Not all heroes wear capes! I was so frustrated by my drive. I bought the 6 TB version some years back and have it almost filled to the brim with memories. So when it bricked out of nowhere I was frustrated beyond all belief. You are absolutely right about the support provided by WD and the amount of time wasted asking them for help and looking on their forum was a waste of time. You, Sir, have saved my day. I had all but given up hope and been ready to throw my device away when I saw this video. I and I am assuming so many other are very grateful or this walk through. Well done.
Only just stumbled on this video! Very entertaining and made me laugh which I needed after spending 4 days waiting for my flashing blue light to stop! It didn’t so it went into safe mode, then updated to os3, then os5 then started blinking! Unplug to stop and it says it’s needs upgrading and round we go? I am stuck with a device that doesn’t seem to remember it’s been upgraded 😡 anyway, if I can get it to work like you I will be happy. Currently reformatting to hopefully start again! Thank you for your humour 👍
Martijn - Thank you both for the laughs and the tutorial. I too have a completely bricked, now useless drive and have successfully disassembled following these instructions. Next for recovery using Paragon and then BIN for the WD drive.
I love this video. Expertly narrated. I had the exact same problem (thanks to a failed firmware update). I followed exactly what you did and thankfully it saved 30 years of cherished memories (3TB). Lesson learned, that is always back up your important data. The only problem I had is the drive wouldn't always mount the first go. I would suggest, don't give up, keep trying. It may only take unplugging, re-plugging the power source or usb drive a few times before it mounts correctly. Thanks again!!! Not only was this video very informative, but amusing to watch. Take care.
What a great video. This is EXACTLY the problem I had with my WD My Cloud. I followed your instructions and have saved all my data. The only thing I didn't do was rebuild the box afterwards. I'm going to invest in a 'real' NAS. And, even though this wasn't a drive failure problem, I won't be using WD drives! Many thanks again.
Great video my friend, Thank you I haven't had a "problem" yet with mu WD NAS driver however i thought since they are "retiring" them and will no longer provide support in the year 2023. Well yes, so we're going to be screwed twice! Cheerio!
Never buy from WD. After updating the firmware, access is lost. This has happened for years and WD has not fixed it. Zero support and respect for their customer's data. Thank you for this video.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I've been fighting with this POC for years and finally with the help of your vid have extracted and moved all the data to a new drive. I appreciate your instructions on rebuilding it, but like you I have zero faith in the WD NAS so everything but the HD is going straight in the bin! Oh and also I used your req and used Paragon to mount the drive. worked like a charm :D So glad the WD NAS chapter of my life is over. I experienced almost every stupid thing you mentioned along the way and I am so happy to be done with it! THANKS AGAIN.
Martijn, thank you for a a great video. I had the same problem with the WD My Cloud NAS. One day it stopped working (I think that it was around the same time that your unit stopped working). You mentioned that after you had disassembled and reassembled the unit, it worked! I thought, okay, let's try that. And sure enough it worked! I also upgraded the firmware. Keep these informative and entertaining videos coming.
Thank you. My drive survived until last month (if it's working, I don't update the firmware unless it's flagged as critical - if it ain't broke, don't fix it) but I needed to extract the drive to recover the data (a Linux adventure is coming with an old PC). This explanation of how to disassemble and move the drive to a cradle is excellent - clear, concise, and witty. It's just a shame you were so reticent about saying what you really think about the manufacturer! :-)
Absolutely brilliant. I've just had the same thing happen to me. Tried to install a firmware update last night, but the stupid thing aborted half way through. Now I've got a nice white plastic brick with a flashing blue light. Went for a manual update today. Downloaded the alleged update, eventually got into Dashboard only to find that the stupid thing now tells me my firmware is up to date. Just after that I get a message from WD to say my firmware is out of date! Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. I should say that apart from the NAS running like an arthritic slug on a Mac, it's not given me any problems for the last five(ish) years. Your interesting video proved that there is a way out of this disaster. I may buy another NAS, but it won't be a WD. Thank you.
I just needed to stop by to say THANK YOU! This was my exact issue with a WD Mybook Live which doesn't have a USB port on the back of it. I tore that Piece of horseshit apart, got a Sata>USB adapter and used the Paragon software trial and was able to retrieve my 1.5TB of data. This was literally the only thing I could find on the interwebs to save me. Big props to you friend!! PS: I also have that MyCloud which im throwing out after I transfer everything to my new Synology NAS. Fuck Western Digital.
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve spent several days this week trying to get my MyCloud talking to my Windows 10 PC again. This afternoon the lady at technical support could also only get the flashing blue light, so she said she’d ring me back in half an hour. She didn’t do that so an hour later I called again to hear a recorded message saying they’d gone home for the weekend. I hope to get this drive working again without dissembling it but the data on it is the important thing. If I do have to get out the screwdrivers and retrieve the data manually this video will be even more helpful. In any case it’s good to know that the data is safe in there on the disk and help me to have a less stressful weekend than might have been, The reason I’m trying to retrieve the data now is that I had to do a clean install of Windows on my pc when W10 build 1903 update also went belly up!
@@mwarnas I am using the Paragon software... even paid should that have been the problem. When I run it it says there are no supported volumes to display. I'm sorry to ask, but I don't know how to make the software see my drive. It is in a hard drive reader.
Loved the fryin' pan comment...amazing!! I've unfortunately had the pleasure of purchasing the infamous my cloud that changes colorz like a blinking chameleon light!! I will be ripping apart soon, so thanks for post and info...Thank you kind SIR..!!
thanks for the instructions. unfortunately i wasn't as lucky as you that after putting it back together it was working again. but at least thanks to you i finally know what's wrong with it, after hours wasted on this thing, that my ex was so obsessed with in buying and thanks to you i'm having now hope that i can have someone recover the 3tb of files for me thank you
Wow..... thank you so much, all I did was to remove the drive and put it back and it is connected (no blue light yet, but maybe b/c its upgrading the SW) - great job and big thank you from Israel.
Happened to me in early october 2021, after an upgrade from OS2 to OS5 (I whould. Extracted the drive and put it into an EX2 Ultra. The drive was OK, but DLNA server was gone. Managed to open the cover without breaking anything. Popped the drive in the new unit, and it worked.Popped the drive in the new unit, and it worked.
This is the best RUclips tutorial I have ever seen. I've not gone anywhere near my WD Drive (which is f*cked) but I am now calm and collected. Have you considered reading children's books?
your hysterical , love your way of putting things. Thanks for sharing. I have 2 of these awful iClouds. (you think I would have learned the 1st time) So now I'm going to try what you advised .and pray it works for me.
You literally saved all my data. I'm as frustrated as you are with WD and their bullshit service! Thanks a million, it's thanks to people like you that we can have faith!
I have two of these garbage "cloud" backups. Each one is a different model so the firmware is different. One has been chugging along nicely. One just crapped out. This video was hilarious. All that time disassembling and assembling only to find out you have no idea why it started working again. LOL. But you got 'er done. Priceless!!
Very down earth thanks for you knowledge. I am upset at WD for discontinuing their remote link to certain My cloud devices this coming year. So I am looking for a way to connect to the drive w/out f.wd setup. And discontinued firmware updates per this video most of updates are useless.
