WDC MyBook Strange Observations

[BarkingGhostar]

W7pro desktop running.

WDC 3TB MyBook-A connected, recognized and initialized by W7.
WDC 3TB MyBook-B connected, recognized and not initialized W7.

Safely disconnect both and tried the following:

WDC 3TB MyBook-B connected, recognized and initialized by W7.
WDC 3TB MyBook-A connected, recognized and not initialized W7.

I then noticed W7 assigned the same drive letter to the first connected MyBook regardless of which physical (-A or -B) was connected first. It basically saw both MyBook drives as being the same exact same physical drive, and as a result wouldn't initial the 2nd connected and recognized drive because it wants to assign the same drive letter, but can't.

Experiment ... safely disconnect both drives and reboot.

WDC 3TB MyBook-A connected, recognized and initialized by W7, assigns drive letter 'N' to it. I go into Disk Mgmt and forcibly change it to 'Q'.
WDC 3TB MyBook-B connected, recognized and not initialized by W7.

Safely disconnect both drives and then did this:

WDC 3TB MyBook-B connected, recognized and initialized by W7, assigns drive letter 'Q' to it.
WDC 3TB MyBook-A connected, recognized and not initialized by W7.

Yep, I think W7pro cannot distinguish between two identical external disks and as a result wants to assign both connected and recognized disks the same drive letter, but can't, and thus the secondly connected unit isn't initialized or assigned a drive letter.

Now before you start asking about USB3 controllers ... I tried this with both using motherboard based USB3 port, both using add-on USB3 card ports, and a scenario in which one used a mobo USB3 port and the other using a USB3 port on the add-on card.

I'm assuming (guessing, really) that the only way W7 can distinguish between physical disks is by garnering something unique from them like an embedded serial number or something, but being externalized units they only see the controllers in the MyBook case.

Anyone else got an idea?

 

[Elixer]

I then noticed W7 assigned the same drive letter to the first connected MyBook regardless of which physical (-A or -B) was connected first. It basically saw both MyBook drives as being the same exact same physical drive, and as a result wouldn't initial the 2nd connected and recognized drive because it wants to assign the same drive letter, but can't.

Use crystaldiskinfo (portable, free version) and see what it says about the externals. Plug them both in, and it should show different serial numbers for each of them.
Once that is checked, now, you can 'safely remove' both of them.
Hook one up. In drive manager, it should show it, and do a rescan in crystaldiskinfo. It should show that drive as well. While in drive manager, change the letter to f: or whatever.
Now, plug in other drive. Again, rescan crystaldiskinfo. It should show each drive, and they have unique serial #'s. It should also appear in disk manager, and select that drive, and assign it a different letter, like G:.

Does it work then?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think that the factory format on each of the drives is identical, and thus the disk hash or whatever of the first sector comes out the same, thus Windows thinks that they have the same disk ID.

There was another thread on this same topic some time ago in this forum.

 

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

Hey there BarkingGhostar,

This may be related to signature collision problems. This problem occurs when you connect two identical drives to the same system and they have the same signatures assigned to them. These two links should give you good info and some steps to resolving this:
http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=51vUsG
http://www.multibooters.com/tutorials/resolve-a-disk-signature-collision.html

If the drives work separately without any problems they should be safe to use. I would run WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic and see if the two drives pass the tests just to be on the safe side. Here's a link to the tool: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=rIIKfQ

Post back with some results!

Captain_WD.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Well, the suspected failing dive would not spin up this morning. The power indicator is on, but the drive itself makes no noise at all. BTW, on the back of these products there is a button with a modern icon suggesting it is a power button. In the years I have had MyBook products this button has never done anything. Is it me?

But I do appreciate all of the feedback. This is my first premature failure, but it was one of a set of six products that got tossed off of a 4; piece of furniture, which they all landed on the carpeted floor (nice carpet, thick padding). The one unit that came out of its case works fine, but the one above is now unresponsive.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

OK, with a now not functioning MB product is there a way I can safely take apart a MB case so I can remove the contents, de-board the drive's controller, etc.?

 

[Elixer]

OK, with a now not functioning MB product is there a way I can safely take apart a MB case so I can remove the contents, de-board the drive's controller, etc.?

If that external has hardware encryption, then, no, you are screwed, a recovery shop may be able to help.
If it doesn't, yes, you can open it up, and remove the HD, and stick it in a desktop, and see if that sees it.
If it IS seen in BIOS, then I would immediately check SMART status, and if all OK, then it looks like the issue was with the controller board on the external.
If not, then, you can send it to the pros to try and recover, but, that is really expensive.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I extracted the HDD from the MyBook case and connected it directly to an internal SATA port on my PC.

Using CrystalDiskInfo

BTW, a couple of times during the week leading up to failure I noticed it would spin up with Windows 7 asking to initial the disk. I always ignored the Windows pop-up and I could access the disk normally. So, extracting the HDD and not seeing anything in My Computer, I wasn't entirely surprised that I was immediately prompted to initial disk when I got into Disk Management.

I'm guessing that a) the MBR/GPT got corrupt somehow, or something else. Anywho ... look at the condition of the controller board:

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Now without that foam rubber support:

 

[BarkingGhostar]

OK, so I removed the drive from the internal SATA controller without initializing the disk. I reconnected the MyBook controller board. The white LED comes up, but nothing thereafter. No signs of life. I'm guessing maybe something is wrong with the power supply on the controller. Neither Disk Management of CDI see the disk.

 

[Elixer]

I'm guessing that a) the MBR/GPT got corrupt somehow, or something else. Anywho ... look at the condition of the controller board:

No, it could be encrypted, not corrupted.

Do you live in a humid area?

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I don't live in a rain forest if that is what you are asking. I'm in Atlanta, and the environment is always low moisture from either running the AC during the Spring to Autumn months, or the heat in the winter.

Its a converted bedroom in my home, and even the older 2TB MyBook product that broke out of its case during the tip-over was spotless and the controller board looking damn new.

I read something late last night about trying the controller of another 3TB MB product. Since I bought this one as a batch of four I will backup another unit's contents to one of the just-bought 4TB MB products and then tear a second 3TB apart and try its controller.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I don't live in a rain forest if that is what you are asking. I'm in Atlanta, and the environment is always low moisture from either running the AC during the Spring to Autumn months, or the heat in the winter.

Its a converted bedroom in my home, and even the older 2TB MyBook product that broke out of its case during the tip-over was spotless and the controller board looking damn new.y

I read something late last night about trying the controller of another 3TB MB product. Since I bought this one as a batch of four I will backup another unit's contents to one of the just-bought 4TB MB products and then tear a second 3TB apart and try its controller.

Scavenging another controller got me access to my data, which I am now copying to a new 4TB unit. I guess it was a bad controller on the original unit. By the way, the scavenged controller showed signs of either heat and or moisture induced wear. Almost makes you wonder if this is by design.

 

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

Congrats on getting your data back. I would normally suggest turning to a data recovery company but their services can be quite costly.
The S.M.A.R.T. status of the drive looks pretty good so you should be able to operate with it safely. I would recommend having backups of your data at two different places for cases such as this.

Captain_WD.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

That's just it, I was in the process of duplicating the data between four 3TB MyBook units when the tumble happened. Still, I am disappointed with a) the controller haven failed to begin with, and b) the condition of the PC board that is the controller. It is as if these things were made in a swamp of a factory or something.

 

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

I'd contact our support for more info. The guys there may be able to provide you with some answers and some possible causes for this.
Do post back with the answers if you contact them. Here's a link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=VXUrEy

Captain_WD.