Much obliged 🎩 to all my viewers. Like. Share. Subscribe. Enjoy. Support links ☕ BuyMeACoffee: buymeacoff.ee/accessrandom ► Subscribe: th-cam.com/users/accessrandom 🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/accessrand0m
As an addendum to what is still the best video about shucking a WD drive on here, I've found a few differences with later models. First, there are no torque screws holding the rubber bands in place, but there is a little metal protection in front of the usb port that is held by a phillips head screw. Second, I've never actually had to use a plastic card to detach the sides once the picks were in place; just gentle pushing them apart was enough.
Great video. My 8TB easystore purchased in 2021 has a white label drive, but did not require masking the power pin. It was plug and play with my old 2010-ish Seasonic power supply.
Thank you for this nice tutorial. I just got 2 of the 8TB WD Elements external drives and shucked them to get 2 white label WD red-equivalent drives :) I was lucky and got 2 that were made in Thailand and both have 256MB of cache. These are going to go into my Plex server ASAP.
Depending on your power supply and or drive manufacture date, these drives may not work initially. If you connect the drive and it is not recognized, pin 3 (power disable or PWDIS) on the power connector (closest to the data connector) needs to be blocked off on the hard drive. Otherwise, if the supply has 3.3 volts on that pin and the drive has the PWDIS feature enabled, it is a shut off voltage to the drive and the drive will not spin up. There are molex to sata adapters that can be used which supply no voltage to pin 3. Alternately, you can carefully cut a strip of electrical tape with a sharp razor knife and apply it over the pin. That is the method I used. Note, this method is not preferred if you intend on disconnecting and reconnecting the drive as it does tend to dislodge the tape upon disconnection and re-positioning is required. If it is in there to stay, the second method is non issue until such time that the connector is removed. Just make sure to inspect the tape before reusing.
Rather than guitar picks (which few people have), you can use the PCI slot covers that pretty much any case has. A small flat head screwdriver can get things started. A card can still be useful to find the tabs. Once the PCI covers are at each tab location, you can use the screwdriver (and maybe another PCI cover) to pry the drive forward from the back of the case (first on top and then on bottom). It worked for me without breaking a tab.
I used a butter knife, ironically I can't find any credit/debit/etc card-like structures or materials to properly open it. I made sure I didn't hit any circuitry, especially the fragile plastic bit and the PCB board that is connected to the external drive since it'd be pretty nice to have another drive as external, so I love this enclosure :D
I was previously using credit cards and spudgers. Broke the tabs on two drives like that. The guitar picks idea is pretty genius. Even thick ones - mine are 1.14mm - do the trick. For prying out the drive I used my spudgers again, but it was much easier than trying to manually open the tabs with an old credit card or something. I also used a very thin 'oud pick (a risha) to move around the entire outline of the drive but I'm not sure this did anything. ED: I actually don't recall if I used the spudger to make the opening on the front of the drive, or another guitar pick. Either way using the picks to create gaps is the key.
I ordered one of these from Bestbuy.com in April 2018 for $169. Received a white label without any power issues. BTW: If WD tries to deny your warranty claim for these drives for any reason, refer them to the legal definition of "Theft" and the "moss-magnuson act." If they still give you trouble, tell them you're going to sue them in small claims court. It's cheaper for them to replace your drive than send a lawyer to court.
Yes, for Windows, you can use CrystalDiskInfo to find the internal model of the disk. If you google "datahoarders compendium", you'll find a reddit article that has more information, including alternative ways for different OS's.
"Warning" as of 02-07-2018 I believe Western Digital has done something with the power connection on the drives. I cannot speak for other manufacturers. I have purchased both a "My Book" and "Easy Storage" and neither will power up in a PC. I have three PC's and none of them would make it power up. Once returned to their respective cases, they power up fine via the included power cable. I'm uncertain as to whether they have shortened some of the pins on the connection, but they have done something. I have "shucked" several drives in the past without this issue, and the run fine in the aforementioned PC's. Again I believe it's Western Digital's attempt at stopping shucking. Maybe someone will counter them with an adapter. Sucks being corralled into using the drive in a specific way. Once I buy it, they shouldn't care what I do with it! Frustrating.....
Interesting - I've been searching for this problem and I've found evidence WD has added a power disable feature on one of the pins on the SATA connector. The solution is to use a 4 Pin Molex to SATA power adapter, or to cover pin 3 (the 3.3V pin) with Kapton tape. I have not had problems with either Red or White label drives in my QNAPs, so I need to add a disclaimer that I haven't done this myself. Here is some documentation: www.hgst.com/sites/default/files/resources/HGST-Power-Disable-Pin-TB.pdf
It looks like this is only happening with the white label drives. If you google "8TB EasyStore WD White Label Issue/Solution" it takes you to a reddit board that has a discussion about it. The easiest solution seems to be the molex adapter (without having to cut wires or placing tape around pins). Sorry to hear you've been having problems...
