WD Purple new -> Dead

[Badriver]

Hi Guys,
Just bought a new WD purple 4TB on Amazon and it seems it is dead.
Already looked everywhere for a fix and could not find. I will return it and ask for a refund, but due to this Corona crises the post offices are not working 100% (which is ok of course).
So I decided to share this, so maybe one of you guys already had the same issue in the past.
So connecting by SATA internally and the unit is not recognized. Initially I thought it could be a problem with my dell (Bios limited) so I swap on HDD from another computer and inserted the WD purple. Dead.
Followed the WD instruction to start windows disk management and there I could see the expected scennario and that I would have to initiate the disk (see attachment). But unfortunately it returns an error when creating the partition.
Even tried to connect via USB3.0 with an adaptor and got the same result. Also run a tool that was able to write but not delete and provide a partition error.
Does anyone disagree it is dead?

So the question is. Was this bad luck? I'm afraid to replace it for a new WD purple again.
Does anyone recomend other HDD or can back it up that this was a rare case?
Didn't like so much about these reviews:

Was inclined to go for a seagate Skyhawk, but then also read some bad comments here in this forum.

Please share...

Thanks in advance
Badriver

 

[fenderman]

Hi Guys,
Just bought a new WD purple 4TB on Amazon and it seems it is dead.
Already looked everywhere for a fix and could not find. I will return it and ask for a refund, but due to this Corona crises the post offices are not working 100% (which is ok of course).
So I decided to share this, so maybe one of you guys already had the same issue in the past.
So connecting by SATA internally and the unit is not recognized. Initially I thought it could be a problem with my dell (Bios limited) so I swap on HDD from another computer and inserted the WD purple. Dead.
Followed the WD instruction to start windows disk management and there I could see the expected scennario and that I would have to initiate the disk (see attachment). But unfortunately it returns an error when creating the partition.
Even tried to connect via USB3.0 with an adaptor and got the same result. Also run a tool that was able to write but not delete and provide a partition error.
Does anyone disagree it is dead?

So the question is. Was this bad luck? I'm afraid to replace it for a new WD purple again.
Does anyone recomend other HDD or can back it up that this was a rare case?
Didn't like so much about these reviews:

Was inclined to go for a seagate Skyhawk, but then also read some bad comments here in this forum.

Please share...

Thanks in advance
Badriver

I have removed your link to the fake review site. Yes just buy another one. Every single drive on the market has failed new/used for someone out there. Either brand will work fine.

 

[Badriver]

Fake review site?! Sorry, just made a search in google for best surveillance hdd 2020.

Yes, the easy solution for me would be a replacement. Normally I can get it from amazon even before I return the faulty one.

But I'm not convinced 100% that it is broken. Still hopping that someone has passed by the same and has a good hint.
Just find it strange a new hdd. And I even considered buying used. So if this happen with a new HDD (independent of the brand) used is definitively not an option.

 

[fenderman]

Fake review site?! Sorry, just made a search in google for best surveillance hdd 2020.

Yes, the easy solution for me would be a replacement. Normally I can get it from amazon even before I return the faulty one.

But I'm not convinced 100% that it is broken. Still hopping that someone has passed by the same and has a good hint.
Just find it strange a new hdd. And I even considered buying used. So if this happen with a new HDD (independent of the brand) used is definitively not an option.

Yes, and you landed on a fake review site and did not even know it.
It may not be broken, though it looks like it is. My point simply is that yes, ever single hard drive model on the market arrives DOA for a tiny percentage of people. Not buying a replacement because you received a bad drive makes no sense.

 

[bqtchef]

Have you tried a low-level format?

 

[Badriver]

At this point (tried in 2 PCs and by SATA and USB) the disk in not recognized.
EaseUS partition manager will not see the disk atr all.
When I go to Disk management in windows (as WD support) it fails from step 4 to 5.

