TestDisk does not detect my external hard drive

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SammySheppard
Posts: 2
Joined: 27 Jan 2015, 02:29

TestDisk does not detect my external hard drive

#1 Post by SammySheppard »

Hello All!

I am using a Mac Pro (mid 2012) running Yosemite.

I thought my WD 4TB My Book Studio Edition II bit the dust last week. I made the mistake of taking the 2 x 2TB hard drives out of the enclosure, and trying to load them into an external SATA dock. I must have initialized the drives in the process.

When I put the 2 x 2TB hard drives back into the enclosure, it was recognized by disk utility as an unformatted hard drive.

I thought I would try TestDisk to try to recover my files, however, TestDisk does not detect the hard drive. Any ideas?

Thanks!

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cgrenier
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Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 15:08
Location: Le Perreux Sur Marne, France
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Re: TestDisk does not detect my external hard drive

#2 Post by cgrenier »

When you run TestDisk, choose [sudo] to get root (administrator) rights, this way all your disks should be detected.

SammySheppard
Posts: 2
Joined: 27 Jan 2015, 02:29

Re: TestDisk does not detect my external hard drive

#3 Post by SammySheppard »

Thank for the reply, cgrenier!

My work flow is as follows:

The drive will only be recognized by my Mac when it is plugged in via eSATA. When I plug it in, I get this message:

"The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." And it gives me three options: Initialize.. Ignore or Eject.

I choose Ignore.

After which, I go into disk utility, and the drive shows up in there. The specifications in the lower left hand side of the window are as follows:

Disk Description : WD My Book Media
Total Capacity : 0 Bytes
Connection Bus : SCSI
Write Status : Read/Write
Connection Type : External
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Connection ID : SCSI Target ID 15, Logical Unit 0
Partition Map Scheme : Unformatted

When I open testdisk, the "Create, Append, No Log" menu comes up, I continue using the "Create" function. It leads me to another menu, where I choose Sudo, type in my password, and then it takes me back to the "Create, Append, No Log" menu. I choose "Create" and the attached picture is what I get.

I can't tell which drive is the one I need to choose. Thanks!
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