iFixit - Active Questions With Device "External Storage"

Western Digital My Book 2020: How can I replace the USB Port after being damaged

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 01:18:36 -0700

My MyBook fell to the floor right where the USB connector plugs into the USB port. It has no symptoms of hard drive damage but I believe it needs a new connection port that is unique.

⟐ Answer edited March 26, 2026 at 1:18 MST

External Storage: Reusing VanTec NexStar NX enclosure (NST-239S3B-BK)

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 06:55:24 -0700

This enclosure has a pulled HDD (500 GB) from an Apple Mac mini (Macmini4,1; Mid 2010). The HDD does not seem to be working. Have tried reseating sled into SATA connector. Have a couple of pictures of HDD and a screws

holding the HDD to sled. Any suggestions about HDD failure?

If no function of HDD, would like to remove HDD from sled and install a new SSD. The picture of screw is not very sharp. Making an ID of screws not easy. Do not have the bit to fit screws. If screws are ID, can buy screwdriver from ifixit store.

⟐ Commented March 25, 2026 at 6:55 MST

Western Digital My Passport: Repair my external hard drive?

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 04:03:40 -0700

I accidently dropped my hard drive and now it just makes a screeching sound and is not recognized by CPU. Can the data be recovered?

⟐ Answered March 12, 2026 at 4:03 MST

Iomega MiniMax Hard Drive: Can the HDD be replaced?

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:26:12 -0700

Can the HDD be replaced with a brand new HDD and work as a new device? Would the previous HDD be necesary?

⟐ Answered March 11, 2026 at 10:26 MST

Western Digital My Book: will my hard drive still work after reformatting?

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 04:22:57 -0700

so got hit with the no power problem. i got that problem fixed by getting a new power board. and saved all the important things on my hard drive. so my question now is if i remove it and plug it into a external hard drive trey or plug it directly into my pc via sata and reformat it will it work or will the wd encryption brick it?

⟐ Answered March 11, 2026 at 4:22 MST

Western Digital WD1600 External Hard Drive: The dsik can be detected but cannot read

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:22:07 -0700

Western digital external harddrive 2 Terabyte can be detected but cannot read

⟐ Answered March 10, 2026 at 6:22 MST

Western Digital My Book 2020: How can I fix my wd "my book" and recover what's inside?

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:19:17 -0700

i bought this a month ago and the light doesn’t turn on anymore neither my mac can read the hard disk. i can hear the disk spinning but it doesn’t read…. could anyone help me. is there any way to reset it? …like in the older versions of it?

thx

⟐ Answer accepted March 09, 2026 at 9:19 MST

Western Digital My Passport: It is no longer sharing the debt that is inside of it. How do I fix th

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 19:46:47 -0700

It’s no longer sharing the data inside of it

Western Digital My Passport: drive won't show up and making clicking sound

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 03:34:14 -0700

off of a sudden my 2tb WD External stopped showing up and is making a clicking sound. is this thing toast?

⟐ Commented January 30, 2026 at 3:34 MST

WD 4TB My Passport Portable: My hard drive showing in my computer but unable to read data

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 07:04:43 -0700

My hard drive showing in my computer but unable to access it need solution to resolve it without losing data

⟐ Answered November 21, 2025 at 7:04 MST

WD 4TB My Passport Portable: not detected at all even in the device manager or anywhere

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 06:51:40 -0700

i bought my drive then i didn't have anything to use it on so most of the time it just sat in a concealed place and i have used it from time to time and at some point without any kind of falling, being crushed or anything that might damage it; it just stopped working the white light is there but the pc, desktop or anything i plug it in never reads it and even in device manager or anywhere that you can see your device in it just doesn't appear there and i have run out of options this device for me is very expensive i bought it for a helpful reason and please help me out in anyways you can

⟐ Answered November 21, 2025 at 6:51 MST

Western Digital My Book: Does anyone know the way to get open a My Book Duo?

