Portable Hard Drive Clicking, Not Detecting On PC/Laptop

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goldensun87

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First, I thought the heads were stuck on the platters. I opened it up, the heads were not stuck. Went to Youtube, saw a video showing how to swap the circuit board. Did that, but still not working. Thing is, I think the drive is partially detecting, because the 'Safely Remove Hardware' icon does appear on the taskbar, but when I click it, it just says, 'Eject My Passport'. Another thing, I tried using a working circuit board from one of my healthy WD portable drives. Unfortunately, the video did mention that hard drives have unique BIOS firmwares now, and the numbers on the two firmware chips are different. I do plan on buying a new drive ASAP, so I just need to get this drive working long enough so I can transfer my files.

So, will a firmware transfer do the trick? Or, could something be wrong with the read/write heads? Should I try swapping heads?
 
Solution
D_Know_WD
Ah, my bad. :( The serial number is unique to each unit.
You will need to get exactly the same full model numbers as well as the same PCB number.

D_Know_WD
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goldensun87

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The last time the heads got stuck on one of my older hard drives, I opened it up myself and unstuck them, and the drive booted fine afterwards. Sure, some files had gotten corrupted, but I was able to evacuate most of my files into a new drive that time, and I was able to retrieve the rest from other sources. Besides, any few specks of dust that may drop on the top platter, will get blown off by the spinning anyway. I understand the clean room precaution is for the safety of personal files, but it is mostly fearmongering. Also, since the heads had not gotten stuck on the platters this time, I am fairly certain that 99% of files will not be corrupted this time. I just need to gain access long enough to copy my files to a new drive.
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Hi there goldensun87,

I am really sorry but I would agree with kanewolf and say that it may not be possible to retrieve the data. Your safest bet is to contact a data recovery company in case you really need the data.
Most probably your system detects the drive as a removable hardware as it detects the enclosure. The drive itself may be dead.
You can't really be sure what is wrong with the drive.
WD My Passports are hardware encrypted. So, you will need a PCB from exactly the same model number in order to access your data. Though, I guess there may be no point in doing that due to aforementioned things as well as the fact that it was exposed to dust contaminated environment.

WD's Data Recovery Partners: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=A6k7vO

D_Know_WD
 
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goldensun87

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UPDATE: I plugged the drive into my laptop, waited a while, and the drive was finally detected. However, when I tried to open a folder, I got an error message saying "this folder cannot be accessed because of an input/output error". Does this confirm, that all I need is a circuit board swap and firmware chip transfer? I really want to try the unsoldering/resoldering myself, but I would have to buy a fresh circuit board which will fit on this drive. However, I am still a little nervous to dive into soldering, so I must know: Can Micro Center obtain the needed PCB, and perform the firmware transfer?
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Have you tried something simple as just changing the USB cable? Sometimes, I/O error could be caused by bad cable.
As I previously mentioned, I really can't tell you for sure whether changing the PCB board will solve your issue. Keep in mind that you will need a donor drive which is exactly the same model number, capacity, etc.
In case you decide to go with that, I would advise you to open a new thread regarding the PCB swap.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
 
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goldensun87

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I know all my cables are good, because they work fine with my healthy drives. The only thing keeping me from my files now, is the need to transfer the firmware chips (just found out that the WD usb portable drive has 2 8-legged chips). So, looks like I have 2 choices: try to do it myself, or send my drive into a service center which specializes in PCB firmware transfers. With the cost of me having to ship my drive, and the cost of the transfer itself, I'm guessing my total cost will be somwhere between $110-$120. Or, I could try to find the same model hard drive online. Any tips on which website would work best?

Edit: Found This:

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Storage/dp/B006Y5UV4A/

It's the model I have, and the part number matches. But what about the serial number? Does that matter? What are the chances that this unit will have the same firmware chip as my current damaged one? I know both my model and the one in the link are both from 2012, but...
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Yes I think it matters as they should be identical ones. Also, as an official representative, I can't really tell you about a specific donor drive website. Furthermore, I can't really comment this matter in depth as well. So, as I previously mentioned, you should open up a new thread specifically about PCB swapping. I believe that there are some guys that can help you out. :)

D_Know_WD
 
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goldensun87

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Yeah, I already know about a couple of donor drive websites. But, aren't serial numbers unique to each unit, even if they are the same model? Is it possible for two same-model units to have the same serial number?
 
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goldensun87

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Thanks for your help. I'll try buying the drive I posted above. If the swap doesn't work, at least I'll have a fresh drive for future storage.
 
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