Reviving a damaged WD External Hard Drive

FunGoose

Hi All,

I'm hoping you can help with a couple of issues:

The micro-USB port on my external hard drive (WD My Book Essential 1TB) broke off the board and is beyond repair.

I would like to use the drive again by connecting it to my laptop (HP Pavilion Entertainment dv6701us) via a SATA cable, as I think this is my only option. I have removed the PCBA (control board) from the drive and now have access to the SATA port. My laptop does not have a SATA port so I'm not sure how I will connect it.

The ports it does have are:

5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards

3 USB 2.0

1 notebook expansion port 3

1 IEEE 1394 Firewire (4-pin)

Do you know what the best way to connect the drive is? And what cables/adaptors I will need? SATA to USB? SATA to Firewire?

I'm not sure what my options are. The SATA cable must also provide power to the drive, if this is relevant.

Now for the other issue: When/If I get the drive back in action I'd like to know if I can access the 750GB of data currently on it. If I understand correctly the data is hardware encrypted by the PCBA and by by-passing this control board I will not be able to access the files. Is this correct? Is there any way around this? Even if I end up replacing the PCBA and connect using the micro-USB port on it the data will still be encrypted??

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

mp22

Get one of these http://www.ebay.ie/itm/USB-2-0-SATA-IDE-Hard-Drive-Adapter-Converter-Cable-SET-/280926995490?pt=UK_Computing_Drive_Cables_Adapters&hash=item41688dc422

Dey were Sooted

yes get one of those or there are other ones on amazon - quiet a bit more expensive but less hassle with wires connections etc - and it is very handy for any drive you would like to use in the future

i had the exact same problem about 2 years ago .... i had to recover the files with recuva .

sad thing about recovery is you lose the file names and you will need same amount of free disk space somewhere else to recover the files to. once you have recovered you can format the drive and put your files back on again ....

that's the best advice i can give - someone else here may have better advice

hope that helps

FunGoose

Thanks for the replies -both helpful.

I'll get one of the products you suggested. The QuickPort Combo device would defo be a handy thing to have. Whichever one I go for should get my drive hooked up to my laptop.

Recovering/accessing the files will be a different story I'd say, especially because of the encryption issue. Hopefully someone can give some input regarding this!

The data on your drive is only encrypted if it was a WD model with advertised hardware encryption. These models encrypt everything that is written to the disk regardless of whether you enable the feature or not.

I don't think the Elements series have that but you would need to check your specific model to be sure.

If it is one of the models with encryption then you can forget about retrieving your data.

Dey were Sooted

It was an elements drive I had the issue with so no problem with encryption. I don't know if the encryption on the pcba is drive specific. For example if it weren't then U could buy a similar drive and use the pcba from that one to retrieve ur data . It would be a cost but if the data was important it would be a solution and U could use the spare drive as a backup by using something like suggested above.

As I said I don't know if the encryption is drive/pcba specific. Someone else here maybe able to answer that for you . .

FunGoose

Deleted User wrote: »

The data on your drive is only encrypted if it was a WD model with advertised hardware encryption. These models encrypt everything that is written to the disk regardless of whether you enable the feature or not.

I don't think the Elements series have that but you would need to check your specific model to be sure.

If it is one of the models with encryption then you can forget about retrieving your data.

That's what I'm worried about, I think it does encrypt all data regardless but after searching the web I've got very mixed results. The user manual isn't very clear on this issue but I think/hope it's only encrypted if the drive is locked/password protected, which it wasn't.

Dey were Sooted wrote: »

It was an elements drive I had the issue with so no problem with encryption. I don't know if the encryption on the pcba is drive specific. For example if it weren't then U could buy a similar drive and use the pcba from that one to retrieve ur data . It would be a cost but if the data was important it would be a solution and U could use the spare drive as a backup by using something like suggested above.

As I said I don't know if the encryption is drive/pcba specific. Someone else here maybe able to answer that for you . .

I've been considering this option. Again I've got mixed results searching the web, one guy on youtube reckons that way works.

Would I be correct in thinking that you recovered your data because it was NOT encrypted -or you somehow recovered your encrypted data??

I have ordered the 'USB 2.0 TO SATA /IDE Adaptor' -suggested by mp22 (it only cost €12) so I guess I'll know a lot more when it arrives.

I'll post the results here -hopefully positive results, with no further problems/questions from me (yeh right )

Freddy Smelly

another option would be to buy an NAS box for your hard drive and put the drive into it and set it up on your network then u don't need to have it plugged into your laptop when u want to use it

FunGoose

FunGoose wrote: »

That's what I'm worried about, I think it does encrypt all data regardless but after searching the web I've got very mixed results. The user manual isn't very clear on this issue but I think/hope it's only encrypted if the drive is locked/password protected, which it wasn't.

If it is one of the models of drive which offers to 'instantly' encrypt or protect all the data (via an option the WD software) then it definitely encrypts everything as it is written to the drive. That's how they work.

The encryption key is unique to each controller board, you can't just swap boards. If you take the board off and connect via SATA you'll just have a drive full of encrypted data.

