WD external HD - unlocking but not mounting

[grani13]

Hello,

got a problem with my external HD since this afternoon....

It's a WD My Passport, and I have the encryption/locking software that WD is offering in use.

So when I plug the drive in, a little application asking me to enter a PW comes up. I do, and it says the disk is now unlocked.
After that the drive is supposed to mount, but now it doesn't.
I have tried unplugging and plugging back in, changing USB ports - same result. Rebooted computer - same.

I can see the HD in disk utility, but the partition (is that the correct term) "My Passport" with the data is greyed out and I cannot mount it manually. It does show another partition "WD Unlocker" with the above mentioned application.

Anything else I can try? Is the drive fried? I would need to urgently get data off it...

thanks
grani

PS: haven't tried on a windows machine yet, will have access to one tomorrow.

 

[Fishrrman]

Try on a PC and see if it will mount up there.
If it does, be prepared to copy your data off of it ASAP.

Suggestion:
You want to get rid of the WD encryption software and that "WD Unlocker" partition.
WD probably has a utility that will remove it.

Then, erase the drive to one HFS+ partition using Disk Utility.
My prediction is the drive will run much better afterwards.

 

[grani13]

Try on a PC and see if it will mount up there.
If it does, be prepared to copy your data off of it ASAP.

Suggestion:
You want to get rid of the WD encryption software and that "WD Unlocker" partition.
WD probably has a utility that will remove it.

Then, erase the drive to one HFS+ partition using Disk Utility.
My prediction is the drive will run much better afterwards.

thanks - but it was working flawlessly until today. Kind of concerned that the HD is bricked....but would the unlocking software even show up in this case?

 

[ZapNZs]

As you mentioned Windows, I am guessing this drive is formatted in ExFAT?
Have you pulled any drive stats in regards to SMART metrics? (this can often confirm a physical failure even though it is far from 100% accurate)
If the drive is failing, how much data is on there that is NOT backed up elsewhere?
How important is recovering the data if this is the case?