I opened the 8tb easystore like this and tried hooking it up to my PC, it wouldn't get recognized. I'm not sure why, I tried different cables and even use the cables that are connected to the recognized drive in the system but still nothing. What could possibly cause this? I looked closely at the SATA power port on the drive and noticed one of the pin is shorter than the rest. I'm not sure if this was their method of preventing shucking, all I know was that I had to put it back into the case as I couldn't get it to power up nor be recognized in my new 8700k system. Very odd.
Did the disk have a white label? It could be an issue with a 3.3V pin on the SATA power connector. I have a video that shows you how to fix it here: th-cam.com/video/9W3-uOl4ruc/w-d-xo.html. Essentially, you will need to prevent pin 3 from connecting to the power supply. You can do this using Kapton tape, or by using a molex-to-SATA adapter. If using the tape, you can cover pins 1 through 3 if you want (just make sure 3 is completely covered).
I just got a 12TB version of this, I got it for half the price of a 12TB WD red drive, can anyone confirm if it is a red in this one? If so I got an insanely good deal!
Much obliged 🎩 to all my viewers. Like. Share. Subscribe. Enjoy.
Support links
☕ BuyMeACoffee: buymeacoff.ee/accessrandom
► Subscribe: th-cam.com/users/accessrandom
🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/accessrand0m
As an addendum to what is still the best video about shucking a WD drive on here, I've found a few differences with later models. First, there are no torque screws holding the rubber bands in place, but there is a little metal protection in front of the usb port that is held by a phillips head screw. Second, I've never actually had to use a plastic card to detach the sides once the picks were in place; just gentle pushing them apart was enough.
Thanks for showing how to open it without destroying the enclosure. The 2 year warranty makes the extra care worthwhile...
One of my other drives (not the WD Red) just failed at the tail end of a 2 year warranty. The clean enclosure came in handy.
Man, thank you so much for an easy to follow tutorial! Keep up the good work.
You're welcome, and thank you.
Great video. My 8TB easystore purchased in 2021 has a white label drive, but did not require masking the power pin. It was plug and play with my old 2010-ish Seasonic power supply.
Thank you. It's always nice to have a shucked drive work right out-of-the-box (or case).
Thank you for this nice tutorial.
I just got 2 of the 8TB WD Elements external drives and shucked them to get 2 white label WD red-equivalent drives :)
I was lucky and got 2 that were made in Thailand and both have 256MB of cache.
These are going to go into my Plex server ASAP.
Congrats! That's exactly what I would use them for :)
Those are no WD Red equivalent! WD Red doesn't come in 5200 RPM drives.
I suspect those are WD purple. Definitely not reds!
Depending on your power supply and or drive manufacture date, these drives may not work initially. If you connect the drive and it is not recognized, pin 3 (power disable or PWDIS) on the power connector (closest to the data connector) needs to be blocked off on the hard drive. Otherwise, if the supply has 3.3 volts on that pin and the drive has the PWDIS feature enabled, it is a shut off voltage to the drive and the drive will not spin up. There are molex to sata adapters that can be used which supply no voltage to pin 3. Alternately, you can carefully cut a strip of electrical tape with a sharp razor knife and apply it over the pin. That is the method I used. Note, this method is not preferred if you intend on disconnecting and reconnecting the drive as it does tend to dislodge the tape upon disconnection and re-positioning is required. If it is in there to stay, the second method is non issue until such time that the connector is removed. Just make sure to inspect the tape before reusing.
Thanks much for the information. 👍
I actually go through this process in one of my other videos: th-cam.com/video/9W3-uOl4ruc/w-d-xo.html
Rather than guitar picks (which few people have), you can use the PCI slot covers that pretty much any case has. A small flat head screwdriver can get things started. A card can still be useful to find the tabs. Once the PCI covers are at each tab location, you can use the screwdriver (and maybe another PCI cover) to pry the drive forward from the back of the case (first on top and then on bottom). It worked for me without breaking a tab.
Good point - thanks for the tip. I think this will be useful to a lot of people.
I used a butter knife, ironically I can't find any credit/debit/etc card-like structures or materials to properly open it. I made sure I didn't hit any circuitry, especially the fragile plastic bit and the PCB board that is connected to the external drive since it'd be pretty nice to have another drive as external, so I love this enclosure :D
Really well made tutorial! I hope your channel grows quickly. =)
Thanks!
This is the best shucking tutorial I've yet come across. Thanks!
Much appreciated!
