WD External SATA issue

mementomori · 7 Sep 2020 at 16:53

Hi all, hope you staying safe.

I have this WD External drive called MY BOOK STUDIO.
Got it a few years ago. Using FireWire 800 been working as expected with no issues.

Yesterday the drive stoped being recognised in OSX.
Seemed as the drive is still functional because the light blinks and you can hear it start when you turn computer on.

Thought it might have been the FireWire connection.
Tried connecting usb but same issue, drive is not being recognised but starts and light blinks slowly.
Did the same thing on a different computer (thought maybe my machine operating system needs updating) - same issue.

Took the drive out of the shell to see if I can reset it or something.
So it looks like a SATA with an interface. Was wondering what do you think I should do next?

Should I try and unscrew the interface and connect the drive to a SATA adaptor?
Is it possible it replace the SATA card on these WD drives?

Thanks and appreciate any input.
Attached photos:
https://ibb.co/wS64vLg
https://ibb.co/FBVMYGP
https://ibb.co/6RDLJNB

mementomori · 8 Sep 2020 at 13:45

Guest2 said:
Be careful doing this. I ended up having to format a 1tb drive I was using internally when i connected it to a sata>usb 3 interface
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/accessing-files-from-internal-hdd.18897789/

If you dont care whats on the drive, then go for it

The 3tb green (same as yours) I ended up having to bin as it had bad blocks, wouldnt initilise and woudnt show up in partition programs.
I now have a working 1tb black in my wd mybook external enclosure. Files were luckily also backed up on a 3tb wd black that i connected internally

Thanks, yes the drive has mainly photos and videos. Hope it works.
Do you know if I could replace the SATA card on this WD GREEN drive?
Heard they are the main issue when it comes to HDD failure.

mementomori · 9 Sep 2020 at 08:38

Guest2 said:
Not sure to be honest. This what mine looks like, though I didnt use any tools other than a screwdriver to take it apart and fit the WD 1TB black inside

Thank you.
I have done that. Drive is being recognised but it wont initiate. Guess all if left is to format it :/
This is what my DiskUtility says:

https://ibb.co/9bjN3qJ
https://ibb.co/hcGnXNj

mementomori · 9 Sep 2020 at 13:18

Guest2 said:
Yep, about right. You either connect to usb interface or sata internal. You can’t fix and match without formatting.

I connected the internal 1tb drive to usb interface to see if i could access files without reconnecting internally. I couldnt see files so connected internally and it wasnt recognised internally then either. Took back out and connected externally and formatted.
Luckiky i had a 3tb drive i had been using internally, connected that direct to internal and copied all photos and stuff to my 1.5tb free space on an nvme ssd. Then took the 3tb internal out and copied files on the ssd to the 1tb external

Yes seems I will have to format it. Am running Wondershare Recoverit to see if it can recover anything. So far no hope.