Question Old external HDD - WD MyBook Essential 2TB - controller problem

[Gazownik]

Hello,

Lately, my external HDD WD MyBook Essential 1140 (2TB) just stopped being recognized by my PC or any other device.
At first, I thought it might be a USB error, but after connecting it to a laptop, smartphone and tv, the result was the same.

I disassembled the drive and connected it straight to PC (SATA+PSU power) without WD's controller and it was recognized. Still, I wasn't able to initialize it without formatting which I obviously don't want to do because of the data contained that I can't lose.

After that, I bought the Wondershare RecoverIt app and when scanning finished all files were found at their normal capacity but when I tried to "recover" them then basically nothing worked (only a few txt files were intact) - connected through the WD's controller ofc because without it scan result is like 500 MB's of data.

My last hope is EaseUS (I'm scanning the drive right now) and it shows that: "Directory Intact" and there are all my files - the screenshot below.

The HDD's partition shows up as RAW.
The controller's S/N is: 4061-705094-001 rev. AA and I can't find it anywhere. If the EaseUS will fail the same way as Wondershare did then the only option for me is to either format it or get a specialized HDD restoration service?

Best regards

 

[MWink64]

I'm surprised it was able to find anything. I was under the impression that those models used encryption, which would result in the data being completely inaccessible when not using the WD SATA-USB bridge. I'd suggest letting PhotoRec (free) have a go at it. If it's able to carve out some accessible files, then it may be worth trying some other recovery software.

 

[fzabkar]

Those tools found WD's SmartWare files in the small unencrypted area at the end of the drive. This area is hidden from the OS by the USB-SATA bridge firmware and is presented to the host as a Virtual CD.

You need to repair or replace the bridge PCB, or you can use Linux based tools such as "reallymine" to decrypt the drive:

https://github.com/andlabs/reallymine

Here are "tools for opening some encrypted WD My Book drives in Linux":

https://github.com/themaddoctor/linux-mybook-tools
https://github.com/themaddoctor/linux-mybook-tools/archive/master.zip

Does the drive still spin up when attached to the original bridge PCB? If not, there may be any easy DIY repair, but I would need to see a photo of both sides of the PCB.

Can you retrieve a SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo or GSmartControl?

WARNING: Do not write to the drive, as the encryption key is stored at the end of the drive in an area that is now exposed to the OS.

 

[Gazownik]

Those tools found WD's SmartWare files in the small unencrypted area at the end of the drive. This area is hidden from the OS by the USB-SATA bridge firmware and is presented to the host as a Virtual CD.

You need to repair or replace the bridge PCB, or you can use Linux based tools such as "reallymine" to decrypt the drive:

https://github.com/andlabs/reallymine

Here are "tools for opening some encrypted WD My Book drives in Linux":

https://github.com/themaddoctor/linux-mybook-tools
https://github.com/themaddoctor/linux-mybook-tools/archive/master.zip

Does the drive still spin up when attached to the original bridge PCB? If not, there may be any easy DIY repair, but I would need to see a photo of both sides of the PCB.

Can you retrieve a SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo or GSmartControl?

WARNING: Do not write to the drive, as the encryption key is stored at the end of the drive in an area that is now exposed to the OS.

Update: the screenshot from EaseUS posted above actually found all my files and each file that I've checked for preview - worked. The HDD is connected through the controller PCB.
The drive spins in both scenarios with and without the controller so it's not physically damaged.

As for crystaldisk:

Detailed info below (I've removed most of other drives' data):

Spoiler: CrystalDISK

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskInfo 9.0.1 (C) 2008-2023 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World: https://crystalmark.info/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

OS : Windows 10 Professional [10.0 Build 19045] (x64)
Date : 2023/07/02 21:18:09

-- Controller Map ----------------------------------------------------------
+ Standard controller SATA AHCI [ATA]
- WDC WD30EZRX-00DC0B0
- WDC WD30EZRX-00DC0B0
- Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB
- Kontroler miejsc do magazynowania firmy Microsoft [SCSI]
+ Samsung NVMe Controller [SCSI]
- NVMe Samsung SSD 970 SCSI Disk Device
- Xvdd SCSI Miniport [SCSI]

(05) WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0 : 2000,3 GB [4/0/0, sa1]