Western Digital Support | Western Digital

Find detailed answers to your support questions for your Western Digital products.

support-en.wd.com

On all methods I could think off it fails here.
Using the windoes diagnose tool will fail when trying to erase something from the disk.

Western Digital Support | Western Digital

Western Digital Support

support-en.wd.com

 

[weigle2]

I would try a different HD Utility like Hard Disk Sentinel. If that reports problems, then it is DOA and should be replaced by Amazon or WD under warranty.

 

[Badriver]

Was testing the all morning. Its broken I give up.
Forced everythin I could on the bios, and it poped up for some minutes allowing to start. Tried to format it and the process failed.
Then went back to normal (no allowing to initiate) and start making low but audible noises.
Asked now for a replacement and need to return this one in 30 days. I choose same model and same capacity. Lets see.
Btw, Swaped my 3TB WD green just for testing between PC, using sata and usb, and both methods without problems.
I will be sure when the new arrives, but I guess is really dead. Shipping stuff has this problems. If shops were open, would buy it there and jsut claim the refund from amazon.

 

[CCTVCam]

Do you have hard drive cloning program? One of those backup utilities that allows you to clone one drive onto another?

I've had difficulties in the past getting older PC's to see new hard drives. Often the drive is newer than what the BIOS can see. Sometimes a BIOS update on the pc fixes it. Other times it might be possible to clone a back up of an existing drive across to the new drive if the backup utility sees it in dos. The point with doing this is when you clone a drive you also clone the format including the partition table and disk information. I've had success doing this in the past and then simply re-formatting the drive in windows after it has been recognised by the pc to remove the cloned data. Failing that, you could simply have a dead drive.

 

[VorlonFrog]

Old, old hard drive trick: Put the drive in a zip-lock plastic bag, remove most of the air from the bag, seal it up, and put the drive in the freezer for a few hours. Take it out and IF it works, it's got a bad solder connection somewhere. Back it up or clone it while it's still cold and working, and do it quickly. As the drive warms up, it will go dead again.

 

[Badriver]

I updated my back in December.
Its a new board + cpu with updated bios. It's a rog strix x-570 gaming. Do not believe its my setup, but I could be wrong. That's why I was still trying.
But when the drive arrive was super silent. I had to put my hand on it to make sure it was working. In less than 24h I can hear it making some noises.
@CCTVCam - All utilities I tried, couldn't dettect the disk. not even diskpart in cmd. The only way I could see it was in "disk management" as sugested by WD support. But the next steps will fail.
@VorlonFrog - Maybe I give it a try. But in any case I don't have data there to backup, and cannot trust the hdd even if it would start working now.
Thanks guys

 

[TonyR]

I've bought close to 250 WD hard drives of various colors (blue, black, green and purple) and a Toshiba or 2 over the last 15 years and recall have only 1 DOA WD out of the box. When I've had that many that spin up perfectly and are recognized immediately if one hiccups even for a few seconds for me it's a sure sign it ain't going into the equipment...it's going back to the vendor or manufacturer.

I 'm not inclined to spend the time to format it, install the O/S, restore all the previously backed-up documents, etc. and have it hiccup again. But maybe that's just me.

 

[Badriver]

Hey guys,
Just give a follow up on this. Just received the replacement disk, and as expected it was basically plug and play.
It is not detected automatically, but this is the standard behaviour on this disks.
PS: My PC has a max on 3GB on specs, but it is working fine with the 4TB. (Bios was updated).
So we can conclude it was a case of DOA. Manufactor error, or just poorly transported. Normally amazon does a great job, but even on this second disk, it came on a paper box that would fit 100 disks.
It was warpped on bubble wrap but on a box of that size, it will move around like crazy.
thanks you all for your time to share and support.
Cheers

 

[LauraYuan]

In all probability, it is the SATA to USB Bridge electronics failure ( the HDD itself may be good). Generally, it requires formatting the drive. Have you tried to format the disk with diskpart? If you didn't back up important files, you can go with a third-party data recovery software first. I found a useful post which may be helpful: How to fix unallocated external hard drive without losing data?

