iFixit - Answers With Device "External Storage"

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 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

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: Why the drive no longer accepts my password?

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

My WD passport won’t unlock

External Storage: 5-pin mini din 12v 5v ac/dc adapter replacement

Sun, 04 May 2025 07:13:17 -0700

Hi folks

Anyone knows the order for the pins in this device? This is an OWC - External firewire DVD drive. I want to know the correct order for the cable for this device.

Should be like this?

At the leff side all the pins should be 5V.

At the right side the pins at 1Pm, 3pm are the ground/RTN and the at 5pm should be at 12v.

I appreciate for any tips or ideas.

Cheers and have a nice day.

⟐ Commented May 04, 2025 at 7:13 MST

Western Digital My Book: will not power up I have tried a external hard drive reader nothing

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 04:15:52 -0700

It will not power up so I removed it from the case and used an external Hard drive reader and it still won’t power up.

⟐ Commented March 10, 2025 at 4:15 MST

LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive: I need a power cord.

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 04:49:05 -0700

I was gifted the item but have no knowledge. I need a manual and a power cord.

⟐ Commented January 14, 2025 at 4:49 MST

WD My Passport Ultra 2TB: Read arm is not moving after accidently dropping.

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 03:37:35 -0700

Any tips on how to get the arm moving again, it is a last ditch attempt after all else has seemingly failed. It was making a clicking sound, but now it is silent although the platter is spinning. The read arm is not engaging on the platter but is at the side and not stuck.

⟐ Edited by author December 27, 2024 at 3:37 MST

WD My Passport Ultra 2TB: What's up with the Western Digital My Passport Ultra 2TB

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 00:27:26 -0700

I have a WD 2TB external hard drive, I have a problem suddenly the external cannot be read on the TV or laptop even though the indicator light is on but not flashing, please solve it

WD My Passport Ultra 1TB: When I plug drive in my entire computer starts freezing and lagging

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 23:57:03 -0700

Whenever I plug the drive-in the computer starts freezing and lagging the file explorer will not open without freezing, the entire computer becomes slow, and other applications won't respond, I've tested it on another computer where the drive shows up but the amount of storage on the drive doesn't show up and clicking on the drive leads to file explorer not responding, please help I have a lot of stuff on the drive that I didn't back up

⟐ Commented June 25, 2024 at 23:57 MST

Seagate Expansion: File names disappeared now 0000001 00000002

Tue, 28 May 2024 03:33:49 -0700

Hey guys

Would really appreciate anyones help, I dropped my external hard drive it broke, my friend managed to get it working again but all the files are now blank with 00000001 0000002 as the names. Is there anyway he can recovery the files to its original state ?

Thanks

Lenovo - Iomega: I cannot access my older Iomega..it starts and stops..

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 06:49:10 -0700

I cannot access mu Iomega older version..I connect it and it starts but stops

Western Digital Elements HD: How to fix External hard drive gone

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 05:07:11 -0700

Hard drive is light show

External Storage: External drive couldn't be opened

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 04:17:35 -0700

External drive rotates but couldn't open

Seagate Backup Plus Hub: Very silent clicks when plugged in?

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 15:47:08 -0700

Today I found my old Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive (4TB) with the removable power stand

I have not used this drive since I got it back in '17 and found it laying in it's box.
I plugged it in to use it as games storage on my PC and it has a very quiet clicking sound, doesn't popup in my PC on devmgmt or Seagate Tools.

The light on the power stand turns off as soon as I attach the SATA ports on the drive to the stand

I tried attaching a HDD I had in my PC to it and the light turns off, but the drive works just fine

Western Digital External Storage: Western Digital My Cloud software failure

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 20:51:49 -0700

My customer got a Western Digital 6TB external "My Clould" drive and put all her photos on it. She was using the software included with the drive. She got a notice to update the software and did. Now the drive cannot be accessed. Western digital could not help her. The drive states on a Mac that "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer”. I removed the drive from it's enclosure and tried it in another external enclosure with the same result. I really do not want her to send it to someone like Drive Savers and spend over $1000 to get her photos back. Any suggestions?

⟐ Commented February 17, 2023 at 20:51 MST

WD My Passport Ultra 1TB: Data transfer and warming

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 09:05:20 -0700

Data transfer not done aslo formating error aslo warming

Western Digital WD Elements Desktop: How to put back HD rubber blocks?

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 08:00:56 -0700

Bummer (me)! Instructions were great (thank you!!!), I was able to take the disk out and fix a loose power connector, but did not pay attention to the four rubber blocks, and now I can't figure out where and how each one of them goes into each corner of the HD, no matter what. Could some kind soul take a picture for each, and where they go, please? /

Je suis un idiot ! Les instructions étaient excellentes (merci ! !!), j'ai pu sortir le disque et réparer un connecteur d'alimentation desserré, mais je n'ai pas fait attention aux quatre blocs en caoutchouc, et maintenant je n'arrive pas à comprendre où et comment chacun d'entre eux s'insère dans chaque coin du disque dur, quoi qu'il arrive. Est-ce qu'une âme charitable pourrait prendre une photo de chacun d'entre eux et de leur emplacement, s'il vous plaît ?

⟐ Edited December 06, 2022 at 8:00 MST

Seagate FreeAgent Go Portable Drive: Free agent external drive worked great yesterday now it wont even p

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 08:10:22 -0700

My free agent external drive worked great yesterday but now it wont even power up today! If i plugged in the wrong power cord could that bave ruined my drive?

⟐ Commented August 10, 2022 at 8:10 MST

Seagate Expansion: Why can't I find the device from My Computer?

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 09:42:45 -0700

When the device is plugged in, I see the small USB logo on the taskbar but I cannot see it in My Computer. When I click the taskbar logo, nothing happens.

⟐ Commented June 24, 2022 at 9:42 MST