Will a docking station be a work around for my bricked MBL if I have Win7?

WD Legacy Products My Book Live
1

Hi, Don’t know what I am doing wrong but I haven’t gotten any replies to my earlier post about my bricked (by a firmware update) mybooklive (2tb)? WD support is also not replying to my email. So, to put it more specifically, I got told in a shop that even if I bought a docking station I wouldn’t be able to see the files on the mybooklive because I have Windows 7. I told them that the MBL used Linux. Is this true? Is there no way I can get the data off myself? They want €35 to get the data off. Once I get it open, assuming the drive works, can I get mybooklive software working again. Somewhere I saw a comment about a hardware reset by shorting somewhere on the circuitboard… but it might have been in reference to another type of My Book. If I open the case carefully will WD be able to tell it was once opened? Thanks, any help really is appreciated. Kolya

2

The MBL internal file system is Linux, there is a chance that you can access the files by connecting the drive to a system running Linux.  The drive is not user serviceable, I do not think that there is a way to open it without damaging the case. 

3

Thanks Vadir,

I understand that a Linux system would be easiest, however, is it impossible to connect a Windows 7 system?

If all goes well and I do manage to get the data off can I reuse my MBL, is there a way to do a hardware reset?

Thanks,

Kolya

4

There are free file system drivers for Windows systems that will allow EXT4 Linux/Unix formatted partitions to be read.

An option:  http://www.ext2fsd.com/

5

Thanks, that one comes with a warning that it could brick your Windows:

The driver may crash your system and ruin your data unexpectedly,
since there might be software conflicts and I could only test it
on some of the popular platforms. You should use it with care and
use it at your own risk!

What about once I’ve opened the MBL case and gotten the data off, can I restore it to its original state or has the firmware update bricked the MBL for good? If so, could I reformat the HD for use in a Windows PC?

Sorry, very noobie questions.

Much appreciated.