My passport essential firmware update

WD External Drives WD Portable Drives
1

Hello,

I bought My Passport Essential 500gb (USB3.0 & 2.0)

I connected It to my PC and installed smartware and everything went fine, 

but when I try to update firmware (EssentialElite_FirmwareUpdater_v2.010(1.0.8.3))  I get this  http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/5690/25760214.jpg

I disconnected all USB devices except my passport and same error…I tryed on 3 different PCs and same error.

I formatted drive, did many things but no help

How to solve this, anyone with similiar problem can help me?

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

The firmware for the Passport Elite won’t work on your Passport Essential.

That’s why you’re getting the message… the updater is having difficulty finding which Passport Elite you’re trying to update.

3

I went here  http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=209&lang=en

and downloaded firmware, how is it possible to be wrong if I am on my passport site :S

4

My mistake… I just saw the file name… I didn’t realize that it was the same file for all externals.  I would have thought WD would use a generic filename if it wasn’t model-specific.

So, even though updating the drive’s firmware is recommended before installing the VCD manager, if the updater isn’t finding an updatable drive, then apparently the drive already has updated firmware and doesn’t need updating.

You should just be able to carry on to step two.

5

I didnt install VCD, and don’t know what that is for.

I have 1.0.0.8 firmware on my passport essential, and I can see that 2.x.x.x is out…

what is thing with that VCD and can that help me?

6

You can’t install/uninstall the VCD.  It’s a Virtual CD from WD.  A small part of the harddrive is made to behave like a CD.  It contains the necessary bits and pieces for locking and unlocking an encryptable drive.

But people who buy the encryptable drive instead of a bare drive and don’t want/need encryption, tend to not like seeing the VCD pop up every time they connect their drive.  So, WD has created a utility to “hide” the VCD partition.

I just naturally assumed that that was what you were after.  The only update I can see for your drive is the VCD Manager which will hide/unhide the VCD partition.

That’s the “step two” I spoke of.  On the upgrade page you linked to, if you click the “WD SmartWare Utilities (VCD & Firmware) for Windows” link, it first takes you to the page to upgrade the firmware (the EssentialElite_FirmwareUpdater_v2.010(1.0.8.3).zip file) and then step two is to download and install the VCD Manager to hide/unhide the VCD partition on the Passport.

If you’re not trying to install the VCD manager so that you can hide/unhide the VCD partition, then the “VCD & Firmware” upgrade link didn’t apply to you.

If you have not set a password for your drive, then it’s your choice whether to hide the VCD from your computer or not – the drive will work the same either way.

If you have set a password for hardware encryption, then if you hide the VCD you won’t be able to unlock the drive and use it.

There isn’t a newer firmware for your drive… that’s why you keep getting the screen from your first post.  If there was a newer firmware applicable to your drive, then the installer would install it.

7

Ok, thank u for doing this for me, I appreciate that :slight_smile:

here is one link,  http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5460&p_created=1275058941&p_sid=xly*Pcek&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_srch=1&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MSwxJnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD01NDYw&p_li=&p_topview=1

Thats how firmware needs to be updated…and if I have the latest firmware on my WD, firmware application shouldn’t say that my drive is not connected, it should say something like, your FW is up to date or something :S

8

Ya, that “2.003” link does take you back to the same page that loads the general updater prior to VCD Manager installation.

You’re right… it should tell you why it can’t find a drive (drive doesn’t need updating) – but it doesn’t.

WD support confirmed this for someone else: Firmware Update Problem

9

Thanks for helping me…this is very ‘‘n00bish’’ from WD to create such a bad software with so many ‘‘bug-s’’

i hope they’ll fix something soon becouse they will lose customers.

10

Well, just for information’s sake, it’s often better to go with an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude.

Just because an update is available, doesn’t mean that you personally need it.  Whether it’s a hard drive or a Media Player, many people get by just fine with never updating the firmware.  If a particular firmware fixes something that you’re having problems with, then yes, of course you’d probably want to update.  But when and if an update comes out, it’s usually better to look through the “Change Log” in the release notes to see whether you should bother with the update or not.  You might not have been encountering the problem that the change was designed to fix, and the possibility exists that something else may no longer work after the update (although all companies try their best to avoid that happening).

It’s always safer to let someone else be the Guinea Pig, and not just grab the update the moment it’s released – especially if your device is working fine for you right now.

:smiley:

11

:slight_smile:

12

mamutarka wrote:

I went here  http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=209&lang=en

 

and downloaded firmware, how is it possible to be wrong if I am on my passport site :S

Your are wrong because that link points to My Passport Essential but to the previous version (only USB 2.0) and you said in your first post that you have one with USB 2.0 & 3.0 and the link for that one is http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=214&lang=en (which at this time said that there aren’t any update available)