Hello just wanted to say thank you an give you a pat on the back for all your hard work. Your advice did help me in a way. Much as a I tried with various linux programs for a PC. I still could not accesss or read any files. Remember the program that sounds rather like a headache tablet "Paragon" free trial version. Well it fixed mine. l could not access any files with it either, maybe it has to be activated? But one feature which is fairly remarkable is that it can verify the partitions on the hard WD hard drive, search through and will fix certain errors. It did find a whole bunch in my case. One last try, so I reconnected the motherboard again to the WD hard drive. Plugged in the power and network cable, rapid flashing blue led ,here we go again I thought, but much to my consernation it stabilized after 5 minutes fixed blue led, YES, and I could finally access the WDmycloud Nas again through my network. So now I am doing a backup of all important files. Like yourself I have changed my tune. I am going to remove the hard drive from my WDmycloud Nas and use it in another in rack based NAS as far away as possible from Western Digital. Big thank you, Paul
Liked the video! ... right before I started to follow the process I decide to reboot and after many reboots and ethernet cables changed because had no connection. My 24 years old son told me... I think the fan is not working! We took the white plastic cover off, placed a small fan next to the drive and the yellow blinking light turned solid and later blue!! Fan on side of green board. Finder on Mac was able to show WD and transferred all files ASAP. Hopes this helps.
Dear Martijn, 18 Rated and I wholly understand your frustration as mine, whilst on 4.something firmware is now no use to my desktop, though curiously works with wireless machinery. I will take away that the nas connection is linux based and hopefully I'll be able to claim a 2Tb HDD, in part, as compensation. Many Thanks. P.S. A convenient teenager with large thumbs is the correct tool to use to take off the outer casing.
Thanks for this video, I already spent hours trying to access my data....I was not able to connect again to my cloud drive after changing the modem but did not put too much time because I had another external drive, but recently I loose all data from my WD passport drive, just stop working from one day to another and I am getting worry about to lose now the data from my cloud (mainly family pictures and videos. I will try doing what you did and hopefully I can recover the data Thanks again
Just watching this I’m trying to access 30,000 photos and videos a nightmare but the bits will great for my modelling and scratch building wish me luck
I purchased one of the first ever made 2014 4 TB units and it worked perfect until 2019. The only thing I can do with it, which really works well, I hooked up Filezilla up to it, and just use FTP. I can't get the dashboard up and therefore I can't use the firmware so I'll probably do this to see if that works. Thanks for the video.
Your problem is different from the issues caused by the firmware issue. FTP access is great, I’d get out all my data and remove the drive to reuse in a new NAS. My ‘method’ is just about data recovery and you already have access via FTP.
Thanks! You explained a lot and did most of the "error" part of "trial and error". While I wasn't able to update the firmware, I was able to find a $16 connector/power supply on AliExpress that allowed me to connect and power up, and it was still recognized as "WD 500". Cheers!
Martijn, I enjoyed your video very much as I had the exact same problem with my own MyCloud device. (I love your sense of humour.) One thing that frustrated me was the data transfer at the end. Initially I connected the WD NAS drive to a usb on my PC and the Paragon software couldn't find the drive. Then I decided to open my PC and connect it directly with the regular power and data cable to the motherboard and suddenly it was there and I am now copying all my data before finally saying goodbye to my MyCloud. Your video confirmed that it is not me being incompetent or stupid, and in all probability it was a firmware update which has made them fall over. My MyCloud is nearly 6 years old, in IT terms beyond its sell by date so I am about to install a Synology NAS because they seem to get positive reviews. Anyway, thanks for posting your video, I really enjoyed it.
Hello, Martijn! Wow! what a great video... I have suffered the same issue, now with your tutorial, I can finally get my data... thank you again!!! (also, I love your humor)- Michael
I bought the 6TB version of the MyCloud some time just before you made this video. Only to realise that after I bought it, it didn't have a "power down" feature enabled in the interface. So if I had to power it down, I would have to "inspect" the web interface everytime and click the shut down link, otherwise - it would spin into some diagnostic thing. Ultimately, the integrity checks started failing, like you said, and right now, I have already spent 2 days trying to get it on, so I can extract my 5TBs of data from this. Also, now that I need to buy a new drive, I am wondering if I should trust WD at all - considering the agony I have gone through with this "supposed NAS fiasco" in my hands. I completely agree with your sense of humour. I think your anger is watered down. I haven't started dismantling yet. I am also a mac user. I have an old Windows PC in the office, which I have never used, so that's not of help either. Will have to figure out how to extract the data once i open it, so until I do that, i won't dismantle. Will comment again for sure once I am done.
Yeah, the power down option was only available via the web interface or a helper app in the toolbar. 5 TB is a lot to copy, I'm sure you're bummed out. Don't do anything drastic, though: your data is secure. Perhaps ask a local computer repair shop if they can secure the data. It's not damaged in any way. Make sure they know what they're doing, though.
@@mwarnas it came back up after i wrote the reply. and guess what, i have 6TB to copy out. its 2:43am and i am bummed out, but copying out what i can while i can. sick of WD. i need to buy a desktop drive. any recommendations? WD or Seagate?
Mine is broken with the firmware updating too. You are not alone. To my surprise, the firmware was still viable untill one month ago, that's when I broke my MyCloud. WD doesn't provide tech support, only give me 3rd part data recovery service, which charges a lot! Shame on WD too.
You can attach the drive to a virtual machine in hyper-v as a physical disk and then dump it to a virtual disk via imaging software like Gparted or if you want a compressed image file then use something like acronis true image iso boot disk. Indeed, the wd mycloud NAS controller is low-power and cheap to run - I'll give it that. Sadly though, the Gen1 MyCloud Arm processor is under powered, lacks floating point and virtualization support, and requires non-standard 64k memory page aligned distributions of debian which are now out of date. The version of Debian used in WD MyCloud leaves it vulnerable to exploits. Debian is now at version 10 and this device is still Debian version 7 or version 8.
It would be a hell of a lot easier if it was just possible to revert back to the older firmware, if that truly is the only reason that the drive stopped connecting to the network.
You may not reply to this comment after this post has been up for 2 years, but I would like to thank you so much for putting in the time and effort into making this video. To help all us SHIT OUT OF LUCK Western Digital customers who bought that shit-stained rag of a Network Attached Storage only for it to go tits up and fuck itself in the ass. I cannot express enough of my gratitude to you, so I hope this comment i left in my steed would do just the trick. Thank you!!!
Great video and instruction, I recovered all my data from the drive😅. However, when I tried reconnecting the led remains on a solid amber. Any suggestions on how to fix this?
These drives have a feature called "Safepoint" allowing auto backup to an external USB drive (including NTFS type) of the same size or larger on a schedule. Plug that second drive into the rear USB port on your "My Cloud" and set up a "Safepoint" through the web GUI today and never lose your data. I own the 4TB model and access the extra space on My 8TB backup drive by creating a desktop shortcut or mapping the backup to a drive letter. In windows10 navigate to "Network" and right click the "My cloud" icon and left click "Open" to see all your shares plus the "Backup Drive" listed as folders. I hope this helps.
Thanks, this is great to know! I've been having a hell of a time with this brick. Where do you download the paragon software? the link you have in the description goes to a page where there's no download and they appear to have a lot of different products...
i have the exact same symptoms with a DL4100! woke up this morning in NY and it's FUBAR just like yours! It's a raid config with 2 of 4TB drives. I'll see if I can plug them into my desktop with the special cable.
I couldn't agree with you more with your last sentence. Let me add my bit, "WD fuck you too!" haha. Thanks for making this video. You put the WD customer service guys to shame.
Thanks, I needed exactly what you presented here, my device was so slow I decided to rip out the drive and back it up and use it in another NAS. the Ubuntu 19 was able to work for getting the data. i had to boot to a live session (no install) and chmod 777 each folder i wanted to back up. [sudo chmod 777 shares] i think im going to try an ssd on the controller and see if i can speed it up and still use it to share videos with my smart tvs. if i think about it ill update here (if your cool with it) and maybe make a how to my self.