BTW, WD purple work just not great. It was older models that seemed to die an early death and it was assumed it was caused by the increased random r/w cycles that it was designed not to do. Nowadays it seems like they make 1 drive and the firmware determines it's the function. But that's just my theory.

 

[spammenotinoz]

I had to change (possibly remove) a jumper for it to work on my Dell. This was years ago, something about master /slave detect. Hopefully this points you in the right / direction.

 

[TonyR]

I had to change (possibly remove) a jumper for it to work on my Dell. This was years ago, something about master /slave detect. Hopefully this points you in the right / direction.

Those were PATA (parallel) drives; no such jumper on the SATA (serial) drives intro'd in 2000 and which achieved a 99% desktop PC market share by 2008.
On the PATA drives you could also determine master/slave function by the drive's location in the ribbon cable using the CS (Cable Select) pin....it was a PITA. Hooray, SATA!

 

[spammenotinoz]

Those were PATA (parallel) drives; no such jumper on the SATA (serial) drives intro'd in 2000 and which achieved a 99% desktop PC market share by 2008.
On the PATA drives you could also determine master/slave function by the drive's location in the ribbon cable using the CS (Cable Select) pin....it was a PITA. Hooray, SATA!

I don’t recall what jumper it was but the drive was a wd purple using a sata interface. So may not be master /slave but recall having to modify it to get it working in my dell about 3 years ago. Probably changed the interface speed, just pointing OP to a hint and hope it helps
That drive is being removed this weekend, so I can check the exact model and jumper.

 

[Arjun]

Stop buying hard drives from Amazon, they do a bad job in terms of packing regardless of what country they're in.

 

[spammenotinoz]

Stop buying hard drives from Amazon, they do a bad job in terms of packing regardless of what country they're in.

Wish I had read this last week, my replacement WD Purple arrived today from Amazon AU and the packaging was a simple standard postage bag. No foam, or usual protection!!
Even shipping in a standard retail box would suffice!!
No labeling, the courier had no idea it was an electronic item!! WTF Amazon!!

 

[TonyR]

Wish I had read this last week, my replacement WD Purple arrived today from Amazon AU and the packaging was a simple standard postage bag. No foam, or usual protection!!
Even shipping in a standard retail box would suffice!!
No labeling, the courier had no idea it was an electronic item!! WTF Amazon!!

That's just not acceptable...I'd make some photos, send it back and tell them why.

I've bought probably 80-90 drives from amazon since 1997 and they were always either in a purpose-built hard drive box (with a cast plastic holder on each end that suspends the drive in the middle) or wrapped with 2 layers of good bubble wrap and then air-cell packed tightly in the middle of a suitably-sized cardboard box.

I haven't bought any HDD's in the last year but I can imagine what you got because they're not doing a good job on anything lately. Recently I got from amazon 2 bags of gluten-free granola cereal (wife has Celiac Disease, hence no gluten) and a smartphone case. They threw all 3 in a H-U-G-E box with like maybe 3 tiny air bags that did absolutely nothing. The 3 flew around inside the box during handling and the phone case further pulverized the cereal into dust. You don't have to have a PhD in physics to have a basic and working understanding of mass, inertia and box size to realize what poor packing can and will do to its contents.

And IMO, they have used COVID-19 as an excuse to delay shipping on items listed as Prime and pocket the savings. Items I received in 2 days now take a week. I'm still paying for Prime but I'll wager they are not paying UPS, FedEx and USPS what they did before.

I like amazon's selection and prices and the quick shipping used to put them over the top...one more episode and I figure I drop the hammer and drop Prime. Yeah, I know....Bezos won't miss me, but I was doing fine before amazon, I'll be OK without them. I bought over $25K from newegg from 2006 to 2013 so I might just go back to them for my electronic items anyway.