I was previously using credit cards and spudgers. Broke the tabs on two drives like that. The guitar picks idea is pretty genius. Even thick ones - mine are 1.14mm - do the trick. For prying out the drive I used my spudgers again, but it was much easier than trying to manually open the tabs with an old credit card or something. I also used a very thin 'oud pick (a risha) to move around the entire outline of the drive but I'm not sure this did anything.
ED: I actually don't recall if I used the spudger to make the opening on the front of the drive, or another guitar pick. Either way using the picks to create gaps is the key.
Flawless victory 5 out of 5. Shucked a WD EasyStore 14TB. Thanks!
You're welcome!
Great Video and quality! Just purchased 2 cheap ones off Amazon and plan to shuck for my desktop!
Brilliantly made video.. Bookmarked for future use. How about one for the MyBook series?
Many thanks 🙏👍 Yeah, that's one of the only models I haven't made a video for, but it's definitely on my list as soon as I have the opportunity.
I ordered one of these from Bestbuy.com in April 2018 for $169. Received a white label without any power issues.
BTW: If WD tries to deny your warranty claim for these drives for any reason, refer them to the legal definition of "Theft" and the "moss-magnuson act." If they still give you trouble, tell them you're going to sue them in small claims court. It's cheaper for them to replace your drive than send a lawyer to court.
great video. way better than the other shucking guides,
Thanks - much appreciated.
Shucked this like a ninja. Thanks so much!
Yw, and thanks! 👍
Is there any way to know if it has a Red drive without shucking it?
Yes, for Windows, you can use CrystalDiskInfo to find the internal model of the disk. If you google "datahoarders compendium", you'll find a reddit article that has more information, including alternative ways for different OS's.
Wait, did you just use, "et voilà!" properly?!?
Mais bien sûr 😀
"Warning" as of 02-07-2018 I believe Western Digital has done something with the power connection on the drives. I cannot speak for other manufacturers. I have purchased both a "My Book" and "Easy Storage" and neither will power up in a PC. I have three PC's and none of them would make it power up. Once returned to their respective cases, they power up fine via the included power cable. I'm uncertain as to whether they have shortened some of the pins on the connection, but they have done something. I have "shucked" several drives in the past without this issue, and the run fine in the aforementioned PC's. Again I believe it's Western Digital's attempt at stopping shucking. Maybe someone will counter them with an adapter. Sucks being corralled into using the drive in a specific way. Once I buy it, they shouldn't care what I do with it! Frustrating.....
Thank you for reporting your findings! Were yours Red label or White label?
Interesting - I've been searching for this problem and I've found evidence WD has added a power disable feature on one of the pins on the SATA connector. The solution is to use a 4 Pin Molex to SATA power adapter, or to cover pin 3 (the 3.3V pin) with Kapton tape. I have not had problems with either Red or White label drives in my QNAPs, so I need to add a disclaimer that I haven't done this myself. Here is some documentation:
www.hgst.com/sites/default/files/resources/HGST-Power-Disable-Pin-TB.pdf
I bought both the Easy Storage and My Book. Both units contained generic white labeled drives.
It looks like this is only happening with the white label drives. If you google "8TB EasyStore WD White Label Issue/Solution" it takes you to a reddit board that has a discussion about it. The easiest solution seems to be the molex adapter (without having to cut wires or placing tape around pins). Sorry to hear you've been having problems...
I opened the 8tb easystore like this and tried hooking it up to my PC, it wouldn't get recognized. I'm not sure why, I tried different cables and even use the cables that are connected to the recognized drive in the system but still nothing.
What could possibly cause this? I looked closely at the SATA power port on the drive and noticed one of the pin is shorter than the rest. I'm not sure if this was their method of preventing shucking, all I know was that I had to put it back into the case as I couldn't get it to power up nor be recognized in my new 8700k system. Very odd.
Did the disk have a white label? It could be an issue with a 3.3V pin on the SATA power connector. I have a video that shows you how to fix it here: th-cam.com/video/9W3-uOl4ruc/w-d-xo.html.
Essentially, you will need to prevent pin 3 from connecting to the power supply. You can do this using Kapton tape, or by using a molex-to-SATA adapter. If using the tape, you can cover pins 1 through 3 if you want (just make sure 3 is completely covered).
@@accessrandom it appears this might be the reason. My drive was white label but with 256mb of cache, from Thailand.
@@KoiAquaponics put a little electrical tape over pin 3
You should narrate how it's made!
LOL thanks - let me know when they're hiring :)
Great vid, thank you.
Thanks for the feedback :)
Thank you!
You're welcome.
I just got a 12TB version of this, I got it for half the price of a 12TB WD red drive, can anyone confirm if it is a red in this one? If so I got an insanely good deal!
It should be a White label which has the same specs as the Reds. They're definitely non-SMR and I believe they're helium - congrats!
@@accessrandom Awesome sauce, thanks for confirming!
Lucky w the red drive lol