MyBook Live Duo - how to access? (sorry if this sounds silly!)

Legacy Products My Book Live
1

I’ve purchased the MyBook Live Duo for half a year now and things feel so complicated that I’ve barely used it… I have been intending to use it to back up some digital photos… 

So I’ve previously installed a host of WD programs on another laptop and had set a password for the cloud access. Now I am trying to access the drive directly by plugging it directly using an ethernet cable into a new laptop, but nothing pops up on the Computer window. Do I need to install something first in order to access it? I’ve let it run for a good 10 minutes now. 

I don’t remember the password but thinking it wouldn’t be a problem if I connected it directly… apparently not? Too steep a learning curve :flushed: Any help please?

2

Get a USB drive. You’ll be much happier.

3

for it’s simplicity I’m almost sure I would be! But for the need for larger capacities, and desire for the duo capability of RAID, I was hoping this could satisfy both need and desire :stuck_out_tongue:

so do I need to download a program and install something before I can access the drive directly using a connected ethernet cable? Does this drive not work like the standard external hard drives that automatically plug and play? :neutral_face:

4

You can reset the My Book Live Duo by the following procedure from the manual-

Resetting the My Book Live Duo Device

If you have set a password or a static IP address on the My Book Live Duo dashboard and

have forgotten it, pressing the reset button while the device is powered up resets the

password to the default value of none and to default IP settings. Resetting does not erase

your files.

Follow the instructions below to reset the device using the reset button:

  1. With the device powered on, insert a paperclip or narrow tipped pen into the reset

button slot on the back of the unit:

  1. Press and hold down the reset button for four seconds. The device reboots (this may

take up to three minutes).

There is an illustration in the PDF-

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/UM/ENG/4779-705065.pdf

on page 128. The reset button opening is just above the USB connection on the back of the unit. Once it is reset, you should be able to access the “admin” (owner) share without a password. Go to Quick View in the System Tray and click with either button. In the resulting menu, go to My Book Live Duo, and select Dashboard in the sub-menu. (I am writing this assuming a Windows environment.)

Once logged in, you can go to the Users page and set a new “admin” password.

From Quick View you can also go to My Book Live Duo > Map. This will guide you through assigning a drive letter to the Public share folder on the MBLD. This is the area where you can store things directly by copying. You can create sub-folders in Public, etc. The Smartware share folder is where the Smartware backup software will put backups by default.

This is getting pretty long. Have a look at the manual, do the reset, and you should be on your way. Post back and we can take it from there.

5

hiki08 wrote:

so do I need to download a program and install something before I can access the drive directly using a connected ethernet cable? Does this drive not work like the standard external hard drives that automatically plug and play? :neutral_face:

No, but you need to know a bit about configuring networks.

NAS drives require network connectivity (of course.)   Some folks’ PCs will automatically work out of the box, some won’t.  Figuring out which condition your PC is requires you to examine the network configuration to see if it’s configuring itself using “Zero Touch” configuration, or also called APIPA in microsoft-land.

Valid configuration is required on both the Duo and the PC in order to work directly connected, and it also requires either specific Ethernet adapters or cabling.

There’s so many variables in play when trying to achieve a working direct connection that don’t usually matter when plugged directly into a local network (where DHCP and all the other stuff is handled by your router.)

Just FYI, there’s plenty of USB enclosures that do RAID, too, and avoid all the hubbub of network setup.  But, I fear that if you find the Duo to be complicated, you would probably want to spend a lot of time reading manuals before any purchase to make sure whichever product is within your technical capabilities to manage.

1 Like
6

Well put, TonyPh12345!