My Book Drive getting error code 50

My new WD My Book gives me an error code 50 when I try to write to it. It will work if I eject, shut down, reboot and plug in the drive but after awhile it starts giving me the error code again. When it is in this state disk utilities cease to function.
My WD My Passport I’ve had for about a year functions fine.

Hi JCruicks,

Safely eject and reconnect the My Book drive to your Mac then run First Aid from Mac Disk Utility. After this process, check My Book for the same.