Solved: External WD Hard Disk Problem

My old Western Digital HDD’s power supply died down on me just when I needed my files the most. Please take note that I’m referring to the old WD Elements, with the 5-pin power supply and not the recently upgraded ones with A/C Adapters.

At first, I wasn’t pretty sure if it was the power supply or the drive itself, but when I looked it up online, everyone was ranting on how crappy the power supply was. And the fact that it was WD exclusive, replacing it was a headache.

Here’s what happened:

Model name: WD Elements External HDD
Model no: WDE1U***0A (*How many GBs)
HDD Type: 3.5″
Bus Interface: SATA / IDE
Power Supply Model No: DA-30C01

There are three full-proof solutions! Results may vary.

1. Dismantle HDD
Personally, this is much more convenient and time-saving. You just extract all the screws on the casing, remove the wires, and pull the HDD-thingy out like so:

But try to be careful as to not break anything. Once you extract the HDD, you have two options:

A. Hook It Up Your Motherboard
If you have an extra slot for one more hard drive in your motherboard, this should do. Here’s a straightforward procedure in how to install a new hard-drive c/o buildeasypc.com: http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/insthdd.htm

B. Buy a New Casing
This is what I did. I just went to PC Express in Katipunan with my naked HDD and covered it with a new casing for 500PHP. You can visit their website to locate the nearest branch to you: http://pcx.com.ph

2. Buy a New Power Supply
I tried this first, but to no avail. You can go to http://ebay.com and search for the power supply’s model no: DA-30C01. Or you can go here: http://www.apd.com.tw/contents/products_01.asp?majcidx=1 There should be Chinese replicas showing at the results. Problem is, you have to import and wait for it.

I called the distributors of WD in the Philippines, but they said they don’t sell or provide such. I went to Greenhills and Gilmore, the two computer capitals in the city, for a Chinese replica or customized one. As expected, there was zilch. So the only way to get a new power supply is to import it from abroad.

Those who complained early the US, AU and UK were lucky enough to be provided with free power adapters c/o Western Digital. But they stopped production when the complaints exponentially amassed. This is where Asian Power Devices (APD) came in and provided the HDD patrons with the replicas.

The all-new Western Digital Hard Disk Drives!

I just bought one of the latest HDDs of Western Digital (Yes, I’m still a WD user) and thank God they replaced that crappy 5-pin power supply with just an A/C one. So far, this 1TB beauty hasn’t given me any problems. I can see this one has promising longevity.


Related posts:

14 Things You’ll Almost Always See in Anime – Part 2
ToyCon June 2011 Photos
Ibanez ART120 Review and Test Drive
Boracay Sabbatical
New Twitter Layout: How to Customize Headers!
iPad HDMI Adapter from CD-R King
Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG Macro Review
Kanto Freestyle Breakfast, Marikina!
TAGS: 3.5" external hard disk, 3.5" external hard disk problem solved, apec external hdd box, , DA-30C01, external hard disk, external hdd problem, external hdd problem solved, , pcx.com.ph, , Solved: External WD Hard Disk Problem, wd hdd, WDE1U***0A, WDE1U***0A problem solved, western digital, western digital DA-30C01, western digital DA-30C01 problem solved, Western Digital External Hard Disk, western digital hard disk, western digital hdd problem, western digital power supply DA-30C01, Western Digital WDE1U***0A

1 Comment

  1. Karan Madan says:
    August 9, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    This is a great external hard drive for expanding your digital storage capacity. I was in need for added storage and wanted to go for the 2TB WD Elements External Hard Drive. I wasn’t really happy with the prices I was seeing for the 2TB hard drive, and that is when I decided to check up on the 1.5TB drives. WOW! I was amazed at the price Amazon was offering these drives and I got two of them. Yes, two! (My work requires that kind of storage space)
    I got 3TB worth of storage for the price of a 2TB External hard drive!

    That said, let us talk about the performance of these drives –

    1) Build and form factor – Nice sleek looking enclosures. All black, the sides are fingerprint magnets with a glossy finish. The top and bottom panels have a matte finish. Looks matter to me, even if it just an external drive. The microUSB and AC sockets are closely spaced with a small white indicator light besides them. All in all very compact, sleek, and aesthetically pleasing device.
    2) Performance – I am getting constantly good speeds on these drives. Reads at 30MB/s and writes at about 24MB/s, which is good and fast enough for my needs.

    As always, users have to be careful with all hard drives, internal or external. I am handling my drives with the utmost care. I don’t want to lose any important data.

    Finally, this drive is a complete value for money purchase. I say go for it if you are out looking for a large capacity external hard drive.

    Reply

    Leave a Comment