WD Mybook that will not mount

WD External Drives External Drives for Mac
1

I have a Macbook Pro. I recently purchased a My Book 6TB for my photographs which I manage in Lightroom, the catalogue being on my MacBook.

A member of my family disconnected the My Book without properly ejecting it. They simply pulled out the connection. When I found out I exited Lightroom on my Macbook and then tried to reconnect the My Book. It will not mount.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what I should do? Is the My Book ruined?

Best regards,

John

2

Hi @SpeedyJ ,

Have you opened a Support Case? If not opened, for more information, please contact the WD Technical Support team for the best assistance and troubleshooting:

3

Restart the MacBook and reconnect the My Book to resolve the mounting issue.

4

In fact, the problem resolved itself several hours later so I now have full access to the WD My Book and nothing seems to have been corrupted. Phew!!

5

Don’t panic, John! There’s still hope for your My Book and your precious photographs.

1. Basic Troubleshooting:

  • Check Connections, Restart Devices: Restart both your Macbook and the My Book (if it has a power button).
  • Check Disk Utility: Open Disk Utility on your Macbook. If the My Book appears, try running “First Aid” to check and repair disk errors.

2. Lightroom Catalog:

  • Repair and Backup Lightroom Catalog: Locate your Lightroom catalog on your Macbook (typically in Pictures/Lightroom) and copy it to another drive as a precaution. Open Lightroom, hold down “Option” while launching, and choose “Repair Catalog” to attempt automatic repair.

3. WD My Book Utilities:

  • Download and install WD My Book utilities: Western Digital offers software specific to their drives. This may help diagnose and fix issues.
  • Run diagnostics: Use the utilities to run diagnostics on the My Book and check for hardware problems.

4. Data Recovery Software:

  • If the My Book doesn’t mount or appears inaccessible, consider data recovery software like Stellar Data Recovery, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, or Disk Drill.
  • Use these programs on another computer to scan the My Book for recoverable files. Be aware that this might not work if the drive is physically damaged.

5. WD Support:

  • If none of the above steps work, contact WD support for their assistance. They might have specific solutions or warranty options available.

Important reminders:

  • Stop using the My Book: To avoid further data loss, don’t write or save anything to the drive until you recover your data.
  • Manage expectations: Data recovery isn’t always guaranteed, especially if the drive suffered physical damage.
  • Backup regularly: This situation highlights the importance of regular backups to protect your valuable data.

Further Resources: