Need help: 2.5 external hdd required a driver

[CrazyDoctor]

I have 2.5 external hdd which suddenly required a driver which I don't have.

The device manager show a yellow question mark "USB Device".

I don't have an access to my data.

I've already tried to plug it in few other computers and of all them show the same symptom.

I took out the hard drive from it enclosure but the pcb does not have an IDE or sata connection.

The only connection that I can see is the mini usb port which is built on the pcb.

I've tried diffrent mini usb cables and it gives the same symptom for all the them.

Any suggestions?

How can I fix that?

Is there any driver which can solve the problem?

Many Thanks!

[Sp0iLedBrAt]

Open Device Manager again and choose to Update Driver from a specific location. When the option comes up, choose Don't search. I will choose the driver to install. This will show you a list of compatible drivers already on the PC, which should be enough for the HDD to work. I presume you need the USB Mass Storage Device driver.

Give it a try and report back.

[CrazyDoctor]

Thanks for the response.

I've tried to do that but the comptuer does not find any suitable driver for this.

I tried to install some diffrent drivers from that list but nothing cause to my hard drive to get back to life.

Any suggestions?

Many Thanks!

[puntoMX]

I took out the hard drive from it enclosure but the pcb does not have an IDE or sata connection.

The only connection that I can see is the mini usb port which is built on the pcb.

Can you give us the model number? I'm also almost sure it's just a normal harddisk with a IDE or SATA connector, just look closely.

[VideoRipper]

Also have a look at this thread:

It comes completely with pictures

Keep us posted

[CrazyDoctor]

Also have a look at this thread:

It comes completely with pictures

Keep us posted

The symptom are the same as mine in this link.

I attached phots of the hard drive.

http://img148.imageshack.us/i/dsc03835.jpg/

http://img130.imageshack.us/i/dsc03833w.jpg/

as you can see the mini usb port is onboard the pcb.

What can I to retrieve my data?

Best Regards,

[Sp0iLedBrAt]

It's official; this model is actually SATA which comes with a permanently "welded in" USB connector. I did some google search, and found nothing remotely close to your problem, although I found enough hits/posts on the model. It is obviously not a driver problem, but it was worth trying. I suggest you wait for some other people to share their knowledge.

All the best

[jaclaz]

What the heck!

I thought the WD guys were clever chaps, they managed to mess up good this time!

Here are pics of the underside:

http://www.oikos.com.tw/v4/viewtopic.php?id=61028

and more pics/info:

http://yertech.blogspot.com/2009/04/hdd-platter-capacity-model-list.html#mu-x

http://yertech.blogspot.com/2009/11/wd2500bmvu-confirmed-performance.html

The symptom are the same as mine in this link.

They can usally be ascribed at two reasons:

1. broken hardware
   
2. messed up registry/drivers
   

If #1 there is nothing you can do.

If #2 it will work on another PC, since it doesn't, I am afraid you're out of way outs.

Only thing you can try doing is to visually check if any solder is cold or if a PCB track is broken, nothing more without schemaatics and tools and specificdrive knowledge.

Right now I have NO elements whatsoever to say if a PCB swap with an identical BMVU drive or a similar BEVT one is possible at all (without the need of even more costly tools and knowledge).

jaclaz

[VideoRipper]

Ewww... that sucks

I haven't seen those drives in the past yet, didn't even know they existed until now.

On the images I can see a few unused pins, possibly these can be used by the manufacturer

to test the drive or maybe even access the drive directly over SATA, but since we don't

know anything about these yet, there's not much help I can give at the moment.

Greetz,

Peter.

Edited March 4, 2010 by VideoRipper

[jaclaz]

Quick howto (to find which drive it is):

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1186351

Quick check to see which hard drive you have from just looking at the box:

If it says

R/N: A7B you have the BEV drive

R/N: B7B you have the BEVT drive

R/N: B8B you have the BMV drive

In summary from what i gathered:

to see which version you have before opening, connect the external drive to the pc

1- see in device manager , go to disk drives

or

2- computer, properties on any HDD then go to hardware

if it says :

WD5000BEVT good version with removable usb to sata adapter

WD5000BMVU bad version with integrated usb pcb board

(bolded part by me)

jaclaz

[VideoRipper]

WD5000BMVU bad version with integrated usb pcb board

It looks like he's out of luck on this one

Greetz,

Peter.

[puntoMX]

What the heck!

I thought the WD guys were clever chaps, they managed to mess up good this time!

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Anything to make it cheaper and smaller... Now I think of it, more drives are build like that, also the ones from transcend for example... but never saw one on the inside.