Summary: Newly purchased WD Blue drive WD20EZRZ drive is behaving strangely and diagnostic programs hang on it
Question: Should I return it? Is there something I can do to make it behave as it should? Please read on, and sorry to make this long (I am trying to describe the experience).
Details
Last night:
Unpacked drive
Placed in (newly bought) external enclosure, connected via USB.
Following these instructions to partition and format a WD drive on Windows 10:
Steps 1-8 are followed per instructions, no surprises
At step 9, drive does not appear. Error message from Virtual Disk Manager: The format did not complete successfully
Somehow at this point I tried again (this time instead of offering drive D: at step 6, F: was offered). This time I got a ‘The device is not ready’ message.
I noticed Device Manager could see the disk. Disk Management program did not.
At this point I took a break. Powered off the disk of course.
Today
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tried connecting enclosure / USB to alternative computer: Disk Management does not recognize drive though Device Manager sees it.
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back to first computer. Tried using alternative enclosure which is known to be working. No difference. So it’s not the computer, not Windows I think, not the enclosure.
Installed WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows (‘DLGDIAG’)
Launched DLGDIAG and did ‘quick test’ - it reported some errors and offered to fix. I chose to fix. It said disk was good.
Launch Disk Management. It sees the disk. Go through steps 1-8 again. Once again, got ‘The device is not ready’ message
On clicking OK to the message, hourglass goes on. Disk Management program is non responsive. Wait, wait.
I switch off power to the drive, Disk Management program becomes responsive.
I switch drive power on. It spins up. Enclosure light is on, then switches off/on about four times, mostly slowly. Then stays on… Device Manager lists drive. Disk Management does not.
I restart Disk Management. It hangs, ‘Connecting to Virtual Disk Service…’
I switch off power to the drive, Disk Management program becomes responsive and behaves normally.
I close Disk Management, power on the disk, launch DLGDIAG
DLGDIAG says detecting devices… then disappears – it’s visible in Task Manager but nowhere else!?!
End Task DLGDIAG
Power off disk
Launch DLGDIAG. It quickly comes to its normal window listing the existing powered-on drive
Close and restart DLGDIAG (why does it ask me to accept license agreement every time?)
Power on disk: as before, same flash pattern as before, I think. DLGDIAG non responsive. Kill DLGDIAG.
Device Manager lists disk. Properties non responsive.
Power on / on the disk. Same flash pattern as before.
Device Manager shows properties
Device Manager seemed to refresh. Try Properties again: non responsive. Power off disk
Help!
Thanks for reading. Is this a bad disk (scary if so) or is there something I’m doing wrong?
