The request failed due to a fatal device hardware - WD Hard drive

WD External Drives External Drives for PC
1

I purchased a 14TB External Hard Drive (WDBWLG0140HBK-NESN) off of Amazon from the US (I’m in Australia) to use on my MSI GE70PE Apache Pro.
However, when I plug it in, I can hear it, but not see it.
I googled the problem & found a solution “Disk Management”, but got this error message.

wd
wd1035×617 152 KB

Then I tried WD Diagnostics
wd1
wd1628×755 141 KB

No luck either.

2

When “the request failed due to fatal device hardware error” occurs, your device turns inaccessible. This error usually occurs while attempting to transfer/copy files and suddenly the Windows OS fails to recognize the input or the output devices. In addition, this error could also be due to a fault in the systems hardware, inappropriate configuration, loose connections, etc.

To fix the error you can try the below DIY methods:

  1. Check the SMART status
  2. Run an error check
  3. Run CHKDSK scan
  4. Initialize the disk

Further, you can check the below blog to know more troubleshooting methods that can help to resolve the issue and also helps to recover data from such drive:

Hope it helps!

3

Drive #8 WD Elements 25A3 (USB) with Serial Number: RANDOM_F1E4DB90

With a Serial Number like that … I would say with 100% confidence that it’s a FAKE Hard drive. Drive #4 Serial Number (VCG5Y6KN) also looks very suspicious.

Geniune WD Hard Drives serial Start with a W as you can see with your other drives.

If you enter Drive#8 and Drive#4 Serial Number into WD’s Warranty Check … they won’t be accepted.

https://support-en.wd.com/app/warrantystatus

You may as well disassemble the 14TB External enclosure to see what fakery is inside … you can bet it won’t be a 14TB WD Hard drive.

Post photos here to serve as a warning buying from Amazon

In future too, if you’re AU … and buy a legit Hard drive from the US, and claim warranty from the manufacturer … The warranty won’t be covered in AU and you’ll have to ship it back to the US for the warranty claim.

Buy local.

4

The site appears to be genuine.
I bought a 10TB External Hard Drive back in December 2020 & it works fine.
My P/N: WDBWLG…BK-XB.
Is there a difference between WDBWLG0140HBK-NESN & WDBBKG0140HBK-AESN

WD2
WD23570×4010 350 KB

5

It’s brand new out of the box.
To do any sort of CHKDSK I would need to see the drive.
I already tried to Initialise the disk & it gave an error message (as shown).

6

I suggest you to give a try to below mentioned 2 different methods to resolve the issue:

Method 1. Use Disk Management to fix not initialized error on external hard drive

  1. Connect uninitialized external hard drive to your PC.
  2. Press Win + R keys, type: diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
  3. Find the uninitialized, unknown external hard drive with I/O device error > Right-click on it and select Initialize Disk.
  4. Then set the disk to initialize and set disk as MBR or GPT.

After this, you may reboot your PC and keep all changes. Now, your external hard drive will be recognized and read by Windows again.

Method 2. Run CMD to repair I/O device error on not initialized external hard drive

This CMD command would erase all data on the uninitialized hard drive, which you can later restore after repairing the external hard drive not initialized, with the help of any data recovery or partition recovery software:

  1. Press Win+R > Type: diskpart and hit Enter.
  2. Type: list disk and hit Enter.
  3. Type: select disk F and hit Enter; (replace F with the drive letter of an uninitialized external hard drive).
  4. Type: clean and hit Enter.
  5. Type: convert gpt or convert mbr and hit Enter.
  6. Type: create partition primary and hit Enter.
  7. Type: format quick fs=ntfs and hit Enter.
  8. Type: assign and hit Enter.
  9. Type: exit and hit Enter.

Try & check if this helps!

