I have an old 2Tb Western Digital MyPassport drive I bought in 2020 to use as my TimeMachine Backup. It’s one of those 2.5" two-tone red/grey cases. But, I could be wrong. It worked religiously for years. Then several months ago, it no longer mounts.
It sounds like the drive is trying to spin up. But, it never quite gets to the point of actually mounting.
Sadly, there are several years of history on that backup drive that It’d really like to access, if possible.
The drive case seems to be sealed. But, if I cracked the case open, would there be a standard 2.5" HDD inside that I could slap into an external case and then mount using the new enclosure? Of is it all on some proprietary board inside?
Obviously, I’m not sure if it’s only the enclosure that’s failed, or whether the drive itself; and it’s a probably one-way trip if I decide to open the enclosure. But, at this point, it’s just a door stop sitting on my desk, so I, suppose, nothing ventured, nothing gained. 
Anybody have any success with salvaging one of thiese?
First try not to open the WD My Passport case yet, because many newer ones have encryption tied to the USB board so just moving the bare drive may still not let you read data. You could instead test it with another cable or a powered USB hub to rule out simple enclosure or power issues first. if it still doesn’t mount then a data recovery service is safer than DIY becuase opening it could make recovery harder or even impossible.
what I’d do in your situation is first try a different USB cable and port, and if it still spins but doesn’t mount then consider plugging it into a SATA dock or having a shop do a quick diagnostic before opening it, because if it’s a head or firmware issue you could make recovery harder by opening it yourself
First, don’t open its case. Then, try another cable or port. If it is not working and the data on it is important, you can seek professional help through the list of recommended data recovery partners on the WD official website.
Thanks everyone for the caution. I won’t go rogue and open it up quite yet.
The data isn’t probably THAT important as it’s a TimeMachine backup from when I bought my MacBook Air. So far that computer hasn’t crashed, knock on wood, so not the end of the World if it’s truly lost.
But, I haven’t tried the powered docking station as others have mentioned. Unfortunately, the cable is a USB-2/3-B going into the case so I don’t have an extra one laying around. Will have to check Amazon or EBAY for a cheap one.
UPDATE:
Hi all,
A quick update on my problem. I took the drive to work; plugged it into a powered USB hub, and then let it sit while I worked on something else.
When I checked, it’s mounted!!! And I was able to log in and view my older TimeMachine backups!!
Not sure whether it was the powered hub, or just letting it sit there; and possibly index in the background. I’ll try it again when I get home to see what happens.
Thanks for all the suggestions to not get desperate and pop this thing open.
