Scorpio Blue Internal WD3200BEVT Bricked after update of external

WD Internal Drives Desktop & Mobile Drives
1

In an attempt to remove the annoying software on a MyPassport Elite external USB drive, I downloaded the EssentialEliteFirmwareUpdaterv1.032_1.0.7.4 updater and ran it from my laptop computer. It ran successfully and appears to have updated the software on the external drive (I’m not sure how to verify that), but immediately after the required reboot, the internal drive in my laptop failed.

Symptom:

The internal drive has multiple SMART errors (303, 305 and 301) reported by the tests my HP Pavilion laptop runs at startup and will not boot.

Troubleshooting attempts:

  • Downloaded the Data Lifeguard Tools bootable CD image and booted from that; it reports no hard drives found.

  • I booted from a Knoppix DVD; it does not see the drive

  • I removed the internal HDD, installed it into an external USB enclosure, and plugged it into another PC;  it does not show up.

Of course I do not have a current backup of that drive, since I wasn’t doing anything to it, or so I thought. Any ideas on resuscitating it?

2

I think that is just a coincidences, updating the external HDD firmware doesn’t have to do anything with the internal HDD. If the internal HDD is not recognized and you need to recover your files, you might need professional help.

3

I also think that it was coincidence.  A firmware update designed for an external drive should not affect at all your internal. If the drive is no longer detected, and you need your data, you may need to contact a professional data recovery service.

4

Thanks for the input, but there’s about a 0.001% chance that my HDD quit at the exact moment the PC rebooted from a software update. If your point is that I’m out of luck, I agree with that.

5

I can’t help but thinking the updater software hit the internal disk …