After bricking my own WDH1NC10000 and spending money to buy a second one I decided to make a guide to help others out after bricking theirs.
Before doing this guide you will need to take the hdd out of your mybook, the plastics are abit tricky to unclip but if you use small flat sided screwdriver you can unclip the 4 clips on the I / O side.
*Updated 24/05/2017
Please pm me for following fresh backup images from a factory restored My Book World Edition (White) (WDH1NC10000).
fullbootsect.sda 24,097kb
sda1_image 25,314mb
sda2_image 1kb
sda3_image 29kb
sda4_image 9,711,186kb
sda_ptable 1kb
If theres alot of people I might setup a share torrent or something since 9.7gb is alot.
I will host the rest of the files on my webserver.
Following things needed to backup your data from your mybook.
1) A HDD caddy (for saving images to external hdd or usb pen)
2) MyBook HDD (hd that wont boot up)(Bricked One)
3) A Copy of ubuntu live cd
4) A PC with sata power and data connector
I will split this guide into 3 parts, one for backing your data from sda4, backing up a working drive and restoring a working drive to a empty hdd.
*Note*
Basic knowledge of ubuntu and linux command lines should be known before proceeding with this recovery.
- Getting your files off your bricked mybook.
This part should work for any type of mybook since all are similar in ptable size with sda4 being the largest partition with your data on it.
You will need a computer to backup your files, I suggest you disconnect all internal hdd's from your main pc when doing this guide to stop you accidentally messing up your main os.
Disconnect your main hdd's and connect your bricked my book to your pc, connect either an external hdd through a caddy or use a usb pen.
Your pc will need to have a sata power and sata data connector since the mybook hdd has a sata connection (not ide).
I suggest you use a 7200rpm 3.5hdd with a sata connector since backing up your files will take longer through a usb caddy.
Once you have connected your mybook hdd and your external backup drive then put a ubuntu 9.04 live cd in your pc, boot off it and wait for the desktop to load.
If you dont have a ubuntu cd then download the image and burn to a cd (700mb image so it will fit on a cd)
http://ubuntu.virginmedia.com/releases/jaunty/ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso
Download Imgburn software to burn the iso image to a disk if you dont have any burning software.
http://fileforum.betanews.com/sendfile/1128426215/1/1248559257.53a9c5f607398ffc348a6f1809c4b7135e71e9bf/SetupImgBurn_2.4.4.0.exe
Ok so now were on the desktop, sometimes ubuntu will automatically mount any hdd connected to it but sometimes it wont.
First of all we need to get a command line, if you navigate using the menu at the top you should find command line or (terminal).
Just click on the top navigation and you should find it with little searching.
Once this is up we can check to see what hdd's are connected.
type in the following in command line to list the hdd's connected..
sudo sfdisk -l
It should show 2 parts, one for the mybook hdd and one for the backup hdd.
mybook hdd
/dev/sda1
/dev/sda2
/dev/sda3
/dev/sda4
external backup drive
/dev/sdb1
ok next we are going to make a folder to mount are music / movies / data to.
these commands below will be done on the terminal or command line.
/make a folder in /mnt/
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda4
/Mount the mybook drive so we can see the data on it.
sudo mount -t xfs -o rw /dev/sda4 /mnt/sda4
// mount external hdd (in usb caddy or usb)
sudo mkdir /mnt/sdb
sudo chmod 777 /mnt/sdb
sudo mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/sdb /mnt/sdb
Now we should be able to browse /mnt/sda4 in ubuntu and copy our data over to our external hdd (/mnt/sdb)
Click on the navigation at the top and select home, once the window opens then click on the left area to navigate to /mnt/sda4 (data) and /mnt/sdb1 (your backup hdd)
Once you backup your data you can shutdown ubuntu and remove your hdd's.
- Backing up a working drive
Following things needed to backup a working mybook drive..
1) A working mybook drive
2) A backup storage drive (somewhere to save the working mybook images, ptables, masterbootrecord)
3) A Ubuntu live cd 9.04
4) A pc with sata power and data cables
Disconnect any hdd's from your computer so you dont mess up your main os.
Connect your working mybook hdd and a backup hdd to your pc and put ubuntu cd in and boot off it.
Wait for the desktop to load and get command prompt up (terminal).
Once in command line type the following to list the hdd's connected to your computer.
sudo sfdisk -l
It should show 2 parts, one for the mybook hdd and one for the backup hdd.
mybook hdd
/dev/sda1
/dev/sda2
/dev/sda3
/dev/sda4
external backup drive
/dev/sdb1
/Now we need to make some folders to mount our mybook
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda1
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda2
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda3
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda4
/Now we mount the 4 parts of our mybook
sudo mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
sudo mount -t linux-swap -o rw /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2
sudo mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/sda3 /mnt/sda3
sudo mount -t xfs -o rw /dev/sda4 /mnt/sda4
*Note* /dev/sda2 wont seem to mount since its a ram partition, dont worry if it doesnt mount since we can stll backup this partition without mounting it.
// create folder and mount external hdd (in usb caddy)
sudo mkdir /mnt/sdb
sudo chmod 777 /mnt/sdb
sudo mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/sdb /mnt/sdb
Once we have created folders and mounted both hdd we can now backup the working files.