Hey Dave, I have been dealing with this thing for over a month now and still wasn’t able to recover my data. The Paragon software did not work for me, I have tried the Ubuntu, but it doesn’t not see my driver. Can you share how you got Ubuntu to see the drive? Thanks in advance.
I haven't reached the stage of recovery. In my case, based on the sound i hear, the issue is with my HDD. So, not lots of hope. Data was backed up so will try to connect to a Linux machine, thank God for that. My luck with WD red HDD isn't great.
The pile of crap has now done it twice to me... the first time (probably around the same time as this video) I was eventually able to restore the old firmware and it came back to life... This time (End of November 2021) it's done it and totally bricked itself - smashed it open and now copying data using my mac to another hard drive. I accept that hardware fails, but how on earth can you release firmware that automatically updates and manages to completely brick the device!
Absolutely brilliant, laughed my bollocks off all the way through. Oh, I also managed to recover my data from a piece of shit WDMyCloud that I had just about given up on. Martijn Warnas, you are an internet superstar.
Hi Martijn, I had exactly same problem and being fooled by WD tech support, which are stupid and useless. My only question to your lovely video is: will any type of hard drive reader will work if I plug my cloud hard drive into it, link it with my computer and have paragon installed?
To copy the files on the drive just use the free software DiskInternals Linux Reader, it will be able to read and allow you to copy the data anywhere you like.
I installed Ext2 File System Driver for Windows (sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd/) and it works like a charm. I now have read access (I didn't dare to try writing to the device) and can copy all my files to another NAS in my network.
Martijn, you are a lifesaver! I have finally freed my 4TB drive from its MyCloud case and I'm using the Paragon SW to copy the files. It works great but the copying takes FOREVER for even small files. Any advice on speeding up that process? Still, THANK YOU for all your help! I thought my data was lost forever!
If it's really bad I'd double check the USB cable and if the external enclosure you're using actually supports USB 3.0. Or perhaps you can save over the network? Still, it's 4 TB. It's gonna take a day at least.
@@mwarnas Even small files (300 MB) are taking at least 5 minutes using Finder (copy/paste). I only have 1.5TB on the drive, but lots of individual files. Should I use something other than Finder? Am I doing something wrong? You can DM me.
Following up on my earlier comment, my NAS started working last night after I watched this video. It crashed multiple times while I attempted to salvage my data. Overall, the whole of last night, and another day, I kept copying the critical files out. What a waste of time, which is sold as some professional tool to consumers. Thanks WD! After that, I spent an hour, to dismantle the piece-o-junk, in the hope I could connect the WD Red to my Windows computer inside the CPU cabinet. However, the drive did not get detected. I am not sure why. I have reassembled the NAS again. I am not going to use it or trust it again. It's a 6TB drive, so if you feel that there might be issues with the motherboard not being able to handle a 6TB drive, let me know. But basically, this experience destroys my trust in WD. Also, I almost bought a WD 6TB desktop hard disk today, but then I found in reviews, they are using SMR disks now, which are substandard in comparison to CMR. So that's the end of that order. Thanks for the video, it was of great help. I will remember your sense of humour about this.
?! You don’t know why your windows machine can’t read the drive? Because it doesn’t know the file system. I explain this and provide a solution in the video.
@@mwarnas yes. But unfortunately, the drive was not visible inside the BIOS either. And Paragon also could not detect the drive. I connected the drive directly inside the system and did not use an enclosure.
If you think this is bad, you should see what happens with the MyCloud Mirror. The pretty plastic casing is incapable of maintaining safe temperatures and kills your hard drives. Then you find out that the drives it came populated with aren’t even WD Red drives.
Can you please tell me how it went using the usb 3.0 disk reader? Do you recommend the one you showed us? Is it the exact one we need to use to extract our data from the WD NES Drive we have removed from the case? Where can I find one, is it a specific brand you bought/ used? How did the one you showed us in your video work with an NES (WD) HardDrive? Does the software you recommended or to convert the data from linux to windows or Mac? And how do we transfer the data from the NES drive to another one? I went out of town the last week of March 2019 and returned April 7th, 2019...to find WD my cloud inoperative. I called one of the recommended recovery services found on WD website and they want $800-1200 to recover my data. And that is the cheapest fee for recovery services. Say Whaaat? I did not see anywhere on WD’s website that this occurred due to the automatic firmware update. That is enough to make anyone upset. Like you, I will never use a WD or any other NES device ever again. Thank you in advance for your help! I really appreciate you posting this video.
What a brilliantly funny video. I too feel annoyed by WD. I have 2 my clouds. 1 external drive and 2 WD TV players. The old WD tv’s are no longer supported on if the my clouds has bricked with all our family photos and 20k music albums on it. And I’m not a happy bunny. But this video made me laugh.
Hi I have recently lost the ability to write to my WD My Cloud NAS drive from my PC which reports that I don't have 'Permission to Write to this Drive', and Remote Access from the Android App which reports sometimes reports 'ERROR Network Connection' when on the WiFi and occasional 'Remote Access Denied' over my Mobile/Cell Network. I can see the files .. play videos, listen to the music files but access to image files is odd .. I can see them under Windows and Linux, but not with the Android mobile app which reports 'Cannot Access Image File', but it sometimes works with music files ... I can copy files from the NAS but NOT TO the NAS or from one folder to another on the NAS. The last time I was able to write to the drive was the 24/11/2020, just before the last Firmware update,. At first I though it was a Windows problem ..somehow the Permissions had changed .. So I tried from a Laptop which gave the same results. Then I thought .. Could the Router have developed a fault ? This last one I still haven't ruled out completely even thought I have accessed the Router and cannot see anything that has changed and everything else on the Router seems to be working .. Access the Internet, see other devices on the Network etc, but I'm not that familiar with Routers .. and if it was/is the Router would this still cause the problems with the Android App when connecting over the Cell/Mobile Network ..? I have look through the WD Community Support pages but only to get more confused ... Obviously I have wasted a few days searching through the WD Website trying to find a solution, hunting RUclips to see if anyone else has experienced these problems and found solutions and contacting WD Support .... (Boy ... is that over-rated ! or not ... ) So ...here I am looking on Amazon (etal) for yet another External HD to replace this one and spending the cash I had saved up to replace my PC on staying exactly in the same place ... So ... Fuck You WD indeed ....
I ended up here because my NAS cloud drive stopped working this smo, so now the HDD sits happily in a neu case on my shelf and I'm now out of a NAS device. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I have a 6gb with the flashing light syndrome. If I understood you correctly just take it apart then put it back together might be a quick fix? All this software you spoke about isn't needed correct? Please help I have years of family photo's. Thank you.
I had the same F... problem. I had an usb backup so no need to recover the data. But I haven’t managed to get it to work again. I am looking for a synology one now as I had 1 more WD my loud 6tb and another mirror version. I would like to know how you manage to get yours to work again.
Thanks for that very honest video. I HATE MY WD my cloud. Ive never seemed to get it to work how I want anyway. Just have it connected to my iMac as a back up but thinking of taking the drive out and using it as a regular drive. Which is more what I want now. Can I just format it and use it like that or with the Mac just now see the disk at all?
Hi David. Yes, that is absolutely possible. It is like any other hard drive in that respect and you should be able to set it up with Disk Management on MacOS in a matter of minutes. Just make sure your data is safe. It's actually quite a good drive, rated for non-stop service. I stuck mine in a new Synology NAS along with another HD so that they can mirror each other, but that's quite an investment. Haven't had any problems with it. Good luck!
@@mwarnas thanks for the response. I think I will give that a go. It's a shame really as it had so much potential but now most of it will be in the scrap bin🥺 thanks for the advice mate.
