Usb 3.0 WD 2Tb MyBook removed from enclosure not working anymore.

[maxxroxx]

Hello Experts!
I've removed an external usb 3.0 2TB MYBOOK from its enclosure hoping to use it as an internal drive in my Mac Pro. Wrong! After reading various threads on the forum it appears that there's some sort of encryption at work that will render your drive useless. So i reconnected the drive to the original sata-usb bridge, hoping to recover the data, but no dice. The mac won't see it. Disk Utility doesn't see it. it doesn't show up in Volumes dir if i check via terminal. WD Disk Utilities detects there is a MyBook connected, but it can't find any volumes, so i cannot run any tests. Is there any way to get it working again? If not, is there a chance to recover the data?

I am running osx 10.6.8 on a 2009 Mac Pro ( old aluminum tower ).

Thank You in advance for any help.
Max

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the TH community, maxxroxx!

I'm sorry to hear about your WD My Book drive! 🙁 Unfortunately, taking it out of the enclosure voids the warranty on the product and it does make the drive inaccessible due to the hardware encryption! I'd suggest you to consider professional assistance with the recovery as they are your best chance at getting the most of it. If you still want to continue with the DIY attempts, you can take a look at this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html

However, I'd recommend you to contact one of our Data Recovery Partners worldwide for assistance with the retrieving of your files! You can find a list of those here: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=0acl1D

If have more questions, I'd suggest you to get in touch with our customer support as well: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=73dPT3

Best of luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[maxxroxx]

Welcome to the TH community, maxxroxx!

I'm sorry to hear about your WD My Book drive! 🙁 Unfortunately, taking it out of the enclosure voids the warranty on the product and it does make the drive inaccessible due to the hardware encryption! I'd suggest you to consider professional assistance with the recovery as they are your best chance at getting the most of it. If you still want to continue with the DIY attempts, you can take a look at this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html

However, I'd recommend you to contact one of our Data Recovery Partners worldwide for assistance with the retrieving of your files! You can find a list of those here: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=0acl1D

If have more questions, I'd suggest you to get in touch with our customer support as well: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=73dPT3

Best of luck!
SuperSoph_WD

Thank You SuperSoph_WD, what i don't understand is how come reconnecting the usb bridge *exactly* as it was in the enclosure doesn't make the disk usable again?

 

[Rabmac]

Someone on this thread proposing they have a solution to your problem but I cannot verify if it works or not: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1999501/book-data-recovery-issue-encryption.html

 

[maxxroxx]

Someone on this thread proposing they have a solution to your problem but I cannot verify if it works or not: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1999501/book-data-recovery-issue-encryption.html

Rabmac,
i did try "testdisk" but it fails to see the disk, so no love there either.
I believe the usb bridge is still working, since the WD disk utility does see the disk, it just believes there are no volumes. if the usb was dead i don't think it would get detected by the WD disk utility at all.
Thanks for the pointer anyway!

 

[Rabmac]

No problem, you might be able to access the data through Ubuntu but I am assuming that it will be encrypted which probably is not much help.

Do you not a backup somewhere?

 

[maxxroxx]

No problem, you might be able to access the data through Ubuntu but I am assuming that it will be encrypted which probably is not much help.

Do you not a backup somewhere?

No backup i am afraid. stupid. i 've read somewhere in the forum there's a linux tool that might come in handy.
Thanks again.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, maxxroxx!

It is possible that the file system got corrupted once you took the HDD out. This could be the reason why you are still unable to access it even after you've mounted it back in the enclosure. 🙁
I'd agree with @Rabmac that a Ubuntu Live CD could help you out in this situation as it's another option for a do-it-yourself data recovery. Here's something that you might find useful as well: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DataRecovery

Hope it helps. Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[maxxroxx]

Hey there again, maxxroxx!

It is possible that the file system got corrupted once you took the HDD out. This could be the reason why you are still unable to access it even after you've mounted it back in the enclosure. 🙁
I'd agree with @Rabmac that a Ubuntu Live CD could help you out in this situation as it's another option for a do-it-yourself data recovery. Here's something that you might find useful as well: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DataRecovery

Hope it helps. Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

Thank You, SuperSoph_WD
i've got a few linux boxes in the office, i'll give it a shot and report back.

 

[Rabmac]

You can make an Ubuntu live CD and boot from that and it gives you a linux environment without having to install linux. Not sure if that is something that would interest you. The link posted by SuperSoph should have details.

 

[christoferdirk]

Hello Experts!
I've removed an external usb 3.0 2TB MYBOOK from its enclosure hoping to use it as an internal drive in my Mac Pro. Wrong! After reading various threads on the forum it appears that there's some sort of encryption at work that will render your drive useless. So i reconnected the drive to the original sata-usb bridge, hoping to recover the data, but no dice. The mac won't see it. Disk Utility doesn't see it. it doesn't show up in Volumes dir if i check via terminal. WD Disk Utilities detects there is a MyBook connected, but it can't find any volumes, so i cannot run any tests. Is there any way to get it working again? If not, is there a chance to recover the data?

I am running osx 10.6.8 on a 2009 Mac Pro ( old aluminum tower ).

Thank You in advance for any help.
Max

I have the same exact problem. I accidentally used my laptop adapter on 4TB MyBook. I tried to recover the data using a generic SATA dock, but the drive was not recognized. Windows said it is uninitialized. Then I tried using other enclosure from 2TB MyBook and it is not working. What happen next is the same as in your case, when I plugged the 2TB drive back to its enclosure, it became not initialized.

I have tried many data recovery software including Testdisk. But the one that really works and fast is M3 Raw Drive Recovery http://www.m3datarecovery.com/raw-drive-recovery/ This software successfully repaired the MFT on my 2TB drive and it become recognized on windows. No need to transfer the data to another drive. As for my 4TB it is a PCB problem.

You can try the trial version first to check whether it is able to read your data or not. Sorry for my bad english 😀.