7

Hi Mike

Actually the fault was the power cable.
Problem solved.
Thx

| mikes2
February 24 |

  • | - |

I suggest you to give a try to below mentioned 2 different methods to resolve the issue:

Method 1. Use Disk Management to fix not initialized error on external hard drive

  1. Connect uninitialized external hard drive to your PC.
  2. Press Win + R keys, type: diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
  3. Find the uninitialized, unknown external hard drive with I/O device error > Right-click on it and select Initialize Disk.
  4. Then set the disk to initialize and set disk as MBR or GPT.

After this, you may reboot your PC and keep all changes. Now, your external hard drive will be recognized and read by Windows again.

Method 2. Run CMD to repair I/O device error on not initialized external hard drive

This CMD command would erase all data on the uninitialized hard drive, which you can later restore after repairing the external hard drive not initialized, with the help of any data recovery or partition recovery software:

  1. Press Win+R > Type: diskpart and hit Enter.
  2. Type: list disk and hit Enter.
  3. Type: select disk F and hit Enter; (replace F with the drive letter of an uninitialized external hard drive).
  4. Type: clean and hit Enter.
  5. Type: convert gpt or convert mbr and hit Enter.
  6. Type: create partition primary and hit Enter.
  7. Type: format quick fs=ntfs and hit Enter.
  8. Type: assign and hit Enter.
  9. Type: exit and hit Enter.

Try & check if this helps!

8

Hi jamerg,

Can you tell me what you did with the power cable?

I have the exact same issue.

9

Hi
What does the ‘fatal device hardware error’ mean? This usually appears when the operating system can no longer access the hard drive or is unable to perform read and write operations upon it.
So what are the causes of this error:
Causes:

  • Faulty USB cable or a loose connection.

  • Too many bad sectors on the disk.

  • System or hardware fault.

  • The hard drive is dying.
    And here are the below Symptoms for it:
    Symptoms:

  • “X: is not accessible The request failed due to a fatal device hardware error.”

  • “Error 0x800701E3: The request failed due to a fatal device hardware error.”

  • “Virtual Disk Manager: The request failed due to a fatal device hardware error.”

What are the ways to fix it:

Fix 1. Check Hard Drive Connection

  • Check if the cable connections are loose, if so, push them firmly back into the ports.
  • Try unplugging then reconnecting the external hard drive or switching to another USB port.
  • Replace the USB cable with a new one.
  • Connect the drive to another computer if possible, to see if the problem is with the PC rather than the drive.

If these don’t fix the problem, you can try the options mentioned below.

### Fix 2. Verify SMART Status

SMART stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. Checking a drive’s SMART attributes, it can help you determine whether a drive is damaged as well as assessing the extent of the problem.

This is how to check a hard drive SMART status:

Step 1. Press Windows + X keys to open the Quick Links menu, then select Command Prompt (Admin).
Step 2. Type wmic diskdrive get status and hit Enter.

Step 3. The command returns four different statuses: “OK”, “Bad”, “Unknown”, and “Caution”.

  • Ok: Don’t worry, try Fix 3 (see below) to restore your hard drive to its normal state.
  • Bad, Unknown: You can correct the error by using Fix 3, 4, or 5 (see below). It’s also highly advisable to immediately use a data recovery solution.
  • Caution: Suggests that the hard drive corruptions are quite bad. In this instance, it’s best to take the disk in for repair

Fix 3. Check and Repair Bad Sectors

Bad sectors are not as horrible as you might think unless they are spread out across the hard disk. We often use the Windows DiskPart utility to check and repair file system corruption and hard disk bad sectors. It’s a good tool and well worth trying for the majority of hard drive inaccessibility issues.

Fix 4. Update Disk Driver

If the driver for the problematic storage device is outdated, then this can cause the fatal device hardware error. Therefore, updating the driver can fix the issue.

Fix 5. Send Problematic Device for Repair

If you’ve tried the methods outlined above, but still have a problem with the drive, the last option is to take it in for repair. In most cases, you’ll have options open to you.

  1. Contact the hardware manufacturer for help.
  2. Find a local repair center and send your device for repair.