[GUIDE] How to unbrick a totally dead MBL

Legacy Products My Book Live
1

If this guide isn’t working for you, try v2.0 at

http://community.wdc.com/t5/My-Book-Live/GUIDE-Debrick-MyBookLive-v2-0/td-p/567582
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

DISCLAIMER
Be aware that this will void your warranty and is only to be used as a last resort when you have no dashboard or SSH
I am not responsible for any loss of data as a result of you following this guide
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK

UPDATE: Disassembly video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGLJi66vxnY (Thanks saurabhstar)

STEP 1 (TAKING THE DRIVE OUT OF THE ENCLOSURE)

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There’s only 4 latches holding the cover on (2 on each side). You just need a small flathead screwdriver and something thin like 2 credit cards to work the latches loose.

STEP 2 (DATA BACKUP/RECOVERY)

If at this point you would like to pull your data off the MyBookLive for safe keeping, download Disk Internals Linux Reader for Windows
http://www.diskinternals.com/linux-reader/ and install the program. Hook up the drive to your computer or a SATA dock and copy your data to another drive with enough space on your computer.

If DiskInternals Linux Reader will not recognize the partitions, it may be because you have a corrupt partition table.
Try using R-Linux http://www.r-tt.com/free_linux_recovery/Download.shtml
This program will also recover DELETED data from the drive as long as it hasn’t been overwritten by new data
User Daremo had success recovering data off of a MyBookLive with a bad partition table using this program
An example of a good partition table on a 1TB MyBookLive is as follows

MyBookLive:~# partedGNU Parted 2.2Using /dev/sdaWelcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.(parted) pModel: ATA WDC WD10EARS-00M (scsi)Disk /dev/sda: 1000GBSector size (logical/physical): 512B/512BPartition Table: gptNumber  Start   End     Size    File system     Name     Flags 3      15.7MB  528MB   513MB   linux-swap(v1)  primary 1      528MB   2576MB  2048MB  ext3            primary  raid 2      2576MB  4624MB  2048MB  ext3            primary  raid 4      4624MB  1000GB  996GB   ext4            primary

STEP 3 (DEBRICK PREPARATION)

Download 7zip from  http://www.7-zip.org/download.html
Download SystemRescueCd from  http://www.sysresccd.org/Download
Download the debrick script from  http://www.mediafire.com/?g2xexkaaya34a9r
Download MybookLive firmware 02.11.09-053 from http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-021109-053-20120413.deb
For those wanting to debrick to the LATEST firmware http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-023205-046-20120910.deb
For those wanting to choose another firmware, the links for most of the firmwares are at the bottom of the guide

Install 7zip and point it to your MyBookLive firmware “apnc-021109-053-20120413.deb” and double click and you will see “data.tar” where you will again double click and be presented with a “.” Double click the “.” then double click “cache volume”  then double click “upgrade” and then highlight  “rootfs.img” and hit extract.

Next burn the SystemRescueCd ISO to a blank CD
Use 7zip or WinRAR to extract the debricking script “debrick.sh” from the “debrick.rar” file you downloaded above
Format your thumbdrive to FAT32
Copy “debrick.sh” and “rootfs.img” to your thumbdrive
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
STEP 4 (PREPARING TO BOOT THE SYSTEM RESCUE CD)

Make sure your thumbdrive containing the two files is plugged in, your MyBookLive hard drive is hooked up to your computer via e-sata
to sata or sata to sata cable and you disconnect any other hard drives to ensure you don’t accidentally delete data on those drives
You can try a usb to sata connector but many people have run into problems with this setup
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
STEP 5 (BOOTING THE SYSTEM RESCUE CD AND DEBRICKING THE HARD DRIVE WITHOUT TOUCHING THE DATA PARTITION)

If you want to debrick the hard drive and KEEP YOUR EXISTING DATA on the data partition intact then follow these steps

Now we want to boot off the SystemRescue CD you burned above. When the system menu comes up select to “directly start the graphical environment”
Once you get to the desktop, open gparted and check to see where your MyBookLive shows under. In my case it shows up under /dev/sda
The drive should contain several EXT3 partitions and a rather large EXT4 partition
If your drive shows up under sdb, sdc, sdd etc.  just substitute the proper name for the drive when getting to
./debrick.sh rootfs.img /dev/sda
Now in gparted check to see where your thumbdrive shows up. In my case it shows up under /dev/sdb1
If it shows up under sdc1, sdd1, sde1, etc.  just substitute the proper name for the drive when getting to
mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
Terminal should already be opened on the screen, if not open terminal and type the following commands.
Bold text indicates that you should use the changes from above for that particular part of the command if your devices show up under
gparted differently than they did for me…

mkdir /mnt/usb
mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
cd /mnt/usb
mdadm -S /dev/md0
./debrick.sh rootfs.img /dev/sda

Once the script has finished you can put the drive back in the enclosure and you should have a brand new fully restored MBL with all your data intact.

