I’m looking for guidance with a Western Digital My Book Essential external hard drive that appears to be failing. I understand this model has reached end-of-life support, but I’m hoping the community may be able to provide insight or confirm next steps.
Issue Description:
When powered on, the drive shows a slowly blinking white LED
The internal fan and/or drive repeatedly spins up and then resets (winding up sound over and over)
Fan speed cycles from slow → fast → slow → fast continuously
The drive never stabilizes
The device is not detected by any PC (no drive letter, not shown in Disk Management or Device Manager)
Troubleshooting Already Performed:
Plugged the power adapter directly into a wall outlet (not a power strip)
Replaced the USB cable (Micro-B to USB-A) with a known-good cable
Tested on multiple PCs
Tried multiple USB ports
Allowed the drive several minutes to initialize (no change)
Observed Behavior:
The repeating spin-up / reset cycle never stops
No abnormal clicking sounds, but the drive does not complete initialization
The LED never becomes solid
No system recognizes the device at all
Additional Notes:
The drive has not been dropped or physically damaged
This behavior occurs consistently every time the drive is powered on
I have not attempted to open the enclosure yet
Questions:
Does this symptom pattern point more toward:
Power supply failure?
USB-SATA bridge board failure?
Internal hard drive mechanical failure?
Is there any recommended diagnostic step left before assuming the drive itself has failed?
Would removing the internal drive and testing it directly via SATA or another enclosure be advisable at this point?
Any insight from others who have experienced similar behavior would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Yeah… your My Book has officially decided it’s done adulting. Blinking white light, spin-up loop, PC ignoring it like a bad Tinder date it’s probably not coming back. Your options are basically “rip it open and pray” or mourn quietly.
Thanks for the reply. I guess ripping it open will be my next step. Should I attempt to remove the internal hard drive and test it outside of the casing with a SATA to USB to see whether the problem is with the enclosure itself or the drive inside it?
That spin-up and reset loop with no detection usually means the drive isn’t getting stable power or the internal disk can’t initialize. Before opening it, try a known-good 12V power adapter with the same specs since weak WD power bricks commonly cause this. If that doesn’t fix it, remove the drive and test it directly via SATA or a powered dock. If it still won’t stay detected, the internal drive has likely failed.
Thanks for the reply. I guess ripping it open will be my next step. Should I attempt to remove the internal hard drive and test it outside of the casing with a SATA to USB to see whether the problem is with the enclosure itself or the drive inside it?