// making image of master boot record (this will backup the fullbootsector from the hdd)
dd if=/dev/sda of=/mnt/sdb/fullbootsect.sda bs=512 count=48194
*Note* /mnt/sdb is the mounted location of the backup drive, you can mount this drive to /mnt under any name when typing mkdir /mnt/foldername.
the location of the external hdd might be different so remember to check using sudo sfdisk -l on command line before entering these commands to make the image of the bootsector.
Now we can make a image of the ptable (this has the size of all the partitions, /dev/sda1/, /dev/sda2, /dev/sda3, /dev/sda4)
// making image of partition table
sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > /mnt/sdb/sda_ptable
Next step is to make an image of the partitions, these are done 4 times with the 4th one taking a good few hrs since its compacting 900gb.
Dont worry if you think the 4th one (/dev/sda4) seems to be taking ages, once you get command line then it has finished backing up.
Mine was 9gb when zipped and took 36hrs using a usb caddy and a 5400rpm hdd (please use a sata caddy with 7200rpm hdd to speed up backup process of sda4).
// making images of each partition
sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 | bzip2 > /mnt/sdb/sda1_image.bz2
sudo dd if=/dev/sda2 | bzip2 > /mnt/sdb/sda2_image.bz2
sudo dd if=/dev/sda3 | bzip2 > /mnt/sdb/sda3_image.bz2
sudo dd if=/dev/sda4 | bzip2 > /mnt/sdb/sda4_image.bz2
Thats it, /dev/sda1-4,ptables,masterboot.sda should be backed up.
Turn off ubuntu and remove your working mybook but keep your backup drive plugged in.
- Restoring a bricked drive or a empty drive
Following things needed to restore a bricked or empty drive..
1) A bricked or empty hdd (sata connector)
2) A backup storage drive (with the working mybook images, ptables, masterbootrecord on it)
3) A Ubuntu live cd 9.04
4) A pc with sata power and data cables
Same as before, disconnect any main hdd's so we dont mess our main os up.
Connect a empty or bricked hdd and your backup hdd to the pc.
Bootup off ubuntu live cd 9.04 and wait for desktop to load.
Once in command line type the following to list the hdd's connected to your computer.
sudo sfdisk -l
// create folder and mount external hdd (in usb caddy)
sudo mkdir /mnt/sdb
sudo chmod 777 /mnt/sdb
sudo mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/sdb /mnt/sdb
Restore the master boot record first..
//Master Boot Record
dd if=/mnt/sdb/fullbootsect.sda of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=48194
Next restore the partition table…
//Partition Table
sudo sfdisk /dev/sda < /mnt/sdb/sda_ptable
Restore partitions (1 at a time)
//Unzipping .BZ2 Image Files / Restoring To HDD
sudo chmod 777 /dev/sda1
sudo chmod 777 /dev/sda2
sudo chmod 777 /dev/sda3
sudo chmod 777 /dev/sda4
sudo bzip2 -cd /mnt/sdb/sda1_image.bz2 | dd of=/dev/sda1
sudo bzip2 -cd /mnt/sdb/sda2_image.bz2 | dd of=/dev/sda2
sudo bzip2 -cd /mnt/sdb/sda3_image.bz2 | dd of=/dev/sda3
sudo bzip2 -cd /mnt/sdb/sda4_image.bz2 | dd of=/dev/sda4
To check if all 4 partitions are restored mount them.
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda1
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda2
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda3
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda4
sudo mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
sudo mount -t linux-swap -o rw /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2 // linux-swap doesnt seem to work (auto doesnt either)
sudo mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/sda3 /mnt/sda3
sudo mount -t xfs -o rw /dev/sda4 /mnt/sda4
Shutdown ubuntu and remove restored drive, plug into the pcb and power it up.
It should have the bottom light on first, then the next one up.
Eventually it will all light up and move good as new, if it has a flashing light at the top of the pcb then it didnt work.
This is an issue with the bootsector being the wrong one or not backed up / restored correctly.
*edit*
If you had the problem I had (2 my books with the same mac address) then you need to change one of them.
This is very important because if you leave both mybooks online with same mac then they will both dc and not work.
Hookup your mybook to your main pc, remove any main os hdd's and bootup in ubuntu.
//make a dir
sudo mkdir /mnt/sda1
//Mount /dev/sda1 to /mnt/sda1/
sudo mount -t ext3 -o rw /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
//Chmod to write to HDD
sudo chmod 777 /mnt/sda1/
Open up the basic text editor in ubuntu and add the following lines of code to it..
ip link set eth0 down
ifconfig eth0 hw ether 00:90:A9:xx:xx:xx
ip link set eth0 up
Replace the xx:xx:xx with your mac address then file, save, save as macaddr.sh and save in /mnt/sda1/root/
Next step is to make sure this script loads at bootup, so we need to chmod it and add to startup.
sudo chmod 755 /mnt/sda1/root/macaddr.sh
sudo ln -s /mnt/sda1/root/macaddr.sh /etc/init.d/S1macaddr.sh
ifconfig to check your mac.
I left the network cable unplugged when i powered it on, waitied till it went to standbye then plugged it in and powered on.
I then used nmap to check the mac address
nmap -sP 192.168.x.x
Successful Unbrickers
http://www.wikidot.com/user:info/chriscross
http://www.wikidot.com/user:info/darion
http://www.wikidot.com/user:info/rdgp
http://www.wikidot.com/user:info/mooncat
http://www.wikidot.com/user:info/miketoff
http://www.wikidot.com/user:info/belatu
http://www.wikidot.com/user:info/davidjforsyth