WD external disk - 9 beep 3 beep 3 beep, not visible in operaing system

Sebastian_2 · Sep 26, 2015

Hi,

I have a problem with my external disk WD My Passport 1 TB, which when connected is not detected by the operating system (Ubuntu), only a few times a repeated sequence of beeps 9 beeps - 3 beeps - 3 beeps (it is few times, then after that there is a silence), while in the logs after the command dmesg have information:

[57.082628] usb 3-2: new high-speed USB device using xhci_hcd number 2
[57.099541] usb 3-2: New USB device found, idVendor = 1058 idProduct = 0748
[57.099551] usb 3-2: New USB device strings: Mfr = 1 Product = 2, SerialNumber = 5
[57.099557] usb 3-2: Product: My Passport 0748
[57.099571] usb 3-2: Manufacturer: Western Digital
[57.099573] usb 3-2: SerialNumber: 575842314539325**********
[57.156312] 3-2 usb-storage: 1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[57.156394] scsi6: 3-2 usb-storage: 1.0
[57.157406] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[58.155362] scsi 6: 0: 0: 0: Direct-Access WD My Passport 0748 1019 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[58.155697] scsi 6: 0: 0: 1: Enclosure WD SES Device 1019 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[58.156244] sd 6: 0: 0: 0: Attached scsi generic type sg2 0
[58.156445] scsi 6: 0: 0: 1: Attached scsi generic type sg3 13
[58.159706] sd 6: 0: 0: 0: [sdb] disk spinning up ...
[66.230055] scsi 6: 0: 0: 1: Failed to get diagnostic page 0x8000002
[66.230062] scsi 6: 0: 0: 1: Failed to bind enclosure -19
[66.230084] ses 6: 0: 0: 1: Attached Enclosure device
[59.163016] ............................................... ................... not responding ...

Are you able to give me a hint what could be the cause of the problem ?

SuperSoph_WD · Sep 28, 2015

Welcome, Sebastian!

I'm truly sorry to hear about your issues with the WD My Passport external drive!

Unfortunately, the beeps are most probably indicating a hardware failure in the HDD itself. I'd strongly recommend you to back up any important data from the drive ASAP and send your RMA request to our customer support. You should be able to get a replacement if your external drive is still under warranty.

WD support contacts: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=396750

Hope this helps.
SuperSoph_WD

Sebastian_2 · Sep 28, 2015

SuperSoph_WD :

I cannot copy from disk, because after connecting it to the USB port, disk is not visible - I hear only 9 3 3 beeps and I see errors in dmesg in Ubuntu.

What is worst, warranty has finished few months ago.

SuperSoph_WD · Sep 29, 2015

Hi again, Sebastian!

If you wish to retrieve any important data from the WD external, I'd recommend you to get in touch with one of our Data Recovery partners worldwide: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=4Q3kDl
The damage seems to physical, so I'd not recommend you to attempt data recovery by yourself.
I'd still advise you to contact our customer support for assistance and go through the FAQs about WD's warranty services here: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=8hGGfs

Good luck! Sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

SuperSoph_WD

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

Take the hard drive out of the enclosure. Go get a cheap SATA 2.5" USB enclosure and connect it to the drive and see if it reads anything. The enclosures have a small circuit board that have been known to fail, also the USB cords have been known to go bad too. This is by far the cheapest thing to try on your own.

SuperSoph_WD · Sep 29, 2015

Honestly, not a good idea, @BadAsAl!
Unfortunately, the WD My Passport incorporates a hardware encryption which makes the HDD unaccessible without the enclosure. Besides, the beeps would indicate an HDD failure, so I doubt the issue comes from the enclosure itself.

SuperSoph_WD

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

Do you have a link to explain this hardware encryption?
Is this only on WD drives?
If I put data on an external drive and then the drive enclosure fails I better be able to get my data by putting it into another enclosure or someone is getting a nasty phone call.

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

Found some info on SED which is what I believe you are talking about.
It says the encryption is on be default but to actually encrypt you have to add a password.
What it doesn't say is if I do not choose to add a password, what happens when the enclosure fails and someone wants to access the drive?

mjslakeridge · Sep 29, 2015

What is the possible logic for the hardware encryption? To tie the drive to the enclosure does not make any sense to me, except maybe to drive revenues for data recovery companies. I have a WD My Passport external HDD, and I have never seen an option for a password, but quite honestly I have never looked for it or had a need to enable a password.

