WD MyPassport dead after firmware update

[SareMa]

Hello guys, few minutes ago i tried to update firmware on my disc. I double checked the S/N in firmware updater, and after few minutes it showed that it failed. I restarted my PC as prompted on firmware updater in the manual. After booting up I reconnected the disc and drivers install window popped up, showing "Installing Initio Default Controller". Tried different ports, without success. Also tried different computer, same thing, Initio Default Controller and dead disc. I hope you can help me, i have everything on it, and since it's encrypted i can't extract anything from it. I do know the passport tho. I have Windows 8.1 64bit Pro, SES drivers and WD SmartWare installed. It's really important to me because i was reinstalling the system, which left me with no backups. It contains everything important to me. Can i retrieve the data? I assume that i can't do it at home, so pro help will be needed. Do you think it will be expensive?

I'll be glad for any help.

EDIT: P/N is WDBAAA3200ABK

 

[popatim]

Encrypted and a botch firmware? Its probably lost but which type of encryption was it? Hardware or software?

In the future, please remember that when you are down to only 1 copy of a file, its not longer a backup copy. I'm sure you would have proceeded differently had you realized this before the update.

 

[SareMa]

Encrypted and a botch firmware? Its probably lost but which type of encryption was it? Hardware or software?

In the future, please remember that when you are down to only 1 copy of a file, its not longer a backup copy. I'm sure you would have proceeded differently had you realized this before the update.

Ye, i know it's my fault, but i hope there is a solution. The disk was completely fine before the update. It has hardware encryption.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there SareMa,

I am really sorry for the issues you are facing with your WD My Passport. Most of the times, Initio Default Controller means that the bridge board is corrupted. I would say that your safest bet of recovering the data is to contact of WD's Data Recovery Partners. Apart from that, it may also be a good idea to contact WD's Support either by e-mail or by phone.

WD's Data Recovery Partners: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp?wdc_lang=en
WD's Support: http://support.wdc.com/contact/index.asp?lang=en

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

 

[SareMa]

Hi there SareMa,

I am really sorry for the issues you are facing with your WD My Passport. Most of the times, Initio Default Controller means that the bridge board is corrupted. I would say that your safest bet of recovering the data is to contact of WD's Data Recovery Partners. Apart from that, it may also be a good idea to contact WD's Support either by e-mail or by phone.

WD's Data Recovery Partners: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp?wdc_lang=en
WD's Support: http://support.wdc.com/contact/index.asp?lang=en

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

Hello,

i thought so, did both of these things, no response from support but i got contacted by recovery partner. Going to analysis this week. Thanks for help guys.

 

[SareMa]

Hi there SareMa,

I am really sorry for the issues you are facing with your WD My Passport. Most of the times, Initio Default Controller means that the bridge board is corrupted. I would say that your safest bet of recovering the data is to contact of WD's Data Recovery Partners. Apart from that, it may also be a good idea to contact WD's Support either by e-mail or by phone.

WD's Data Recovery Partners: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp?wdc_lang=en
WD's Support: http://support.wdc.com/contact/index.asp?lang=en

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

Hey again,

one last question. How much do you think it will cost?

Martin

 

[D_Know_WD]

I am really sorry but I can not really be sure of how much it will cost. I know that this can vary depending on what is wrong with the drive and how much data is on it. I would say that the best thing you can do is just to ask the recovery company about some approximate price range.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[SareMa]

I am really sorry but I can not really be sure of how much it will cost. I know that this can vary depending on what is wrong with the drive and how much data is on it. I would say that the best thing you can do is just to ask the recovery company about some approximate price range.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

No problem, thank you. I'm just pretty sure that it will cost more then new disc, hehe.

 

[dimar]

Updated four older WD Passport drives, but one failed, showing initio controller in device manager.
I was about to give up, but at the last moment discovered this site by googling things.
http://www.userdrivers.com/RAID-HD-Controller/WD-SmartWare-Essential-Elite-Apollo-1607E-Firmware-Updater-1-032/
Flashed, and the drive started working again, no files lost. Applied the latest firmware again and it was working fine. This time I used USB 2.0 port. When it failed I was using USB 3.0 port.