WD Passport Ultra 1Tb, not initialised, no show in MT Partition Wizard

Bongolia · 18 Feb 2016

Hi, My WD Pasport Ultra has gone awry with valuable data on it. I've looked at lots of very useful threads here and I'm slowly getting closer to committing a restore process but I haven't got the guts to do it without an indication that I won't kill my data! I've tried a new USB 3 lead, running Mini Tool Partition Wizard, Recuva and Mini Tool Data Recovery. Partition Wizard and Recuva can't see the drive and Data Recover crashes when I search for it. I can see the drive in Device Manager and Disc Management and I've included images of these below. TestDisk can see it and I can navigate the whole process outlined by Jumanji until "Write partition table" in the ninth window, at which point I'm unsure what I'm writing to and whether I'll overwrite any valuable data. Any help would be ridiculously appreciated and supported by grovelling gratitude.

jumanji · 18 Feb 2016

Welcome onboard.

Disk unknown not initialised does not show the capacity

None of the partition recovery, data recovery software sees the drive.

Not a very encouraging picture.

But I am surprised TestDisk could see it. So let us hang on to it and see what it shows.

TestDisk:

With your WD passport Ultra 1TB plugged in, run Testdisk.

First Screen: With up/Down arrow keys, highlight/select No Log Press Enter

Second screen: You should see all your connected disks and drives. Post a screenshot. Highlight the Disk ( not Drive) you want to recover Disk ( sda /dev /* ) You should be able to identify the drives with the capacity.
[Proceed] Enter

Third Screen:Highlight [Intel] if not highlighted already. Enter

Fourth Screen: [Analyse] Enter

Fifth Screen: Current Partition Structure will be shown. Post a screenshot. [Quick Search] should be highlighted. Enter

Sixth Screen: Let the analysis complete. You can see the progress. When complete it may show a number of partitions. Post a screenshot.

At this point click on X at top right corner to quit TestDisk.( You may also press q repeatedly till it takes you out)

Let me see the above three screenshots and decide on the next step. You can run TestDisk again.

Note: If you have any doubts on dealing with any screen post a screenshot and quit TestDisk.

Do not go to any step, choose any command on your own. Especially do not give a [Write]
command unless instructed. ( I am happy you didn't do it.)

Post the above screenshots. I shall see it tomorrow morning ( My time now 2243hrs.).

RolandJS · 18 Feb 2016

Don't those drives use DriveUnlock[er]? If such was activated earlier, it might be an uphill struggle getting past DriiveUnlock[er].

Bongolia · 19 Feb 2016

Thanks for getting back Jumanji. I'm now thinking that I wasn't seeing the drive in TestDisk. I think I mistook Disk /dev/sda - 320GB / 298GB for it. This is not the correct size. Screenshot below:

CKWD · 19 Feb 2016

Hello Bongolia!

I'm sorry you're having this issue! :/

The “Disk # is Unknown not initialized” could very often happen with a damaged external drive, so this could be the case.

Did you try changing the USB cable? I see your main goal is the data on the drive, so I would suggest you to try and boot to a Linux-based Live CD, connect the drive and see if it is being recognized.

You could use this tutorial from Golden:
Peppermint Live CD/DVD/USB - Create for Emergency Backup

If this doesn't work and the data is truly important you could also look into professional data recovery help, WD has partners in the field.

Best of luck!

CK_WD

jumanji · 19 Feb 2016

Bongolia said:

Thanks for getting back Jumanji. I'm now thinking that I wasn't seeing the drive in TestDisk. I think I mistook Disk /dev/sda - 320GB / 298GB for it. This is not the correct size. Screenshot below:

Yes, TestDisk does not show your external disk. It shows only your system drive.I was surprised when you wrote Test Disk sees the disk.

You can try a Live Linux as CKWD has indicated as a last resort.

If no results then only Professional Data Recovery.

In your case I feel that the SATA to USB bridge inside the enclosure has failed. Since your drive is hardware-encrypted and most likely the SATA to USB bridge is integrated into the drive making the two entities inseperable, no DIY recovery is possible even if the HDD by itself is OK.

mjf · 19 Feb 2016

Small external HDDs are convenient but if you want more reliable data backup in future I recommend a plain sata HDD (like you would install internally to a PC) inserted into a USB 3 docking station. What you get is:
1) A solid USB 3 connector and not the error prone micro USB 3 connector.
2) No silly enforced hardware encryption that WD seem to insist on.

You can connect this HDD to another docking station or internally for data recovery.

Bongolia · 21 Feb 2016

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone. I'll try the Linux route. I usually back up to a large separately powered disc drive but, once I got this 1TB which fits in my pocket, I got a bit lazy! I've casually saved everything to it for about 10 months now. I know exactly how silly that is but...

Here goes!

Brds7t7 · 21 Feb 2016

Agree with mjf, you're much better to just buy a dock and insert a Sata HDD into it. Encryption on those WD drives can be handy, but if the drive messes up or something goes wrong with the enclosure, then you have no way of retrieving your data.
Plus, you can swap between different drives when using a dock.
Here's the dock I bought:
Startech eSATA or USB 3.0 External Docking Station for 2.5 - 3.5-Inch SATA III Hard Drives:Amazon.co.uk:Computers & Accessories