Friday 14 September 2007

OFF TO CORSICA!

Finally! The weekend has landed and tomorrow I am going on my vacation. I am gonna spend next two weeks on Corsica. The island of my dreams! Beautiful countryside, mountains made for trekking and lovely beaches.

Cheers, you queers.

Monday 10 September 2007

How to open the Western Digital My Book 320GB

As a reference (with photos) I will use this article from the user who opened his 500GB version. (it slightly differs). This is not written for the purpose of exchanging the drives or making it internal forever, but only when you screw up your disk with the Firmware Upgrade 1.08a and it is dead (disk is NOT dead, disk works like charm, but the mainboard of the external device is dead, i. e. without any firmware at all). !!!And beware that you can lose your warranty when you open the case!!!

Step one:
No need to identify the corner screw, because there is no such thing in the 320GB Premium version. So the step one would be very carefully (milimeter after milimeter) putting out the rubber straps off the disk. (At some points - up and down parts) you can not put it off, because it is really sticked with some kind of glue. But you can strip it from the rubber at the corners and then (the glue is every where, but not that much) when you see the hole (where the rubber was) you can put some screwdriver inside.

Step two-step five
The construction of this version is different, so you really need to use the screwdriver centimeter after centimeter until the case just pops out.

Step six
You can unscrew only one of the screws in here. That one in the left upper corner. Your goal is to save the data, so it does not matter, when you can not unscrew all the three screws.

Step seven.
Who cares abotu the LED, you need the disk. Leave it alone.

Step eight and step nine.
Only unscrew those four screws from the bottom. Then remove the SATA cables. (Over the sata cables is aluminium strap, so put that out carefully before).

Step ten-Step Fourteen
No need to do that. Just unscrew the four another screws from the TOP of the disk. And then you can put it out of the plastic shell. Disk is now accessible to the SATA connectors in your PC (it does not matter, that it has some kind of metal-shell-crap on it). And the disk is now fully working internal WD Caviar version.

Now save your data to another disk (and money, too, because those authorized recovery companies of the WD charge really shitloads of money for this easy crap) .

After saving the data, you can reformat it (why returning back internal working disk with your personall data). You can even use Hiren's Boot CD and run some proggy like Killdisk to safely erase all your data and then format it... (cause there is nothing easier then recover the data from formatted disk)

And now do all the steps in reverse. First of all put that rubber strap on the plasic shell where the disk is seated - it is easy (sometimes little tricky, but nothing impossibble). You can use the screwdriver before and screw all those eight screws (from the top and the bottom) and the ninth little screw for the LED control.

Now only click the case back on it and you have a dead non working external MyBook again. It is much easier to put that rubber straps on before clicking that case back on it.

Now you can try your luck, if the reseller grants you exchange of the disk for the working one (because you void you warranty with opening the case).

Sunday 9 September 2007

Western Digital My Book Firmware Upgrade Error

First of all if you are a lucky owner of a Western Digital My Book Premium 320 GB external hard disk (or any other version). Here is a little hint for you.

!!DO NOT EVER TRY TO UPGRADE THE FIRMWARE!!

I actually bought that bastard and tried to set it up with FireWire cable but it was not working. So I came across the official website http://support.wdc.com and downloaded here

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=19&swid=65

the "Firmware Upgrade 1.08a" which should repair the problem with the nonrecognizing two MyBook disks connected via FireWire cable. BUT!!

This whole firmware Upgrade COMPLETELY SCREWS YOUR HARD DRIVE. Because during the process it firstly erases your firmware and after that it just says that

OPERATION WAS ABORTED BY DEVICE. Whell shit happens, you thought, I will not use the FireWire if it can not be upgraded. But hell no! The whole disk is screwed from this point!

Windows does not recognize the disk anymore from this point and when you pull out the plug and pull it in again, it just installs the "Black Oxford USB Device". Which is nothing but a crap.

So. I googled it through, and I am not the only one, who had the same trouble with the disk! For example here and here. The funny thing is, that actually the disk itself (when you pull it out of that classy MyBook design case) should be working. But I had not paid tripple the price for internal WD Caviar 320 GB hard disk.

THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE OF THE WESTERN DIGITAL COMPANY, THAT IS HAS A CORRUPTED FIRMWARE UPGRADE ON THEIR SITE! If you want to use your disk, do not upgrade the firmware (even if it does not work through FireWire), cause at least you will have an USB disk. (Then I do not know what is the point in buying the more expensive version with FireWire support).

P.S. The most funny thing (IRONY) about this is the whole e-mail conversation by another buyer of the disk with Western Digital Support.

Tuesday 4 September 2007

Wizard of Oz

I really do not know, what Americans see so special about this crappiest movie of all the times. I have seen it yesterday and I was so bored that I fell asleep at one point.

All the male characters (tinman, scarecrow and lion) are acting lika gays (mostly the lion is one heck of a supergay) and Dorothy is so overplaying that she is almost unwatchable.

The ending was such lame (that she dreamt it all... oh where did I seen it before, Alice in Wonderland from 1865?) and her last line about how she wanted to look for the happiness in the outside world, but all she desired for is at her backyard, aaah. Crap crap crap. That was terrible.

I hope that I will piss of about 200 millions Americans with saying, that Wizard of Oz was not only bad, it was terrible and merely unwatchable.

Do not watch the man behind the curtain...