Our "My Book Pro Edition" no longer appears as a drive

It would appear to be 12 VDC for that type of western digital my book external hard drive. Found a oem selling them on Amazon: T-Power AC Adapter for Western Digital APD DA-48m12 My Book Pro Edition 500GB~2TB drives WD50001032-001 WD4000D032 HDD WD1600B014-RNU WDXUL2500BB wd6400h1u WD1200B007 HDD WDG2TP10000N NAS Network HDD

Try replacing your usb cable that connects the drive to your mac. Also, try other available usb ports.

have you checked you usb connection? try unplugging it then plugging it back in see if computer recognises it then if not chances are your drive has failed

This appears to be a common occurrence with the My Book. It may be a heat dissipation problem from leaving the unit on for longer than it takes to back up your data.

I think you might need technical support from Western Digital. Do you have an alternate backup?

Check the power supply with a volt meter.

There are several reasons this can happen, first you may not have the cables all plugged in, double check to be sure. Second you may not be getting power, is the light on? Third the circuitry in the enclosure may be failed, when you plug in the drive do you see anything trying to install? Fourth the drive may be failed/failing, in this case you may need a pro.

Reply back with the above info and I can offer you some more assistance in narrowing the problem down.

Chris

Hi,

If the lights are lit and you can hear the drive spin up power is likely fine, you state you tested the USB cable so we'll assume that's fine. This leaves two large possibilities left, first the drive circuitry may have failed. If this is the case you should still see the USB Mass Storage Controller in your Device Manager. This will mean you need professonial assistance recovering you files.

If the USB Mass Storage doesn't show up in device manager you may be in luck and it may be the USB circuitry that has failed. If this is the case, pop into any reputable PC shop and have the techs move the harddrive into a new enclosure to test it. If it works there, buy the new enclosure and you're on your way. If it doesn't again you will likely need a recovery pro.

If you need a recovery pro, reply back here by adding a comment including your Country, State and City and I will refer a nearby Pro who can assist you further.

Hope this helps FixYa,

Chris

Don't use a power strip or surge protector.... try to connect the power supply adapter directly to a wall socket. Always safely remove hardware after use

That sounds like a head crash. You should take to a service center and get it fixed and/or inspected.

You can probably reconnect just by unplugging and replugging the drive (either the USB or the power cable)

failing that, rebooting the computer often works