@@mwarnas I ripped out the drive and put it into a sata case and it worked great but now it wont mount! tried everything I can find on the web but I think it might be fcuked :( Ah well still works better than when in the WD Mycloud! haha
Great video, so helpful, mine bricked ages ago thought drive kaput.... and all lost, but of course it was about the timescale you mention... complete bastards, I had called them, and got fobbed off..
Thanks for posting this video. This is something I need to attempt soon. *sigh* I do find it interesting your drive came back to life. Are you still using it? Thanks!
I am in the same boat. I've updated the firmware and now I have a brick instead of WD My Cloud Mirror gen 2. Unfortunately, I have installed Paragon but my hard drives still cannot be read. Any ideas? Could it be that WD are using some kind of proprietary software to the drives and it is not pure Linux (sorry of this is a stupid question)?
Brilliant. These drives (I have three for Timemachine backups) have cost me many hours of grief. Mac OS 10.11.6 Time Machine took days to backup 666GB on a network connection. A direct Cat 6 cable MacBook Pro ( Mac OS 10.15.7) to WD Home using timemachine worked better. Interestingly USB was faster still. I discovered in the WD support pages that Wireless data transfer rate is a con by the way - its very very slow. USB is faster. My outstanding issue is I cannot remove unwanted old time machine backups from another computer as the package contains Read Only files which I have not got permissions to change as a Guest. Maybe Paragon will be a solution here - I’ll investigate. In summary, like you i would not touch this type of enclosure again. Older OS3 are no longer supported due to a security flaw. The drives look good, so I would just recycle them. WD support really were nit much help in getting to the bottom of the problem. There is potentially one saving grace - the USB port can be used to daisy chain up to seven devices downstream, so multiple backups might be feasible - if you can see them!
Hello My Nas mycloud 3TB just let me go this morning (a white led at startup and it remains on ) the ddr is running perfectly (connected externally, it is recognized except that the system is in Raw) Considering the usefulness of my Nas I believe that I have to buy a new mother card, do you have a link we can buy it please? Thank you
I don't know where to buy parts for this. Save your data with the software in the description, throw this machine away and NEVER buy Western Digital again is my advice.
On mine, the side metal bracket with the torx screws got stripped. They were on so tight and now I cannot get them off. WD really still having the last laugh with me. 😢 Any ideas to get those two torx screws out?
Hi there. My 3TB WD My cloud home just keeps showing offline. The light on the front is a static white light. Any thoughts? I just need at this point, to get the data off the drive.thx
Disassemble it, put the drive in an external enclosure and use the software I link to in the description to copy the data off the drive. Then buy a NAS of a different brand. Good luck.
Brilliant. I have 2 of these. One is starting to give me issues. When I get the disk out what NAS drive enclosure would you (or anyone else) recommend?
I upgraded to a 2 bay Synology DS218Play and bought a second drive to set up Raid-1 (mirroring). I'm very satisfied with it. However, I don't think you can just plug in the old drive and go, so you may need an intermediary drive to set up the new one.
@Martijn Warnas : Ik heb ook een Mycloud 2 TB. Ik had er geen originele netstroomadapter bij en heb dus een andere adapter gekocht. Nu geeft ie eerst een blauw knipperend lampje, en na 20 seconden een rood knipperend lampje. Je hoort de schijf proberen op te starten, maar dat lukt niet. Ik heb hem even aan mijn vaste pc gehangen met een Sata kabel en voeding. De PC zag de schijf wel, maar kon hem niet benaderen omdat het blikbaar anders is geformatteerd (Unix? Linux?) de Paragon softwar kon ik niets mee. Weet jij iemand die de schijf voor mij weer werkend kan krijgen?
Marten, die Paragon software werkt prima hoor, probeer dat nog eens zou ik zeggen. Daarmee kun je dat rare bestandssysteem wel lezen. Het is er voor Mac en Windows, gratis proefperiode waarin je je data kunt veiligstellen. Anders zou ik bij een lokale computershop te rade gaan.
I have a problem that when I connect the WD Cloud 3T, it lights up yellow at startup and then starts flashing yellow for a long time. I can't connect from WD Cloud via the computer. What can you advise me?
I really don't know how to troubleshoot. But if you feel opening up the thing to save your data is your last option, follow my instructions to salvage your data.
Well mine took a crap a couple of weeks ago when it downloaded the latest firmware. I wish I'd known about this issue I would've turn off the automatic update.
I'm sorry Wayne, this was a while ago for me. I no longer have this setup. Try a Ubuntu live image, that's supposed to be able to see the drive. Else, find professional help at a local computer repair shop.
Hi Martijn, thanks for your video sharing. I have a problem that when I put the hard disk after dismantled and the computer can detect it but doesnt allocates it. Does it normal??
Yes, that is probably normal. The drive currently has a file system your Windows computer can’t read. I have an explanation in the video and links to free helpful software in the description. Be very careful or you will lose your data.
@@mwarnas thanks. I have actually installed the Paragon Linux software. And I install the hard disk onto the external drive. The software told me can't detect the hard drive. Can u please help and advise whether is normal or my hard disk problem.... I agree with u that this WD is sucked..
my wd cloud 2TB got bricked the blue light flashes constant, but i took it apart, downloaded a ext2/ext3 ++ program for windows 10, I then put it in a 3.5HDD USB 3.0 docking station, I then got all the partitions on the hardrive up, and then I got everything out from the drive, but I think I need to format the HDD with ext3 beacause the fucked update have made 12partitions all 1gb each, and i think the uptate gets confused on which partition that is the former userspace.. but you will need a usb drive formatted in FAT32 and then you put the firmware from some time ago on the stick and boot the cloud back up with the usb stick with firmware on it
Thanks for your video. I tried with the mentioned Paragon software. My drive however doesn't show up :-( It seems that its dead - since I even can't hear it spinning,,,, too bad,
Not all heroes wear capes!
I was so frustrated by my drive. I bought the 6 TB version some years back and have it almost filled to the brim with memories. So when it bricked out of nowhere I was frustrated beyond all belief. You are absolutely right about the support provided by WD and the amount of time wasted asking them for help and looking on their forum was a waste of time. You, Sir, have saved my day. I had all but given up hope and been ready to throw my device away when I saw this video. I and I am assuming so many other are very grateful or this walk through. Well done.
You're very welcome. Just never buy WD again and I will consider myself compensated :)
Only just stumbled on this video! Very entertaining and made me laugh which I needed after spending 4 days waiting for my flashing blue light to stop! It didn’t so it went into safe mode, then updated to os3, then os5 then started blinking! Unplug to stop and it says it’s needs upgrading and round we go? I am stuck with a device that doesn’t seem to remember it’s been upgraded 😡 anyway, if I can get it to work like you I will be happy. Currently reformatting to hopefully start again! Thank you for your humour 👍
You saved me dude. Had all my sons birth photos on this thing when it crapped out on me. I appreciate you putting this video out there seriously.
Martijn - Thank you both for the laughs and the tutorial. I too have a completely bricked, now useless drive and have successfully disassembled following these instructions. Next for recovery using Paragon and then BIN for the WD drive.
I love this video. Expertly narrated. I had the exact same problem (thanks to a failed firmware update). I followed exactly what you did and thankfully it saved 30 years of cherished memories (3TB). Lesson learned, that is always back up your important data. The only problem I had is the drive wouldn't always mount the first go. I would suggest, don't give up, keep trying. It may only take unplugging, re-plugging the power source or usb drive a few times before it mounts correctly. Thanks again!!! Not only was this video very informative, but amusing to watch. Take care.
You're very welcome, glad my video helped you out.