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 07:47:03 -0700

I accidentally dropped my My Book Duo ( the one with the glossy top and lined lower) and I think the circuit board has moved slightly so one of the connectors for the HD does not line up. I am trying to open it up to re-align it, but I am not sure how the two halves of the enclosure are connected. Think it's clipped, just wondering if anyone had any advice. Many thanks.

Hi All, I have worked it out, it needed a thin flat screwdriver wedged in and twisted to pop it apart, and the clips didn't break either, which is a bonus.

⟐ Commented November 03, 2025 at 7:47 MST

Toshiba Stor.E Alu 2S: When I connect to pc it not open drive but drive indicator light on

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 21:12:21 -0700

I connect it pc/tv after a longtime of not using it the indicator light was on but it does not connecting to pc/tv

⟐ Answered October 30, 2025 at 21:12 MST

External Storage: Recover data from external drive

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 02:54:28 -0700

DELETED ALL FILES ABOUT 700G from my external 1TB DRIVE WHILE TRYING TO PARTITION THE DRIVE ON DISK UTILITY. IF I HAVEN'T EMTIED MY TRASH YET WHERE IS THE DATA. CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE, MY WHOLE LIFE IS IN THE DRIVE, ANY SUGGESTIONS PLEASEA. THANK YOU

⟐ Answered September 24, 2025 at 2:54 MST

External Storage: Urgent Support Needed: SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD Not Detectable

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 02:18:07 -0700

Dear Support Team,

I am writing to request assistance with my SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD, which has become undetectable after I attempted to use it with my iPhone 15 Pro Max.

After connecting the SSD to the iPhone via a compatible cable, the drive has stopped being recognized by any device. I have also tried accessing the SSD using a different enclosure (ASUS), but it still does not work. This leads me to believe there may be some form of restriction or firmware lock implemented on factory-fitted SanDisk SSDs, preventing usage with third-party enclosures or after certain connection types.

I have attempted recovery using the SanDisk recovery software, but unfortunately, it was unsuccessful.

Could you please advise on the following:

Is there a firmware lock or compatibility restriction that may have been triggered?
Can the SSD be reset, repaired, or restored to factory settings?
If not, is there a service center where I can send the SSD for repair or data recovery?

I would appreciate your urgent support in resolving this issue as there is important data on the drive.

Looking forward to your guidance.

⟐ Edited July 18, 2025 at 2:18 MST

Western Digital My Passport Studio: How do I Change battery?

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 04:25:29 -0700

How do I Change battery on my WD My Password Studio harddisk?

⟐ Answered July 17, 2025 at 4:25 MST

Western Digital My Passport: Any tool to repair my WD My Passport

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 21:34:33 -0700

My device led light comes on but my Mac doesn't recognize the drive. Is there any tool to repair my external 1TB WD My Passport hard drive?

⟐ Commented June 29, 2025 at 21:34 MST

Western Digital My Passport: Why the drive no longer accepts my password?

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:30:55 -0700

My WD passport won’t unlock

Seagate Expansion: My HDD doesn't work

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 05:54:30 -0700

My Seagate external hard drive is not working. I hear sounds of working from it.

But, when I connect to devices like computers. Android phone. TV... they don't show any reaction. What should I do to solve this problem?

⟐ Commented June 09, 2025 at 5:54 MST

External Storage: My disk won't mount or do First Aid on Mac

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 12:39:17 -0700

I have a SanDisk G-Drive ArmorATD 5 TB. I have it in 3 APFS partitions, 2 of which are encrypted. One encrypted and one unencrypted partition are Time Machine backups.

For some reason, on my 2018 MacBook Pro, when I plug it in, the partitions do not mount. It says that there was an issue. When I tried to run First Aid in Disk Utility on one of the unencrypted Time Machine backup partitions, it started to run, but said it failed to run. I tried again, but this time Disk Utility stopped responding. The strange part: when I try to get the files on my 5th-gen iPad Air, it mounts the encrypted non-Time Machine backup partition.

The second photo is the log of the First Aid on the unencrypted Time Machine partition.

Any help would be appreciated!

⟐ Commented June 03, 2025 at 12:39 MST