Again, this is only if it is the type of drive described above. If this is the type of drive you have then your only hope is to fix the USB port itself.

FunGoose

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

another option would be to buy an NAS box for your hard drive and put the drive into it and set it up on your network then u don't need to have it plugged into your laptop when u want to use it

I'd like to have a NAS box with multiple drives but too expensive!

FunGoose

Deleted User wrote: »

If it is one of the models of drive which offers to 'instantly' encrypt or protect all the data (via an option the WD software) then it definitely encrypts everything as it is written to the drive. That's how they work.

The encryption key is unique to each controller board, you can't just swap boards. If you take the board off and connect via SATA you'll just have a drive full of encrypted data.

Again, this is only if it is the type of drive described above. If this is the type of drive you have then your only hope is to fix the USB port itself.

Unfortunately there is no way the USB port can be put back on the board as it brought one of the five heads with it when it broke off (and 2 out of 3 ground).

I think you're right about my drive (WD10EADS) being hardware encrypted, but due to the mixed results I've come across online I still have hope (false hope, maybe) of recovering the data. I think I'll try replacing the board (it's only about €22) and if that doesn't work I'll give up, format the drive and at least I'll have a repaired drive with a new board so I can connect via USB again.

I'm still waiting for the 'SATA to USB adaptor' to arrive -I don't think this will help all that much but I will get use for it anyway. After that I'll try a replacement board. I'll post the results either way.

Thanks for the replies, any other input is still welcome!

FunGoose

FunGoose wrote: »

I think you're right about my drive (WD10EADS) being hardware encrypted, but due to the mixed results I've come across online I still have hope (false hope, maybe) of recovering the data. I think I'll try replacing the board (it's only about €22) and if that doesn't work I'll give up, format the drive and at least I'll have a repaired drive with a new board so I can connect via USB again.

WD10EADS is just the bare drive. That does not have hardware encryption.

Im talking about the external drive as sold as an entire product by WD including the enclosure it came in. There are several different product lines with different feature sets.

If you look at this link, you can see some of them have hardware encryption and some of them don't. If your drive doesnt actually have this feature then you don't have to worry.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/external/portable/

Freddy Smelly

fun goose where do u live? i have an old Targa NAS box that can take one sata drive i could loan it to you if u want to try that

FunGoose

Yeh I just mentioned WD10EADS because I hadn't before and thought it might
be important.

I understand the encryption of the data happens as it's actually being
written onto the drive. The data is encrypted by an Initio chip on the PCBA
so cannot be decrypted without this, that is according to some and not true
according to others.

I'm thinking/guessing the people with a similar issue who have managed to access their data have an 'Elements' drive -which does not encrypt and those who have failed have an 'Essentials' drive (which I have). But saying that there are some who have an 'Essentials' drive and claim to have recovered their (encrypted) data by replacing the PCBA. Some have said that those who did just got lucky!?!

Trying to find a solution to this isn't easy. The more I look into it the
more mixed results I get so obviously I'm still confused.

Apparently If I can find out if my Initio Corp chip is a INIC-1607E or
INIC-1607P I will know where I stand for sure -the 1607E being the encryption chip.

To do this I've to examine the 'largest IC' (whatever that is) on the bridgeboard. Another fun mission!

FunGoose

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

fun goose where do u live? i have an old Targa NAS box that can take one sata drive i could loan it to you if u want to try that

That's very generous of you, thanks! I live in north Dublin. I'll keep that option in mind -unless you live in Dingle or somewhere

Freddy Smelly

FunGoose wrote: »

That's very generous of you, thanks! I live in north Dublin. I'll keep that option in mind -unless you live in Dingle or somewhere

i live in dublin also

imitation

Another longshot, if your broken drive is a 2.5" model you could use the cable from the back of a seagate goflex drive if you happen to have a friend with one, its a sata connector + sata power. I was able to use it to recover an a 2.5" laptop hard drive.

FunGoose

I (finally) have a result! A positive one too.

It has taken this long to figure it all out due to the seller on ebay supplying me a USB to SATA Drive Adapter that was pure rubbish and didn't work.

So after wasting time with faulty SATA cables from a dodgy seller on Ebay I bought this replacement PCB board (from a different seller):

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/200846295086?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_7307wt_932

This is not the exact board (4060-705059-001) but an upgraded version (4060-705059-003) which supports previous versions.

I connected the board when I got it today, hooked the drive up to my laptop via USB and to my surprise all my data is sitting on the drive and fully accessible! Even though the data was hardware encrypted by my broken control board I now have full access to it through the replacement board. My drive is back just the way it was after simply replacing the PCB board.

After trying to find an answer to my problem online I came across a hell of a lot of people with similar issues but pretty much no definite results.

About 95% were dead threads where the OP just stopped contributing, which was extremely headwrecking and 0% helpful. That's why I'm making sure to post the outcome of my issue, I'm glad it's a positive one! I'm sure this thread will help someone out there as this seems to be a very common problem with WD external drives. Hope it does!