What a great video. This is EXACTLY the problem I had with my WD My Cloud. I followed your instructions and have saved all my data. The only thing I didn't do was rebuild the box afterwards. I'm going to invest in a 'real' NAS. And, even though this wasn't a drive failure problem, I won't be using WD drives! Many thanks again.
Great video my friend, Thank you I haven't had a "problem" yet with mu WD NAS driver however i thought since they are "retiring" them and will no longer provide support in the year 2023.
Well yes, so we're going to be screwed twice! Cheerio!
Never buy from WD. After updating the firmware, access is lost. This has happened for years and WD has not fixed it.
Zero support and respect for their customer's data.
Thank you for this video.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I've been fighting with this POC for years and finally with the help of your vid have extracted and moved all the data to a new drive. I appreciate your instructions on rebuilding it, but like you I have zero faith in the WD NAS so everything but the HD is going straight in the bin! Oh and also I used your req and used Paragon to mount the drive. worked like a charm :D So glad the WD NAS chapter of my life is over. I experienced almost every stupid thing you mentioned along the way and I am so happy to be done with it! THANKS AGAIN.
Martijn, thank you for a a great video. I had the same problem with the WD My Cloud NAS. One day it stopped working (I think that it was around the same time that your unit stopped working). You mentioned that after you had disassembled and reassembled the unit, it worked! I thought, okay, let's try that. And sure enough it worked! I also upgraded the firmware. Keep these informative and entertaining videos coming.
Thank you. My drive survived until last month (if it's working, I don't update the firmware unless it's flagged as critical - if it ain't broke, don't fix it) but I needed to extract the drive to recover the data (a Linux adventure is coming with an old PC). This explanation of how to disassemble and move the drive to a cradle is excellent - clear, concise, and witty. It's just a shame you were so reticent about saying what you really think about the manufacturer! :-)
Absolutely brilliant. I've just had the same thing happen to me. Tried to install a firmware update last night, but the stupid thing aborted half way through. Now I've got a nice white plastic brick with a flashing blue light. Went for a manual update today. Downloaded the alleged update, eventually got into Dashboard only to find that the stupid thing now tells me my firmware is up to date. Just after that I get a message from WD to say my firmware is out of date! Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. I should say that apart from the NAS running like an arthritic slug on a Mac, it's not given me any problems for the last five(ish) years. Your interesting video proved that there is a way out of this disaster. I may buy another NAS, but it won't be a WD. Thank you.
I just needed to stop by to say THANK YOU! This was my exact issue with a WD Mybook Live which doesn't have a USB port on the back of it. I tore that Piece of horseshit apart, got a Sata>USB adapter and used the Paragon software trial and was able to retrieve my 1.5TB of data. This was literally the only thing I could find on the interwebs to save me. Big props to you friend!!
PS: I also have that MyCloud which im throwing out after I transfer everything to my new Synology NAS. Fuck Western Digital.
Thank you for this wonderful video. I had given up on recovering my data. I’ll try this very soon. Your efforts are appreciated.
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve spent several days this week trying to get my MyCloud talking to my Windows 10 PC again. This afternoon the lady at technical support could also only get the flashing blue light, so she said she’d ring me back in half an hour. She didn’t do that so an hour later I called again to hear a recorded message saying they’d gone home for the weekend.
I hope to get this drive working again without dissembling it but the data on it is the important thing. If I do have to get out the screwdrivers and retrieve the data manually this video will be even more helpful. In any case it’s good to know that the data is safe in there on the disk and help me to have a less stressful weekend than might have been,
The reason I’m trying to retrieve the data now is that I had to do a clean install of Windows on my pc when W10 build 1903 update also went belly up!
I am going shopping for screwdrivers tomorrow! My trouble was a constant white light... I'll let you know. Thanks so much!
You'll need a simple flat screwdriver and a Torx set, with at least 8, 9 and 10.
@@mwarnas I am using the Paragon software... even paid should that have been the problem. When I run it it says there are no supported volumes to display. I'm sorry to ask, but I don't know how to make the software see my drive. It is in a hard drive reader.
Loved the fryin' pan comment...amazing!! I've unfortunately had the pleasure of purchasing the infamous my cloud that changes colorz like a blinking chameleon light!! I will be ripping apart soon, so thanks for post and info...Thank you kind SIR..!!
Brilliant, love the closing remark.
thanks for the instructions. unfortunately i wasn't as lucky as you that after putting it back together it was working again. but at least thanks to you i finally know what's wrong with it, after hours wasted on this thing, that my ex was so obsessed with in buying
and thanks to you i'm having now hope that i can have someone recover the 3tb of files for me
thank you
Wow..... thank you so much, all I did was to remove the drive and put it back and it is connected (no blue light yet, but maybe b/c its upgrading the SW) - great job and big thank you from Israel.
Happened to me in early october 2021, after an upgrade from OS2 to OS5 (I whould. Extracted the drive and put it into an EX2 Ultra. The drive was OK, but DLNA server was gone. Managed to open the cover without breaking anything. Popped the drive in the new unit, and it worked.Popped the drive in the new unit, and it worked.
This is the best RUclips tutorial I have ever seen. I've not gone anywhere near my WD Drive (which is f*cked) but I am now calm and collected. Have you considered reading children's books?
your hysterical , love your way of putting things. Thanks for sharing. I have 2 of these awful iClouds. (you think I would have learned the 1st time) So now I'm going to try what you advised .and pray it works for me.
You literally saved all my data. I'm as frustrated as you are with WD and their bullshit service! Thanks a million, it's thanks to people like you that we can have faith!
Well, this made my day :)
I have two of these garbage "cloud" backups. Each one is a different model so the firmware is different. One has been chugging along nicely. One just crapped out. This video was hilarious. All that time disassembling and assembling only to find out you have no idea why it started working again. LOL. But you got 'er done. Priceless!!
Martin
You are a legend!!!!
Had this very issue.
Thanks so much for posting this.
Not buying WD again!!!
Very down earth thanks for you knowledge. I am upset at WD for discontinuing their remote link to certain My cloud devices this coming year. So I am looking for a way to connect to the drive w/out f.wd setup. And discontinued firmware updates per this video most of updates are useless.
You are a saint. I had this EXACT issue and this was the perfect fix.
Hello just wanted to say thank you an give you a pat on the back for all your hard work. Your advice did help me in a way.
Much as a I tried with various linux programs for a PC. I still could not accesss or read any files. Remember the program that sounds rather like a headache tablet "Paragon" free trial version.
Well it fixed mine. l could not access any files with it either, maybe it has to be activated? But one feature which is fairly remarkable is that it can verify the partitions on the hard WD hard drive, search through and will fix certain errors. It did find a whole bunch in my case. One last try, so I reconnected the motherboard again to the WD hard drive. Plugged in the power and network cable, rapid flashing blue led ,here we go again I thought, but much to my consernation it stabilized after 5 minutes fixed blue led, YES, and I could finally access the WDmycloud Nas again through my network. So now I am doing a backup of all important files. Like yourself I have changed my tune. I am going to remove the hard drive from my WDmycloud Nas and use it in another in rack based NAS as far away as possible from Western Digital.
Big thank you,
Paul
Liked the video! ... right before I started to follow the process I decide to reboot and after many reboots and ethernet cables changed because had no connection. My 24 years old son told me... I think the fan is not working! We took the white plastic cover off, placed a small fan next to the drive and the yellow blinking light turned solid and later blue!! Fan on side of green board. Finder on Mac was able to show WD and transferred all files ASAP. Hopes this helps.