If your shares are still listed in the MyBookLive dashboard but are not accessible, rename the shares and then rename them back to get them linked properly again.
EX. Movies > Movies1 > Movies
If your shares are missing in the MyBookLive dashboard, recreate them in the dashboard and you will be able to access your data again. A reboot is required to get the share and drive usage totals to reflect the actual data usage after these changes

If you can’t remember your share names, follow these steps:

  1. Enable SSH access on your MyBookLive by going to http://mybooklive/UI/ssh
  2. Download WinSCP from http://winscp.net/download/winscp510setup.exe
  3. Start WinSCP and when prompted for login info use Host: mybooklive  Username: root  Password: welc0me
  4. Browse to the root of the drive then go to DataVolume/shares
  5. Take note of all your folder names and recreate the EXACT folder names under Shares in the MyBookLive dashboard

If you get a smart fail error message in the dashboard then SSH into the drive using PuTTY or Terminal and run this command to fix it. Then do a short diagnostic test from the dashboard under utilities

smartctl -s on /dev/sda

Congratulations, you are now done debricking your MyBookLive

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOWING THIS SECTION OF THE GUIDE WILL DELETE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

Only use this section of the guide if you want to debrick the hard drive and rebuild the partition table and you have already backed up all the data on the drive

These commands will also allow you to install a brand new 1, 2, or 3tb drive into the Mybook Live enclosure.

It is recommened that you delete all partitions from the drive using a Windows or MAC machine so you are left with one large unallocated partition

Once again bold text indicates that you should use the changes from above for that particular part of the command if your devices show up under gparted differently than they did for me…

mkdir /mnt/usb
mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
cd /mnt/usb
mdadm -S /dev/md0
./debrick.sh rootfs.img /dev/sda destroy

Put the drive back in the enclosure and now we need to fix the SWAP partition

This is easy to fix once you boot the drive after the debrick

SSH in using PuTTY or Terminal

Username root

Password welc0me

MyBookLive:~# mkswap /dev/sda3Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 500672 KiBLABEL=, UUID=c3bc3a15-4b8d-407b-b897-956cc956e138MyBookLive:~# rebootBroadcast message from root@MyBookLive (pts/0) (Sun Mar 10 14:09:02 2013):The system is going down for reboot NOW!MyBookLive:~#

The drive will now reboot

SSH in again and verify SWAP is working

MyBookLive:~# swapon -s
Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/sda3 partition 500608 2688 -1
MyBookLive:~#

MyBookLive:~# parted
GNU Parted 2.2
Using /dev/sda
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) p
Model: ATA WDC WD10EADS-00M (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
 3 15.7MB 528MB 513MB linux-swap(v1) primary
 1 528MB 2576MB 2048MB ext3 primary raid
 2 2576MB 4624MB 2048MB ext3 primary raid
 4 4624MB 1000GB 996GB ext4 primary

If you get a smart fail error message in the dashboard then SSH into the drive using PuTTY or Terminal and run this command to fix it. Then do a short diagnostic test from the dashboard under utilities

smartctl -s on /dev/sda

DONE!

UPDATED 5-5-2013

THE FOLLOWING IS SAMPLE OUTPUT FROM THE DEBRICK SCRIPT DOING A DESTROY DEBRICK

ALL PARTITIONS WERE DELETED FROM THE DRIVE PRIOR TO RUNNING THE SCRIPT LEAVING 1 UNALLOCATED PARTITION

root@sysresccd /root % mkdir /mnt/usb
root@sysresccd /root % mount -t vfat /dev/sdd1 /mnt/usb
root@sysresccd /root % cd /mnt/usb
rroot@sysresccd /mnt/usb % mdadm -S /dev/md0
mdadm: stopped /dev/md0
root@sysresccd /mnt/usb % ./debrick.sh rootfs.img /dev/sdb destroy


**********************DISK**********************

script will use the following disk: 

