Uh Oh, looks like my WD Passport has died.

[dddave]

On 7/13/2020 at 8:17 PM, stubuzz said:

Hard drives have a life span, so It gives a good indication of its condition. I believe the WD passport has a 3 year limited warranty.

Also try a different USB cable while you're at it.

[giddyup]

6 minutes ago, dddave said:

Also try a different USB cable while you're at it.

Bought a new one, didn't make any difference. The PC and the laptop both recognise the WD My Passport in the USB port though, just can't access the files.

[fdsa]

14 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Bought a new one, didn't make any difference. The PC and the laptop both recognise the WD My Passport in the USB port though, just can't access the files.

You should try a different enclosure rather than a different cable. It can be a SATA-USB converter problem inside the old enclosure.

[giddyup]

Just now, fdsa said:

You should try a different enclosure rather than a different cable. It can be a SATA-USB converter problem inside the old enclosure.

Too technical for me.

[fdsa]

It's easier than it sounds. Open the WD enclosure, take the hard disk out, put the hard disk into a new enclosure, profit.

[johng]

6 minutes ago, fdsa said:

It's easier than it sounds. Open the WD enclosure

Getting the drive out of the plastic case is the easy bit, like I said before the WD "Mypassport" drives (reportedly) use a proprietary USB to SATA bridge built right onto the harddrive control board so it would not interface to a normal SATA/USB enclosure....take it apart and see  take some photos and post here, before buying any new enclosure or docking station.

[johng]

42 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Bought a new one, didn't make any difference. The PC and the laptop both recognise the WD My Passport in the USB port though, just can't access the files.

Have you run chkdsk /f  yet ?

[giddyup]

2 hours ago, johng said:

Have you run chkdsk /f  yet ?

What does that actually do? I just typed it into run, and nothing.

Edited July 17, 2020 by giddyup

[johng]

It will check the disk for errors   that can lead to  files not being "seen" by windows

the full command to run from command prompt  would be chkdsk /f  Z:    substitute the Z: for whatever

drive letter has been assigned to the My Passport  drive.

[giddyup]

7 minutes ago, johng said:

It will check the disk for errors   that can lead to  files not being "seen" by windows

the full command to run from command prompt  would be chkdsk /f  Z:    substitute the Z: for whatever

drive letter has been assigned to the My Passport  drive.

I don't know what the drive letter is, it doesn't show up under Disk Management.

[tifino]

5 minutes ago, giddyup said:

I don't know what the drive letter is, it doesn't show up under Disk Management.

try simple alphabet... You'll obviously see the C:/ 

 - and any other Drives that are still connected and operating

(let's say ATT you can see C:/ D:/ and E:/) 

 

 If you can account for the examp[les C/D/E/ , then the 'dead' drive would have then been F:/ 

 

it is simple alphabet increments (unless someone has actually 'assigned and reserved the Drive Letter)

[johng]

You said

3 hours ago, giddyup said:

Bought a new one, didn't make any difference. The PC and the laptop both recognise the WD My Passport in the USB port though, just can't access the files.

so what do you mean by recognise ?.. anyway if disk management doesn't see it on 2 different systems then its probably kaput..so take it out of the plastic case and have a look at separating the actual hard drive from the USB portion  before buying any SATA/USB adaptor, they aren't that expensive  about 500 baht but no point  buying something you can't use.

[giddyup]

6 minutes ago, johng said:

You said

so what do you mean by recognise ?.. anyway if disk management doesn't see it on 2 different systems then its probably kaput..so take it out of the plastic case and have a look at separating the actual hard drive from the USB portion  before buying any SATA/USB adaptor, they aren't that expensive  about 500 baht but no point  buying something you can't use.

It shows the My Passport under the Remove Hardware icon. I have already ordered a new WD My Passport from Lazada, so no point in spending 500 baht for a case. As I said previously, losing the files is a bit of an inconvenience, but not life changing.

[Greenside]

"When", not "If"

 

Disks I've known and loved - some too small but most irrecoverably dead without data loss I'm happy to say.

I rate QNAP better than Synology, by the way.

[johng]

The infamous IBM "Deathstar"  41 Gb

 

And a massive 6 Gb  Quantum Fireball  used in my firewall for years    both still working  but long retired.