Dear Martijn, 18 Rated and I wholly understand your frustration as mine, whilst on 4.something firmware is now no use to my desktop, though curiously works with wireless machinery. I will take away that the nas connection is linux based and hopefully I'll be able to claim a 2Tb HDD, in part, as compensation. Many Thanks. P.S. A convenient teenager with large thumbs is the correct tool to use to take off the outer casing.
Thanks for this video, I already spent hours trying to access my data....I was not able to connect again to my cloud drive after changing the modem but did not put too much time because I had another external drive, but recently I loose all data from my WD passport drive, just stop working from one day to another and I am getting worry about to lose now the data from my cloud (mainly family pictures and videos.
I will try doing what you did and hopefully I can recover the data
Thanks again
Just watching this I’m trying to access 30,000 photos and videos a nightmare but the bits will great for my modelling and scratch building wish me luck
Good luck!
Thank you. I enjoyed your simple instruction and sense of humour! :)
Guess I'm funny when I'm livid :) You're welcome!
My became a brick on 20th this month. Tries to boot with no success. Totally agree with the last sentence of this video.
I purchased one of the first ever made 2014 4 TB units and it worked perfect until 2019. The only thing I can do with it, which really works well, I hooked up Filezilla up to it, and just use FTP. I can't get the dashboard up and therefore I can't use the firmware so I'll probably do this to see if that works. Thanks for the video.
Your problem is different from the issues caused by the firmware issue. FTP access is great, I’d get out all my data and remove the drive to reuse in a new NAS. My ‘method’ is just about data recovery and you already have access via FTP.
Thanks! You explained a lot and did most of the "error" part of "trial and error". While I wasn't able to update the firmware, I was able to find a $16 connector/power supply on AliExpress that allowed me to connect and power up, and it was still recognized as "WD 500". Cheers!
Can you share the link of that connecter you found?
Martijn, I enjoyed your video very much as I had the exact same problem with my own MyCloud device. (I love your sense of humour.)
One thing that frustrated me was the data transfer at the end. Initially I connected the WD NAS drive to a usb on my PC and the Paragon software couldn't find the drive. Then I decided to open my PC and connect it directly with the regular power and data cable to the motherboard and suddenly it was there and I am now copying all my data before finally saying goodbye to my MyCloud.
Your video confirmed that it is not me being incompetent or stupid, and in all probability it was a firmware update which has made them fall over.
My MyCloud is nearly 6 years old, in IT terms beyond its sell by date so I am about to install a Synology NAS because they seem to get positive reviews. Anyway, thanks for posting your video, I really enjoyed it.
Has anyone come up with a fix for the My Cloud Home. No LED functioning at all.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video!
Hello, Martijn! Wow! what a great video... I have suffered the same issue, now with your tutorial, I can finally get my data... thank you again!!! (also, I love your humor)- Michael
I bought the 6TB version of the MyCloud some time just before you made this video. Only to realise that after I bought it, it didn't have a "power down" feature enabled in the interface. So if I had to power it down, I would have to "inspect" the web interface everytime and click the shut down link, otherwise - it would spin into some diagnostic thing. Ultimately, the integrity checks started failing, like you said, and right now, I have already spent 2 days trying to get it on, so I can extract my 5TBs of data from this. Also, now that I need to buy a new drive, I am wondering if I should trust WD at all - considering the agony I have gone through with this "supposed NAS fiasco" in my hands. I completely agree with your sense of humour. I think your anger is watered down. I haven't started dismantling yet. I am also a mac user. I have an old Windows PC in the office, which I have never used, so that's not of help either. Will have to figure out how to extract the data once i open it, so until I do that, i won't dismantle. Will comment again for sure once I am done.
Yeah, the power down option was only available via the web interface or a helper app in the toolbar. 5 TB is a lot to copy, I'm sure you're bummed out. Don't do anything drastic, though: your data is secure. Perhaps ask a local computer repair shop if they can secure the data. It's not damaged in any way. Make sure they know what they're doing, though.
@@mwarnas it came back up after i wrote the reply. and guess what, i have 6TB to copy out. its 2:43am and i am bummed out, but copying out what i can while i can. sick of WD. i need to buy a desktop drive. any recommendations? WD or Seagate?
Share your sentiments. Quite disappointed with WD for not acknowledging this problem. Thanks for sharing.
Mine is broken with the firmware updating too. You are not alone. To my surprise, the firmware was still viable untill one month ago, that's when I broke my MyCloud. WD doesn't provide tech support, only give me 3rd part data recovery service, which charges a lot! Shame on WD too.
You can attach the drive to a virtual machine in hyper-v as a physical disk and then dump it to a virtual disk via imaging software like Gparted or if you want a compressed image file then use something like acronis true image iso boot disk. Indeed, the wd mycloud NAS controller is low-power and cheap to run - I'll give it that. Sadly though, the Gen1 MyCloud Arm processor is under powered, lacks floating point and virtualization support, and requires non-standard 64k memory page aligned distributions of debian which are now out of date. The version of Debian used in WD MyCloud leaves it vulnerable to exploits. Debian is now at version 10 and this device is still Debian version 7 or version 8.
Thanks dude. You saved my day. Looking up and down for free solution. You did it again . BRAVO.
Again?!
It would be a hell of a lot easier if it was just possible to revert back to the older firmware, if that truly is the only reason that the drive stopped connecting to the network.
You may not reply to this comment after this post has been up for 2 years, but I would like to thank you so much for putting in the time and effort into making this video. To help all us SHIT OUT OF LUCK Western Digital customers who bought that shit-stained rag of a Network Attached Storage only for it to go tits up and fuck itself in the ass. I cannot express enough of my gratitude to you, so I hope this comment i left in my steed would do just the trick. Thank you!!!
You're welcome!
Great video and instruction, I recovered all my data from the drive😅. However, when I tried reconnecting the led remains on a solid amber. Any suggestions on how to fix this?
My suggestion is not to try: remove the drive and re-use it, ditch the NAS. You went through the eye of the needle this time. Don't push your luck.
OML, I ran into the same problem a year ago. I salvaged the disk back then and moved over to netgear NAS.
best comment of the whole video "dont buy this piece of shit" unfortunately I bought the same POS before watching the video...
These drives have a feature called "Safepoint" allowing auto backup to an external USB drive (including NTFS type) of the same size or larger on a schedule. Plug that second drive into the rear USB port on your "My Cloud" and set up a "Safepoint" through the web GUI today and never lose your data. I own the 4TB model and access the extra space on My 8TB backup drive by creating a desktop shortcut or mapping the backup to a drive letter. In windows10 navigate to "Network" and right click the "My cloud" icon and left click "Open" to see all your shares plus the "Backup Drive" listed as folders. I hope this helps.
I have to try this out. But this video is just excellent! Kudos to you! it's also hilarious!
Thanks, this is great to know! I've been having a hell of a time with this brick. Where do you download the paragon software? the link you have in the description goes to a page where there's no download and they appear to have a lot of different products...
Brightened up my day😂
i have the exact same symptoms with a DL4100! woke up this morning in NY and it's FUBAR just like yours! It's a raid config with 2 of 4TB drives. I'll see if I can plug them into my desktop with the special cable.
so it didn't work for me, it shows up as unsupported, I am using a MAC OS X Catalina, I am able to verify the disk, that is all.
I couldn't agree with you more with your last sentence. Let me add my bit, "WD fuck you too!" haha. Thanks for making this video. You put the WD customer service guys to shame.
Thanks, I needed exactly what you presented here, my device was so slow I decided to rip out the drive and back it up and use it in another NAS. the Ubuntu 19 was able to work for getting the data. i had to boot to a live session (no install) and chmod 777 each folder i wanted to back up. [sudo chmod 777 shares] i think im going to try an ssd on the controller and see if i can speed it up and still use it to share videos with my smart tvs. if i think about it ill update here (if your cool with it) and maybe make a how to my self.
