It makes me so angry dealing with WD junk. I just spent a whole day and a half moving everything off a MyCloud, updating the firmware to the latest then factory-resetting the unit only to find the same old amateurish WD bugs: Can’t generate access code; can’t connect via mobile device; can’t add a user email address; constantly “Updating” then an error. Complete rubbish, even after all this time and firmware releases. WD couldn’t write a decent firmware if its life depended on it. (Which it probably does.)
Your experience is why I don’t have My Cloud configured for access outside of my home - this also provides me the ability to adopt it ain’t broke so I’m not fixing it - once I had it working as a backup repository and a central sharing device for all 7 devices in my home I WILL NOT upgrade the firmware.
###This position is totally not suggested for those folks accessing over the Internet.
Not sure why you would spend time removing files from the My Cloud prior to updating or upgrading the firmware. The firmware upgrade/update does not normally affect user Share files.
Have you tried performing a 4 second system reset or a 40 second system restore via the reset button on the back of the My Cloud? Sometimes a reset or restore can fix certain weird issues with the My Cloud post firmware update/upgrade.
Other then that I’ve not experienced the other issues you are complaining about on the latest v4.x firmware. No problems generating a code, no problems adding an email address, no “updating” then error message.
Does the My Cloud firmware have its problems? Yes. There are numerous threads discussing several long standing issues with the firmware that most likely will never be changed or fixed. But for the most part, for most people, the My Cloud firmware works as coded/designed. If it didn’t you’d see way more complaints by people in these user to user subforums. In certain cases people are blaming the WD My Cloud for issues that are actually caused by their computer OS.
In the end* I did get this going again. But … why does WD not simply test its products more thoroughly? I’m an IT person by profession and if I have trouble, it’s no wonder that the many other people in these forums are having difficulty.
@Bennor: WD actually strongly suggests backing up data before upgrading F/W. In other things I’ve read, restoring the device to factory is advised after F/W upgrade and, as you suggest “… a reset or restore can fix certain weird issues …”. But why do these “weird issues” persist?
@PJPfeiffer: Yes, the truth is that users are scared of changing anything - settings, F/W, etc - on these things because of the fear of something going wrong. Because it often does.
Here’s a case in point for WD to consider: Why is it that a safepoint backup from a MyCloud to a MyBook fails? Both WD devices, and an advertised feature, yet it falls over halfway through. That’s simply unacceptable.
* Two more hours and a system reset later. And, full disclosure, I did receive an offer from a WD moderator to assist.
Just to further illustrate the point that WD is utterly inept, I just had a MyPassport drive bricked by WD’s own WDFirmwareUpdater utilty. Took me three different (WIn7 64) machines to get the utility to even complete the process and when it did, it just reported that it had failed and to unplug and re-plug-in the drive, unplug all other USB devices except keyboard/mouse, etc and try again. Move to another machine after the device was no longer recognized. Then to another. Dead and gone. (I’d luckily moved all the data off it - refer earlier post as to why.)
WD drive + WD application = Dead drive. Thanks very much WD.
In the interests of fair’s fair, a WD support person contacted me about the MyPassport drive and provided a link to a new firmware updater. And it worked.
Here’s the link, though I can’t vouch for it still being current when you read this.
[download removed for product safety]
I hope it works for anyone having similar problems. Note: it takes quite a long time to complete the update, around 5 minutes.
This firmware update could actually damage a drive if it is not the correct model. Please contact support so we can verify that you have the correct model of drive for this firmware update, and we will assist you with it.
- I was provided this utility by WD support! Also, it doesn’t recognize my MyPasswort Essentials and could therefore do no damage to it. This is likely - and should be! - the same for other unsupported drives.
- Don’t you think WD should not put out any utility that might damage a drive?
- You realize that the thing that did the damage my drive was a previous release of the WD firmware update utility, right?
The ridiculousness continues unabated, I see.
