I am having trouble with my MyBookLive network drive. Ever since I rebooted it, it is no longer detectable on the network. It is correctly connected to the router but the router just doesn’t seem to pick up that there is a network drive attached to it. I know it is not an issue with the router as I tried a completely different router but the exact same behavior is observed. Also this exact same setup was working fine without a problem before I rebooted the drive. The drive powers up fine and I can hear it spinning and even the LEDs next to the Ethernet cable light up; it’s just not being detected on the network. So I detect it is a problem with the drive’s network adapter not being able to obtain an IP address from the router. Please advise me how to proceed in order to resolve this issue.
Welcome to the WD Community.
Have you tried accessing the drive by the name of the unit?
Check the physical connections on the unit, also can you please try resetting the unit.
Is the MBL set to DHCP or Static IP? If you don’t remember, then you should do a factory reset with the pinhole button on the back of the MBL. The factory reset sets the MBL to DHCP.
Hi,
Thanks for your replies and suggestions. The short answer is, yes I tried everything and the issue is still the same. The drive is just not recognisable on the network at all and not visible in the list of attached devices on the routers web page.
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The front LED on my drive has NOT worked for the past year at least, but despite that, it has never effected the operation of the drive. So unfortunately we cannot use it to diagnose the problem.
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I did try to reset the drive using the reset button at the back however it does not seem to do anything. I cannot notice the drive rebooting or maybe because the front LED is doesn’t work, it is not obvious whether the reset has actually been triggered or no. Regardless, it has NOT resolved the problem.
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I did try a different router and Ethernet cable but the issue does indeed remain the same. Pinging the device fails because the drive is not recognizable on the network at all, even though it is powered on (I can feel it running) and connected to the router correctly, and even the LEDs on either ends of the Ethernet cable are alight.
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I tried the direct connection to the computer without a router but the same is observed. I cannot see the drive on the network and hence ping fails with this setup as well.
So I think it is either an issue with the drives network adaptor or operating system. Is this something that can be repaired do you think?
Thanks again
you are correct to isolate the issue to two possible causes:
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OS. If it is the OS, you can fix this by removing the disk and doing a debrick process. There are guides on this forum about how to do it. you will not lose your data.
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hardware failure. Really nothign can be done except to replace the enclosure. You can remove the disk, attach it via usb-sata to a linux pc and see if the data is ok or even transfer it off if you wish.
Thanks for your response. So once I have the hard drive out, can I connect it to a Windows PC using a “SATA3 to USB” cable and be able to access and copy my files like a portable hard drive? Or does it have to be a Linux box?
I don’t have access to a Linux machine; can I possibly the Freeware Linux Reader for Windows ( http://www.diskinternals.com/linux-reader/)? Would Windows recognize the drive this way?
Are you going to do a debrick or rather just copy over your files?
Read teh debrick guide on this forum, It tells you everything you need to know. It recommends which Linux version you can load onto your Windows PC and boot from a CD-ROM or USB.
No I’m not going to debrick. I will be replacing the whole drive with a new one so I just want to copy my files over before I do that as I don’t have them backed up anywhere else 
Is it possible to do that on a Windows machine without going through the hassle of installing a Linux OS?
Thanks again for all your help; I really appreciate it.
yes, all on the debrick guides. You will need to do a debrick procedure regardless, whether you want to use the same drive or a new one.
Yes, you can use a Win machine, also part of the debrick guides.
Shabuboy, what do you mean I will need to debrick anyway? I didn’t mean I am replacing the harddrive in my MBL; I meant I am getting a completely new MBL so I don’t need my existing one, I just need my data. So I’m sure I don’t need to do debrick just to get my data (or do I not understand correctly)?
When you make reference to the debrick guide, are you talking about this guide?
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Sorry, debrick is done when you want to keep the unit with current/replace the hard drive.
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Yes, that is the guide. Follow it as far as you want.