Hey Dave, I have been dealing with this thing for over a month now and still wasn’t able to recover my data. The Paragon software did not work for me, I have tried the Ubuntu, but it doesn’t not see my driver. Can you share how you got Ubuntu to see the drive? Thanks in advance.
I haven't reached the stage of recovery. In my case, based on the sound i hear, the issue is with my HDD. So, not lots of hope. Data was backed up so will try to connect to a Linux machine, thank God for that. My luck with WD red HDD isn't great.
Thanks for the help man, and the commentary was top notch and entertaining while dealing with this dumb shit.
The pile of crap has now done it twice to me... the first time (probably around the same time as this video) I was eventually able to restore the old firmware and it came back to life... This time (End of November 2021) it's done it and totally bricked itself - smashed it open and now copying data using my mac to another hard drive. I accept that hardware fails, but how on earth can you release firmware that automatically updates and manages to completely brick the device!
hats off ole chap, you made me laugh while learning. Thanks for posting
Absolutely brilliant, laughed my bollocks off all the way through. Oh, I also managed to recover my data from a piece of shit WDMyCloud that I had just about given up on. Martijn Warnas, you are an internet superstar.
Hi Martijn, I had exactly same problem and being fooled by WD tech support, which are stupid and useless. My only question to your lovely video is: will any type of hard drive reader will work if I plug my cloud hard drive into it, link it with my computer and have paragon installed?
Thank you sir! My dad bought one of these that failed and i could not find software that would read it. Thank you!
my cloud died on me too just recently. I was running constantly and ignored it. Then it stopped working just recently about 3 months ago.
Sounds like you got some real satisfaction out of that 'fuck you' at the end. Bravo, they deserve it.
Thanks. I had the very same problem and just like you when I reassemble it, it started working. This thing scares me. I need a better back up system.
To copy the files on the drive just use the free software DiskInternals Linux Reader, it will be able to read and allow you to copy the data anywhere you like.
I installed Ext2 File System Driver for Windows (sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd/) and it works like a charm. I now have read access (I didn't dare to try writing to the device) and can copy all my files to another NAS in my network.
Martijn, you are a lifesaver! I have finally freed my 4TB drive from its MyCloud case and I'm using the Paragon SW to copy the files. It works great but the copying takes FOREVER for even small files. Any advice on speeding up that process? Still, THANK YOU for all your help! I thought my data was lost forever!
If it's really bad I'd double check the USB cable and if the external enclosure you're using actually supports USB 3.0. Or perhaps you can save over the network? Still, it's 4 TB. It's gonna take a day at least.
@@mwarnas Even small files (300 MB) are taking at least 5 minutes using Finder (copy/paste). I only have 1.5TB on the drive, but lots of individual files. Should I use something other than Finder? Am I doing something wrong? You can DM me.
I got it! Needed to shut off Malwarebytes and a few other processes and it now moves along much faster! Thank you so much Martijn!!
Thanks, managed to disassemble and recover files using ubuntu. i was maintaining a backup but the latest OS update disabeled the backup to USB.
Following up on my earlier comment, my NAS started working last night after I watched this video. It crashed multiple times while I attempted to salvage my data. Overall, the whole of last night, and another day, I kept copying the critical files out. What a waste of time, which is sold as some professional tool to consumers. Thanks WD! After that, I spent an hour, to dismantle the piece-o-junk, in the hope I could connect the WD Red to my Windows computer inside the CPU cabinet. However, the drive did not get detected. I am not sure why. I have reassembled the NAS again. I am not going to use it or trust it again. It's a 6TB drive, so if you feel that there might be issues with the motherboard not being able to handle a 6TB drive, let me know. But basically, this experience destroys my trust in WD. Also, I almost bought a WD 6TB desktop hard disk today, but then I found in reviews, they are using SMR disks now, which are substandard in comparison to CMR. So that's the end of that order. Thanks for the video, it was of great help. I will remember your sense of humour about this.
?! You don’t know why your windows machine can’t read the drive? Because it doesn’t know the file system. I explain this and provide a solution in the video.
@@mwarnas yes. But unfortunately, the drive was not visible inside the BIOS either. And Paragon also could not detect the drive. I connected the drive directly inside the system and did not use an enclosure.
If you think this is bad, you should see what happens with the MyCloud Mirror. The pretty plastic casing is incapable of maintaining safe temperatures and kills your hard drives. Then you find out that the drives it came populated with aren’t even WD Red drives.
Can you please tell me how it went using the usb 3.0 disk reader? Do you recommend the one you showed us? Is it the exact one we need to use to extract our data from the WD NES Drive we have removed from the case? Where can I find one, is it a specific brand you bought/ used? How did the one you showed us in your video work with an NES (WD) HardDrive? Does the software you recommended or to convert the data from linux to windows or Mac? And how do we transfer the data from the NES drive to another one? I went out of town the last week of March 2019 and returned April 7th, 2019...to find WD my cloud inoperative. I called one of the recommended recovery services found on WD website and they want $800-1200 to recover my data. And that is the cheapest fee for recovery services. Say Whaaat? I did not see anywhere on WD’s website that this occurred due to the automatic firmware update. That is enough to make anyone upset. Like you, I will never use a WD or any other NES device ever again. Thank you in advance for your help! I really appreciate you posting this video.
What a brilliantly funny video. I too feel annoyed by WD. I have 2 my clouds. 1 external drive and 2 WD TV players. The old WD tv’s are no longer supported on if the my clouds has bricked with all our family photos and 20k music albums on it. And I’m not a happy bunny. But this video made me laugh.
Hi
I have recently lost the ability to write to my WD My Cloud NAS drive from my PC which reports that I don't have 'Permission to Write to this Drive', and Remote Access from the Android App which reports sometimes reports 'ERROR Network Connection' when on the WiFi and occasional 'Remote Access Denied' over my Mobile/Cell Network.
I can see the files .. play videos, listen to the music files but access to image files is odd .. I can see them under Windows and Linux, but not with the Android mobile app which reports 'Cannot Access Image File', but it sometimes works with music files ...
I can copy files from the NAS but NOT TO the NAS or from one folder to another on the NAS.
The last time I was able to write to the drive was the 24/11/2020, just before the last Firmware update,.
At first I though it was a Windows problem ..somehow the Permissions had changed .. So I tried from a Laptop which gave the same results.
Then I thought .. Could the Router have developed a fault ?
This last one I still haven't ruled out completely even thought I have accessed the Router and cannot see anything that has changed and everything else on the Router seems to be working .. Access the Internet, see other devices on the Network etc, but I'm not that familiar with Routers .. and if it was/is the Router would this still cause the problems with the Android App when connecting over the Cell/Mobile Network ..?
I have look through the WD Community Support pages but only to get more confused ...
Obviously I have wasted a few days searching through the WD Website trying to find a solution, hunting RUclips to see if anyone else has experienced these problems and found solutions and contacting WD Support .... (Boy ... is that over-rated ! or not ... )
So ...here I am looking on Amazon (etal) for yet another External HD to replace this one and spending the cash I had saved up to replace my PC on staying exactly in the same place ...
So ... Fuck You WD indeed ....
I ended up here because my NAS cloud drive stopped working this smo, so now the HDD sits happily in a neu case on my shelf and I'm now out of a NAS device. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I have a 6gb with the flashing light syndrome. If I understood you correctly just take it apart then put it back together might be a quick fix? All this software you spoke about isn't needed correct? Please help I have years of family photo's. Thank you.