Model: ATA WDC WD10EADS-00M (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags

is this REALLY the disk you want? [y] y

**********************IMAGE**********************


**********************IMPLEMENTATION**********************

everything is now prepared!
device: /dev/sdb
image_img: rootfs.img
destroy: true

this is the point of no return, continue? [y] y

dd: writing `/dev/sdb1': No space left on device
10+0 records in
9+0 records out
9863168 bytes (9.9 MB) copied, 0.0033813 s, 2.9 GB/s
dd: writing `/dev/sdb2': No space left on device
1+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes (0 B) copied, 0.0003717 s, 0.0 kB/s
dd: writing `/dev/sdb3': No space left on device
1+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes (0 B) copied, 0.000348085 s, 0.0 kB/s
dd: writing `/dev/sdb4': No space left on device
1+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes (0 B) copied, 0.000368711 s, 0.0 kB/s
Testing with pattern 0x00: done                                                 
Reading and comparing: done                                                 
GNU Parted 3.1
Using /dev/sdb
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) mklabel gpt                                                      
(parted) mkpart primary 528M 2576M                                       
(parted) mkpart primary 2576M 4624M                                       
(parted) mkpart primary 16M 528M                                          
(parted) mkpart primary 4624M -1M                                         
(parted) set 1 raid on                                                    
(parted) set 2 raid on                                                    
(parted) quit                                                             
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.

Warning: blocksize 65536 not usable on most systems.                      
mke2fs 1.42.3 (14-May-2012)
mkfs.ext4: 65536-byte blocks too big for system (max 4096)
Proceed anyway? (y,n) y
Warning: 65536-byte blocks too big for system (max 4096), forced to continue
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=65536 (log=6)
Fragment size=65536 (log=6)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
15144960 inodes, 15191344 blocks
0 blocks (0.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=133677056
232 block groups
65528 blocks per group, 65528 fragments per group
65280 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
65528, 196584, 327640, 458696, 589752, 1638200, 1769256, 3210872, 
5307768, 8191000

Allocating group tables: done                            
Writing inode tables: done                            
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done   


destroying was done, would you like to continue with installation? [y] y

mdadm: /dev/sdb1 appears to contain an ext2fs file system
    size=1999808K mtime=Thu Jan 1 00:00:01 1970
mdadm: size set to 1999808K
mdadm: creation continuing despite oddities due to --run
mdadm: array /dev/md0 started.
mke2fs 1.42.3 (14-May-2012)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
125184 inodes, 499952 blocks
24997 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=515899392
16 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
7824 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912

Checking for bad blocks (read-only test): 0.00% done, 0:00 elapsed. (0/0/0 errdone                                                 
Allocating group tables: done                            
Writing inode tables: done                            
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done 

mdadm: added /dev/sdb2

synchronize raid... done

copying image to disk... 
3999616+0 records in
3999616+0 records out
2047803392 bytes (2.0 GB) copied, 132.507 s, 15.5 MB/s
mdadm: stopped /dev/md0

all done! device should be debricked!

root@sysresccd /mnt/usb %

Thanks to phibertron for the links

Here are the links for 2.x firmware files

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-023205-046-20120910.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-023205-044-20120823.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-021109-053-20120413.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-021012-129-20120308.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-021009-124-20111113.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-020301-024-20111019.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-020202-020-20110825.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-020106-026-20110801.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-020035-423-20110722.deb

Here are the links for 1.x firmware files

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-010507-20110714.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-010406-20110407.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-010303-20110119.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-010203-20101018.deb

http://download.wdc.com/nas/apnc-010103-20100930.deb

All credit for the script goes to Dan Kvelstad… You can see his thread at

http://mybookworld.wikidot.com/forum/t-368098/debricking-script-that-can-keep-datahttp://

53 Likes
2

Awesome!

Users should be aware that this will void the warranty and is only to be tried as a last resource

3

Placeholder

4

Hi all,

I can’t unbrick my WD Mybook Live 2TB black edition without any luck :frowning:

I tried this script step by step, everything looks good, but when I power on the Mybook I think it dosen’t boot. I’m stuck at white light :frowning:

Any advice?

Cheers!

5

Can you try running the script again and posting the scripts output? I have run the script many times and never had any problems debricking a drive. How long did you wait at the white light? The first boot on a debricked drive takes a little longer than normal. You could also have bad hardware in the MyBookLive. What were the circumstances that led you to debricking the drive?

6

My question is this, I’m running Umbuntu Live CD so will this still work for the (Stops SystemRescueCD Soft-RAID - REQUIRED for script to run) command?  

7

Also, I tried running another script from a different forum and it errased the whole drive.  There are no partitions.  Does this matter if I’m running this script:

mkdir /mnt/usb                                              (Creates mount directory)

mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb                (Mounts the thumbdrive with your 2 files)

cd /mnt/usb                                                    (Enters USB directory)

mdadm -S /dev/md0                                     (Stops SystemRescueCD soft-raid - REQUIRED for script to run)

./debrick.sh rootfs.img /dev/sda destroy  (Script will rewrite the partition table of disk and DESTROY all data and debrick the drive)

If it won’t work, how do I rebuild the partitions and what are they?

