Problem with WD My Book Studio II backup drive configuration - help please

[funkuncut]

I have a WD My Book Studio II drive in which the two 1TB drives failed (after 14 years, so they did well....)

I have replaced them with two 2TB WD drives, but Disk Utility only recognises 2.2TB.

Is this a problem with the enclosure firmware, and, if so, is there anything I can do to solve it?

I have been advised against using WD Drive Utilities in the past, and have never had to use it. I have several other WD My Book Studio enclosures and have not had a problem yet - I have changed a single 2TB drive for a 4TB with no trouble, and a 1TB in this one is ok....

WD no. is WD20000H2Q-00

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I did some reading around, and WD's official position is that they only support replacing the drive with an identical capacity and model type. That said, as you know, upgrading the capacity can be done, but from what I've read, you have to stick to the same drive type (i.e. you can't replace a WD Blue with a WD Black).

So... the question is what exact model came out, and what are you putting in?

 

[funkuncut]

Thanks! The originals were WD Caviar Green ( no longer available) and the new replacements are WD Blue. I have also researched and read around, and it seems that some people successfully replaced the originals with two 2TB or even two 3TB drives with no problems, while others had problems.

I have tried installing the WD Drive software, but it just doesn't work at all with High Sierra, and I have read mixed reports of it anyway.

I just don't want to waste the enclosure, and I don't really want to replace the failed drives with used ones of the same size - I'd like more capacity, and used ones are likely to fail soon anyway.

It looks like a fight against planned obsolescence, and I wonder if anyone knows how to win this small battle. I am thinking that it must be either a software barrier or some sneaky hardware trick, but either way someone must have cracked it!

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Well there's your problem. You are replacing "Greens" with "Blues". You might have better luck with the Reds since they are effectively Greens optimized for NAS enclosures. But yeah, I too hate to see things go to waste, but these guys are all about waste. The better strategy long term is to use a generic enclosure that will take whatever you put in it.

 

[funkuncut]

Thank you. I did change an old 2TB Green in a My Book Studio for a 4TB Red, and it worked straight off...

Maybe I'll try a single Blue in the same enclosure and see how it goes - if I end up having to get two more Reds for the Studio II then so be it, and the Blues will get used anyway. I would have got Reds straight away, but, from what I'd read, Blues were the right replacement for old Greens. Live and learn......

I'll post results in case it might help someone else.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Yeah, i think WD is pushing Blues as a replacement for Greens as being suitable for their use cases, but the underlying technology isn't quite equivalent.

 

[funkuncut]

Ok - I tried one of the Blue 2TB in place of the Red 4TB and it doesn't work.....

What do they put in the enclosure to stop it recognising the Blue drives?

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Ok - I tried one of the Blue 2TB in place of the Red 4TB and it doesn't work.....

What do they put in the enclosure to stop it recognising the Blue drives?

I have no clue. It's got to be embedded in the firmware. I would advise throwing in the towel on this. From what I had read and you are experiencing, I think there's a good chance WD Reds will work just fine. In fact, why not try that Red 4TB in it?

 

[krs]

Interesting disussion!
I can't help with the issue, but I stopped using WD drives fompletely because of their shenanigans when it comes to externals

 

[funkuncut]

I would stop with WD just because of that too - but then I'd have to stop with Apple since they wrote the book on those shenanigans!

I've swapped some old drives around and come up with two Green 1TBs which work together in the double enclosure (as a non-essential thing as they're both old) for the moment, but it seems a waste to have such a physically big enclosure for 2TB.

Good suggestion for the 4TB Red - I'll try that to see if it supports 4TB.

I've used one of the new Blue 2TBs in another old My Book and it's fine, so I'll have to find a use for the other, or keep it as a spare.

 

[krs]

I would stop with WD just because of that too - but then I'd have to stop with Apple since they wrote the book on those shenanigans!

Yes - I have thought about that more than once.
But I don't have a good alternative to the Mac (when I had to use Windows in the office it was a constant struggle) - for WD external drives there are several good alternatives.
This is getting a bit off topic.

I really hope you find a way to use your WD enclosure-I assume you have contacted WD support and got nowhere with them.

 

[funkuncut]

I haven't contacted WD on the grounds that the enclosure is too old for them to bother about - I assume they have read the Apple book on 'vintage' and obsolete' products and would classify a 12 year old product as being of archeological interest only - but I think that I will do so now, just to get them to work a bit!

I'll contact them and see what I get (a good laugh at least!)