What worked for me may not work for you. If 'all this software' is too much hassle for saving your precious data, I guess it's not that precious.
I had the same F... problem. I had an usb backup so no need to recover the data. But I haven’t managed to get it to work again. I am looking for a synology one now as I had 1 more WD my loud 6tb and another mirror version. I would like to know how you manage to get yours to work again.
Thanks for that very honest video. I HATE MY WD my cloud. Ive never seemed to get it to work how I want anyway. Just have it connected to my iMac as a back up but thinking of taking the drive out and using it as a regular drive. Which is more what I want now. Can I just format it and use it like that or with the Mac just now see the disk at all?
Hi David. Yes, that is absolutely possible. It is like any other hard drive in that respect and you should be able to set it up with Disk Management on MacOS in a matter of minutes. Just make sure your data is safe.
It's actually quite a good drive, rated for non-stop service. I stuck mine in a new Synology NAS along with another HD so that they can mirror each other, but that's quite an investment. Haven't had any problems with it.
Good luck!
@@mwarnas thanks for the response. I think I will give that a go. It's a shame really as it had so much potential but now most of it will be in the scrap bin🥺 thanks for the advice mate.
@@mwarnas I ripped out the drive and put it into a sata case and it worked great but now it wont mount! tried everything I can find on the web but I think it might be fcuked :( Ah well still works better than when in the WD Mycloud! haha
Great video, so helpful, mine bricked ages ago thought drive kaput.... and all lost, but of course it was about the timescale you mention... complete bastards, I had called them, and got fobbed off..
Thanks for posting this video. This is something I need to attempt soon. *sigh* I do find it interesting your drive came back to life. Are you still using it? Thanks!
Omg your video was hilarious! 😂 educational also but so so funny, thank you!
I am in the same boat. I've updated the firmware and now I have a brick instead of WD My Cloud Mirror gen 2. Unfortunately, I have installed Paragon but my hard drives still cannot be read. Any ideas? Could it be that WD are using some kind of proprietary software to the drives and it is not pure Linux (sorry of this is a stupid question)?
Brilliant. These drives (I have three for Timemachine backups) have cost me many hours of grief. Mac OS 10.11.6 Time Machine took days to backup 666GB on a network connection. A direct Cat 6 cable MacBook Pro ( Mac OS 10.15.7) to WD Home using timemachine worked better. Interestingly USB was faster still. I discovered in the WD support pages that Wireless data transfer rate is a con by the way - its very very slow. USB is faster.
My outstanding issue is I cannot remove unwanted old time machine backups from
another computer as the package contains Read Only files which I have not got permissions to change as a Guest. Maybe Paragon will be a solution here - I’ll investigate.
In summary, like you i would not touch this type of enclosure again. Older OS3 are no longer supported due to a security flaw. The drives look good, so I would just recycle them. WD support really were nit much help in getting to the bottom of the problem.
There is potentially one saving grace - the USB port can be used to daisy chain up to seven devices downstream, so multiple backups might be feasible - if you can see them!
Hi, Great video thank you for uploading. I cant see a download link for ExtFS for Windows. Have they stopped support for Windows please?
Hello
My Nas mycloud 3TB just let me go this morning (a white led at startup and it remains on ) the ddr is running perfectly (connected externally, it is recognized except that the system is in Raw)
Considering the usefulness of my Nas I believe that I have to buy a new mother card, do you have a link we can buy it please?
Thank you
I don't know where to buy parts for this. Save your data with the software in the description, throw this machine away and NEVER buy Western Digital again is my advice.
On mine, the side metal bracket with the torx screws got stripped. They were on so tight and now I cannot get them off. WD really still having the last laugh with me. 😢 Any ideas to get those two torx screws out?
Well, here are 7 options: ruclips.net/video/_mTFQbaT3Zc/видео.html
I appreciate you making the video
Great video - instructive and very funny. Thanks.
Hi there. My 3TB WD My cloud home just keeps showing offline. The light on the front is a static white light. Any thoughts? I just need at this point, to get the data off the drive.thx
Disassemble it, put the drive in an external enclosure and use the software I link to in the description to copy the data off the drive. Then buy a NAS of a different brand. Good luck.
Brilliant. I have 2 of these. One is starting to give me issues. When I get the disk out what NAS drive enclosure would you (or anyone else) recommend?
I upgraded to a 2 bay Synology DS218Play and bought a second drive to set up Raid-1 (mirroring). I'm very satisfied with it. However, I don't think you can just plug in the old drive and go, so you may need an intermediary drive to set up the new one.
Paragon Software doesn't recognize disk anymore since my MAC has been updated to Catalina. Any advice??
@Martijn Warnas : Ik heb ook een Mycloud 2 TB. Ik had er geen originele netstroomadapter bij en heb dus een andere adapter gekocht. Nu geeft ie eerst een blauw knipperend lampje, en na 20 seconden een rood knipperend lampje. Je hoort de schijf proberen op te starten, maar dat lukt niet. Ik heb hem even aan mijn vaste pc gehangen met een Sata kabel en voeding. De PC zag de schijf wel, maar kon hem niet benaderen omdat het blikbaar anders is geformatteerd (Unix? Linux?) de Paragon softwar kon ik niets mee. Weet jij iemand die de schijf voor mij weer werkend kan krijgen?
Marten, die Paragon software werkt prima hoor, probeer dat nog eens zou ik zeggen. Daarmee kun je dat rare bestandssysteem wel lezen. Het is er voor Mac en Windows, gratis proefperiode waarin je je data kunt veiligstellen. Anders zou ik bij een lokale computershop te rade gaan.
Does this have any association with a solid red light appearing or only the blinking blue light?
I have a problem that when I connect the WD Cloud 3T, it lights up yellow at startup and then starts flashing yellow for a long time. I can't connect from WD Cloud via the computer. What can you advise me?
I really don't know how to troubleshoot. But if you feel opening up the thing to save your data is your last option, follow my instructions to salvage your data.
Well mine took a crap a couple of weeks ago when it downloaded the latest firmware. I wish I'd known about this issue I would've turn off the automatic update.
Done exactly as you have done, installed Paragon but this sees the drive but I can't mount it. Any ideas?
I'm sorry Wayne, this was a while ago for me. I no longer have this setup. Try a Ubuntu live image, that's supposed to be able to see the drive. Else, find professional help at a local computer repair shop.
Hi Martijn, thanks for your video sharing. I have a problem that when I put the hard disk after dismantled and the computer can detect it but doesnt allocates it. Does it normal??
Yes, that is probably normal. The drive currently has a file system your Windows computer can’t read. I have an explanation in the video and links to free helpful software in the description. Be very careful or you will lose your data.
@@mwarnas thanks. I have actually installed the Paragon Linux software. And I install the hard disk onto the external drive. The software told me can't detect the hard drive. Can u please help and advise whether is normal or my hard disk problem.... I agree with u that this WD is sucked..
I love you! You are hilarious! Thank you.
my wd cloud 2TB got bricked the blue light flashes constant, but i took it apart, downloaded a ext2/ext3 ++ program for windows 10, I then put it in a 3.5HDD USB 3.0 docking station, I then got all the partitions on the hardrive up, and then I got everything out from the drive, but I think I need to format the HDD with ext3 beacause the fucked update have made 12partitions all 1gb each, and i think the uptate gets confused on which partition that is the former userspace.. but you will need a usb drive formatted in FAT32 and then you put the firmware from some time ago on the stick and boot the cloud back up with the usb stick with firmware on it
Thanks for your video. I tried with the mentioned Paragon software. My drive however doesn't show up :-( It seems that its dead - since I even can't hear it spinning,,,, too bad,