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

Exactly! If I don't enable the password, it is useless. All someone needs is the external drive and they have my data. If I want encryption there are many ways to do that, and this is only one method that while making it slightly easier, adds not one single other benefit that I can see. Unless I am missing something?

Most consumers expect an external drive to be safe for storing non critical, but important data. My music collection getting lost is not the end of the world, and isn't worth encrypting, but I expect that if something goes wrong I should have a reasonable chance of getting it back if the hard drive itself hasn't failed.

I must be missing something as I cannot see why any manufacturer would do this, unless as stated, they just want us to have to come to them for data recovery or to buy a compatible new enclosure.

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

Reading through this right now: http://www.storagereview.com/top_ten_reasons_to_buy_selfencrypting_drives_seds

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

So far, only real benefit is speed compared to other encryption solutions.

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

And it is more secure:

Since the security of SEDs is independent of the operating system, then software attacks on the OS, BIOs, etc. are not effective against SEDs. SEDs are not vulnerable to attacks such as alternative boot approaches using CD or USB keys such as the Evil Maid attack; or memory attacks to discover encryption keys held in systems memory (example: Princeton Cold Boot attack)

So basically... if you plan on encrypting anyway, then an SED drive is what you want. If you just want to store your music collection and are not concerned about someone stealing it, then get a normal drive.

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

So SuperSoph_WD, back to the original issue, can they buy an identical external working drive and try the hard drive swap? I just read that this was done successfully.
Of course, that only works if it is the enclosure that is the problem and not the drive failing...

mjslakeridge · Sep 29, 2015

I read the link you posted, and the article makes some good arguments for SED's, IF, the user wants encrypted data, but I think it should be up to the user to decide. I use my WD My Passport to back up Pro Tools sessions, Acronis True Image drive image backups for my various operating systems, mp3 files, etc. None of this is critical or sensitive data, and exists on other drives inside my computers, so if the drive failed, I wouldn't have the need to go to a data recovery company, but for some users, they may have critical data on the external drive.

I guess the lesson learned from this is to have a well thought-out backup scheme, with critical data backed up to several locations.

mjslakeridge · Sep 29, 2015

Questions for the OP: Have you tried plugging into a different USB port? Have you tried a different computer with the external drive? Every once in a while, when I plug the My Passport into the front USB ports on my Windows 8 computer, it does not show up. I don't have a motherboard speaker hooked up, so I don't know if there are beeps or not. Plugging it in to the rear USB ports, it is recognized. I suspect the front USB ports are "breaking down", because sometimes it won't recognize USB flash drives either. The solution to this is to apply "slight" downward pressure on the flash drive with my finger, and it is now recognized. You may want to try this with your USB cable.

As far as removing the drive from the MY Passport enclosure, it looks like you would almost have to break the plastic case apart to do this. I am certainly not going to try, but perhaps there is a tool or some safe method to do this.

BadAsAl · Sep 29, 2015

mjslakeridge :

Agreed. But the hardware encryption should be off by default. It should turn on only when the user chooses to install the encryption through the security software, else it is useless and offers no protection. Those in the know and who want encryption get a better encryption and those that don't encrypt (and don't back up) aren't punished for it unnecessarily.

SuperSoph_WD · Sep 30, 2015

Hello there, @BadAsAl and @mjslakeridge! Quite the discussion I must say!

I'm not sure I'd be able to answer all of your questions, but let me know if I miss something.

Yes, you could access the hardware-encrypted HDD itself even after the enclosure has failed, you just need an identical enclosure to do that. To clear things up, it's not the data that is being encrypted with this, only the access to it. So taking it out of the enclosure won't encrypt the files, however it will lock the access.
The incorporated hardware encryption is there for security measures only on some Western Digital external drive models (WD My Passport & WD My Book). If having this disturbs you in any way, the WD Elements is a blank external drive with the same transfer rates and without any additional software incorporated in it.
Here you can check all the available external desktop & portable WD models:
External Portable HDDs: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=bkm7xO
External Desktop HDDs: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=cD4TEY
As you can see from the specifications, the WD drives featuring a hardware encryption and a password protection are listed and know for it.

I hope I was able to clear things up!

SuperSoph_WD

WD external disk - 9 beep 3 beep 3 beep, not visible in operaing system

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