8

First let me say I’m no Linux expert and this was alot of trial and error and research on my part…

Second let me say I would highly recommend just using the System Rescue CD I have linked as it is known to work and following this guide should be straight forward.

I’m not sure if the Ubuntu Live CD runs a soft raid or not. The System Rescue CD I linked to does for sure and the script would not run until I issued the mdadm -S /dev/md0 command. I would try it first without that command and if it throws an error when you run the script and the script doesn’t run then try again but this time include that command.

The ./debrick.sh rootfs.img /dev/sda destroy command deletes and recreates all the partitions so that is the way you want to go at this point.

Let me know how you make out…

1 Like
9

Thanks for your quick response.  I had a ton of trouble trying to get it to run.  For some reason it would not want to mount the USB drive.  I finally got it late last night and the final message was that it was debricked.   Yah!  But when I connected it back to my router, my network can’t find it.  No matter what I tried.  Any thoughts why this might be happening?  Troubleshooting?

Thanks,

Gerry

10

Did your MyBookLive ever get to a green light when you booted it after you debricked it? If not what color is the LED? What led you to have to debrick the unit? Are the ethernet port lights on the back of your MyBookLive flashing at all?

11

I didn’t check the lights as I didn’t put the enclosure.  Wanted to test it first.  I’m getting lights though on the ethrenet ports.

I had to debrick because I couldn’t access the dashboard and I had not activated ssh.  When I called WD, they told be that it was done, there wasn’t anything I could do.  They said they’d replace but the said I had to pay for shipping.  I thought I’d try this route.

12

I’m guessing it was a firmware update that bricked the dashboard? It would really help if we could tell what color the LED light is. Just stick the little plastic LED piece back in the rubber flap and see if you can tell what color we are dealing with. Please give the hard drive several minutes to fully boot up the first time. Also is it possible that the IP address changed on you? Can you ping mybooklive from a dos prompt? How are you trying to access the dashboard? I would try accessing it directly by its IP address. If you know your way around a router, see if your router is giving it an IP address under connected devices.

13

So the light is green but still nothing on the network.  My router is not even seeing the MBL.  I’m thinking even though the script ran and gave me the message that it has been debricked, there must have been errors during the process.  Someone on another forum had something similar:

“When I tried again I noticed that although the script appeared to complete (and I got the device should be debricked message), it was actually failing to complete the swap command at the end (the output displayed permission denied).”

I think this has something to do with my issue on mounting the USB.  I tried again last night and again I couldn’t mount the **bleep** this.  Did you have to change permissions?  I know for sure I’m using the right path to it.  

14

Nope I didn’t have to change any permissions. Only thing I can recommend is running the script again and looking for errors in the terminal window when done. I would think that if you were getting to a green light that everything should have went ok. Did you use the Ubuntu Live CD? Maybe try again using the System Rescue CD linked in my guide. It could be that the Ubuntu Live CD is missing some of the programs required for the script to complete properly such as mdadm.

Update: Looking around a bit it does appear that the Ubuntu Live CD DOES NOT include mdadm. So again I would suggest downloading the System Rescue CD linked in the guide. Please report back either way to let us know how you make out.

Good Luck

15

Unfortunately I have been using the SystemRecueCD.  I’ll try again tonight but last night I couldn’t even run the script because of the mounting problem…

16

Is there any way you can hook the drive up to a sata connector in your computer instead of using the usb to sata connector? I wonder if that is what’s causing the mounting problems.

17

Guide updated to show how to properly find and mount the usb thumbdrive. Would love to hear from anybody who has successfully debricked a MBL using this guide.

18

Guide updated again… Today I was bored so I debricked a 1TB MBL with the guide and posted a proper script output file to the bottom of the guide. Compare your output to make sure your not running into any errors. The MBL booted up like a brand new drive after about 5 minutes and was accessible on my network with no problems at all. I also noticed SSH was enabled by default now.

19

I also think I have had the problem of a firmware update bricking my drive, white light and no dashboard.

I have removed the drive and connected it to my computer and can see the drive using Linux Reader.

I have not used linux very much and I would like to copy the data that was on it but can’t work out which directory it is stored in.

Which partition and directory has the data?

Also what is the best way to wipe the data as WD have sent me a replacement drive and allowed me to open the case to acces the hard disk inside and I want to copy the data onto the new drive and wipe the data off the old drive.

20

It’s been a bit since I used Disk Internals Linux Reader, can you tell me the directories you are seeing to maybe refresh my memory?

Try
CacheVolume\shares\
DataVolume\shares\