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(05) WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enclosure : WD My Book 1140 USB Device (V=1058, P=1140, sa1)
Model : WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0
Firmware : 51.0AB51
Serial Number : WD-WCAZA9718763
Disk Size : 2000,3 GB (8,4/137,4/2000,3/2000,3)
Buffer Size : Unknown
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 3907029168
Rotation Rate : Unknown
Interface : USB (Serial ATA)
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ----
Transfer Mode : SATA/300 | SATA/600
Power On Hours : 29517 hours
Power On Count : 8421 count
Temperature : 37 C (98 F)
Health Status : Caution
Features : S.M.A.R.T., NCQ, GPL
APM Level : ----
AAM Level : ----
Drive Letter : W:

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 200 200 _51 00000000005B Read Error Rate
03 169 168 _21 000000001974 Spin-Up Time
04 _90 _90 __0 000000002811 Start/Stop Count
05 200 200 140 000000000000 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 100 253 __0 000000000000 Seek Error Rate
09 _60 _60 __0 00000000734D Power-On Hours
0A 100 100 __0 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0B 100 100 __0 000000000000 Recalibration Retries
0C _92 _92 __0 0000000020E5 Power Cycle Count
C0 197 197 __0 0000000009F3 Power-off Retract Count
C1 140 140 __0 00000002C870 Load/Unload Cycle Count
C2 113 _94 __0 000000000025 Temperature
C4 200 200 __0 000000000000 Reallocation Event Count
C5 200 200 __0 00000000000D Current Pending Sector Count
C6 200 200 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000000 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
C8 200 200 __0 000000000000 Write Error Rate

-- IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
000: 427A 3FFF C837 0010 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000
010: 2020 2020 2057 442D 5743 415A 4139 3731 3837 3633
020: 0000 0000 0032 3531 2E30 4142 3531 5744 4320 5744
030: 3230 4541 5258 2D30 3050 4153 4230 2020 2020 2020
040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8010 0000 2F00
050: 4001 0000 0000 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 0100
060: FFFF 0FFF 0000 0107 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 0000
070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 001F 170E 0004 0044 0040
080: 01FE 0000 746B 7D61 4123 7469 BC41 4123 007F 00BA
090: 00BA 0000 FFFE 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
100: 88B0 E8E0 0000 0000 0000 0000 6003 0000 5001 4EE2
110: 063B C3C4 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 401C
120: 401C 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0021 0000
130: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
140: 0000 0000 0004 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 3035 0000 0000 4000
210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
220: 0000 0000 103E 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
230: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001 1000 0000 0000 0000 0000
240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 15A5

-- SMART_READ_DATA ---------------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 2F 00 C8 C8 5B 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 27
010: 00 A9 A8 74 19 00 00 00 00 00 04 32 00 5A 5A 11
020: 28 00 00 00 00 00 05 33 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 2E 00 64 FD 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 32
040: 00 3C 3C 4D 73 00 00 00 00 00 0A 32 00 64 64 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 32 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0C 32 00 5C 5C E5 20 00 00 00 00 00 C0 32
070: 00 C5 C5 F3 09 00 00 00 00 00 C1 32 00 8C 8C 70
080: C8 02 00 00 00 00 C2 22 00 71 5E 25 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C4 32 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 32
0A0: 00 C8 C8 0D 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 30 00 C8 C8 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 32 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C8 08 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 F8 8E 01 7B
170: 03 00 01 00 02 FF 05 61 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 01 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 40

-- SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ----------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 33 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 03 15
010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 8C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 00 64 64 64 64 64 64 00 00 00 00 09 00
040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 00 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00
070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 00 00 00 00 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 00
0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 00 00 00 00 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C8 00 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 05

I think there's a good chance that the EaseUS software might actually help in my case but I'll have to rethink it before sinking 70$.

Also, I'll check the method you mentioned above.

 

[USAFRet]

For future reference, this is exactly what a good backup routine is for.

 

[fzabkar]

The free version of DMDE may be all that you need. Otherwise the standard version costs US$20.

https://dmde.com/

Software used by data recovery professionals:

https://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=3208

 

[MWink64]

The drive spins in both scenarios with and without the controller so it's not physically damaged.

As for crystaldisk:

With 13 pending sectors, it likely is physically damaged, though possibly not to an extent that's unsalvageable.