Win 10 64bit Pro

Ralston18 · 2024-10-08T08:15:05-0400

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Include PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Other disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?

= = = =

Unfortunately anything you do could cause data loss or further data loss.

Start by posting a screenshot of the Disk Management screen. Expand the screen so all can be seen and then post the full image here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

Is that WD 8TB My Book using only host USB power or does the My Book have its' own independent power supply? The images I found appear to show just host USB power.....

More information needed.

SkyNetRising · 2024-10-08T08:19:37-0400

Darkmatterx said:
At first the HDD didn't show up at all, but after a few reboots it did.
In disk management it showed as not initialized and unallocated, with no partition.

Please show screenshot from Disk Management.
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

fzabkar · 2024-10-08T17:25:51-0400

Can you retrieve the SMART attributes?

https://www.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/index/smart/

Can you show us the Partitions tab in DMDE?

https://dmde.com/

dwd999 · 2024-10-08T19:35:07-0400

Ralston18 said:
Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Include PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Other disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?

= = = =

Unfortunately anything you do could cause data loss or further data loss.

Start by posting a screenshot of the Disk Management screen. Expand the screen so all can be seen and then post the full image here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

Is that WD 8TB My Book using only host USB power or does the My Book have its' own independent power supply? The images I found appear to show just host USB power.....

More information needed.

WD's webpage "In the Box" section indicates there is an AC adapter so perhaps that failed. There's also a second cord visible in their video. But if it failed at a critical point in writing to the disk professional data recovery service may be needed. OP could try reading the adapter's labelling to check the voltage and wattage provided by it and might be able to substitute a replacement adapter but will most likely still need to send the whole thing out to a service company.

Darkmatterx · 2024-10-08T19:40:03-0400

OK, so here's some of the info requested.

SMART test = fail

https://imgur.com/3uHz9Lx

View: https://imgur.com/3uHz9Lx

https://imgur.com/UNjnqjQ

View: https://imgur.com/UNjnqjQ

PSU Corsair RMx850x

Problem drive is a WD My Book portable drive. Uses both USB and power adapter for power, which is plugged into an APC UPS.

All components new and individually sourced by me. Approx. 3y.o. Maybe 4.

I haven't tried DMDE before, but I can take a look.

Thanks

Darkmatterx · 2024-10-08T19:43:10-0400

dwd999 said:
WD's webpage "In the Box" section indicates there is an AC adapter so perhaps that failed. There's also a second cord visible in their video. But if it failed at a critical point in writing to the disk professional data recovery service may be needed. OP could try reading the adapter's labelling to check the voltage and wattage provided by it and might be able to substitute a replacement adapter but will most likely still need to send the whole thing out to a service company.

I did try several USB cords in different USB ports, but not a different power adapter. I do have a 2nd 8TB, so I could see if that works, but that won't help in critical file info for the partition is partly corrupted.

I'm wary of even rebooting this thing since the drive wasn't even seen for several reboots.

Darkmatterx · 2024-10-08T19:53:30-0400

DMDE showed me this after I took a peak inside the "advanced" options, although I touched nothing inside it.

The error itself is kind of expected, but without knowing the error code itself I stopped there and quit the program.

https://imgur.com/8X1AYwf

View: https://imgur.com/8X1AYwf

Darkmatterx · 2024-10-08T19:56:32-0400

Ignore this post. I just forgot to "reply" to people so I'm not sure if they'll notice my post.

Ralston18 said:
Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Include PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Other disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?

= = = =

Unfortunately anything you do could cause data loss or further data loss.

Start by posting a screenshot of the Disk Management screen. Expand the screen so all can be seen and then post the full image here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

Is that WD 8TB My Book using only host USB power or does the My Book have its' own independent power supply? The images I found appear to show just host USB power.....

More information needed.

SkyNetRising said:
Please show screenshot from Disk Management.
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

fzabkar said:
Can you retrieve the SMART attributes?

https://www.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/index/smart/

Can you show us the Partitions tab in DMDE?

https://dmde.com/

dwd999 said:
WD's webpage "In the Box" section indicates there is an AC adapter so perhaps that failed. There's also a second cord visible in their video. But if it failed at a critical point in writing to the disk professional data recovery service may be needed. OP could try reading the adapter's labelling to check the voltage and wattage provided by it and might be able to substitute a replacement adapter but will most likely still need to send the whole thing out to a service company.

Ralston18 · 2024-10-08T20:43:24-0400

8 TB MyBook being the I: drive - correct?

Darkmatterx · 2024-10-08T20:58:38-0400

Ralston18 said:
8 TB MyBook being the I: drive - correct?

Actually I need to remove those letters. They're from my old system. The drive in question is disk 6, which is just below the 8TB that shows as working. The bad drive has no letter and chkdsk says it can't scan it because it's "raw."

fzabkar · 2024-10-08T22:11:04-0400

It appears that the drive has physical problems, probably heads or media.

Darkmatterx · 2024-10-09T00:41:28-0400

fzabkar said:
It appears that the drive has physical problems, probably heads or media.

What makes you say that? The error in my last screenshot?

Does anyone know which way the HDD's face in the enclosures? I might try laying it on it's side, correct side up.

SkyNetRising · 2024-10-09T00:54:54-0400

Darkmatterx said:
Does anyone know which way the HDD's face in the enclosures? I might try laying it on it's side, correct side up.

That's insane amount of external drives.
Do you need to use them all simultaneously?

Darkmatterx · 2024-10-09T01:50:54-0400

I'm actually surprised it took this long for someone to say something. lol

On top of collecting old anime that never made it over to the west, I'm also a photographer. RAW files take up a lot of space, as do 4K videos.

You can kind of see my progression as tech changed and my needs changed regarding the portable drives. 2TB, 3TB, 6TB, 6TB, 8TB, ~~8TB~~. lol

Anyone have any other suggestions, or know which side is 'face up' for WD My Books?

Thanks!

SkyNetRising said:
That's insane amount of external drives.
Do you need to use them all simultaneously?

SkyNetRising · 2024-10-09T04:24:46-0400

I think, you're hitting some USB power limits because of number of external drives used.
And that is causing drive disconnect and partition table corruption.

If you insist on using external drives, then connect only those you're currently working with.
Disconnect idle unused drives.
External drives are not meant to be constantly connected. Connect, use, then disconnect.

If you want to use drives as permanently connected, then install them internally (unless your pc is a laptop).
With 3x 20TB internal drives you could replace all your 9 external drives.

fzabkar · 2024-10-09T05:34:52-0400

Darkmatterx said:
What makes you say that? The error in my last screenshot?

Does anyone know which way the HDD's face in the enclosures? I might try laying it on it's side, correct side up.

SMART data are stored on the platters in a reserved "System Area" (SA). Therefore, an inability to retrieve the SMART attributes would suggest that the heads can't access the SA.

DMDE can't read sector 0. I expect that it will have the same problem with all other sectors, in which case this once again suggests that there is a head/media/firmware problem. (Most of the firmware resides in the SA.)

USAFRet · 2024-10-09T05:41:04-0400

Darkmatterx said:
On top of collecting old anime that never made it over to the west, I'm also a photographer. RAW files take up a lot of space, as do 4K videos.

You can kind of see my progression as tech changed and my needs changed regarding the portable drives. 2TB, 3TB, 6TB, 6TB, 8TB, ~~8TB~~. lol

That use case screams out for a NAS, rather than a bunch of USB drives.

Question I need help restoring the partition on my WD 8TB My Book ?

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