How to initialize a blank PiDrive for normal use under Windows 10? I got problems

Community Graveyard WD Labs Products
1

How is the probability to get a broken replacement device? I’m a bit confused here…

I bought a PiDrive 1 TB (Model WDLB034RNN) which worked fine for a month with my Raspi 3.
Then I decided to buy a NAS for the data and just use the PiDrive as external backup drive for the NAS.

The drive worked properly under Windows 10 with NTFS format for about two weeks and then I got
warnings about a “fatal hardware error” under Windows 10. I decided to return the device (RMA [Deleted]).

Now I got an replacement device (model WD10JMVW-11AJGS4, SN [Deleted]) which has right
from the start these problems. I try to format it with the Windows Disk Manager, but it gets errors.
When I try to test it with Western Digital Tools it shows up, but has 0 byte size and gets errors.

Under Linux the “dmesg” output says that the device is faulty. It’s recognized as WD drive.

Sending it in costs 10 dollars every time and before I sent my replacement device in another time
which may be okay and just used the wrong way I wanted to ask how to set up this blank replacement
device the correct way.

I got five other Western Digital Passport USB 3.0 drives I connect regulary on the same port which
all work fine. So I don’t think it’s my computer. The PiDrive also fails with the same errors on a friends computer. I used several cable combinations - the original PiDrive cable and the cables from my passport device.

2

Hi, sorry for your problems. Sounds strange. After reading your description the only thing that comes to mind is that I should clarify that the PiDrive cable requires an external power source. The connection between the drive (USB3 microB connector) and the R-Pi (USB2 type A connector) only has data connected- not power. This is to prevent back-powering of the drive with earlier R-Pi models. If you use the PiDrive cable to connect the drive to a PC without connecting a 5V power supply to the PiDrive cable’s microB female connector, the drive will not work.

Other than the above, the drive issue you describe is unexpected. If you use the same USB3 cable that came with your Passport drives on the PiDrive, do you have the same issue?

Thanks.

3

Yes, it’s the same behaviour when I use the Passport cable.

What logs can I provide you to get closer to the problem?

I really can’t believe that I got another defect drive right out of RMA.
Even if that happened to me once with an Amazon replacement of another device.

4

Hi Stepsi,

I have escalated your support request to the WD support team. We would like to send you a tested pre-formatted drive. Someone from the WD support team will be in contact with you soon.

Regards,
wdadmin