Hi there!
I have an old WD10JMVW-11AJGS0 mypassport drive from 2013, and it has recently stopped being recognized by my new macbook pro, and does the rhythmic beeping/clicking. I’m looking into having the drive recovered by a professional, and a place local to me, https://www.300dollardatarecovery.com/ , has quoted me $500 before any replacement parts. $100 of this charge is a flat fee that they add for “encrypted” drives, which they insist that this model of drive is. Is this drive really encrypted? If this drive just had software encryption, then I’d like to argue that the $100 encryption fee shouldn’t apply here, as I definitely was not using the the encryption software and had completely wiped the drive of any such software before putting my data on it. Do I have a case?
Also, while we’re on the topic, I did attempt to repair the drive myself (I know, this is generally a bad idea, but the data here isn’t that valuable and I’ve actually taught clean room microelectronics lab classes, so I have a higher aptitude for this than the average person – still not a great idea vs a professional that specialized in this repair, but anyway). Upon opening the case, I was expecting to find the heads stuck to the platters, as that seems to be the usual cause of the beeping issue. Instead I found that the heads actually were not on the platters at all, and that the platters appeared to be completely damage free. If the heads aren’t stuck to the platter, what’s the next most likely cause of the beeping issue?
Interesting data point: I put the cover back onto the drive and tightened only a couple of screws. Plugged the drive in and miraculously, it spun right up, no clicks and no beeps! However, it was not at all recognized in Disk Utility in MacOS, so, something’s still up. Now, the interesting part is: if I keep it running and put two more screws in (that secure the case to the head assembly) the beeping returns! Undo the screws, the beeping goes away. Does this give better insight into what the issue is and whether or not there’s a possibility I can repair this myself?
Also, what drives have interchangable parts for my drive? I see on ebay that there are many variants of the WD10JMVW. My particular variant, 11AJGS0, seems to be much rarer and much more expensive than the others. If I were to purchase a drive for donor parts, does it need to be a 11AJGS0 variant? Or will any variant of the WD10JMVW do?
Finally, if I got the professional route, can I do better than a $500 flat fee (before replacement parts) for a professional (I’d be willing to pay an amateur for half the price, again, this data isn’t essential to recover) to recover this drive?
Thanks for any insights 
