I recently purchased My Passport Essential SE USB3 1TB drive.
2 days ago I updated its original firmware (1.012) to incorrect firmware for Essential (1.014). It showed no problem and got it updated.
Tonight I checked the WD site and noticed there’s a new firmware for my drive.
I hoped it could correct my mistake. It detected my drive as Essential , but I decided to give it a go and it successfully updated to 1.015. I restarted the drive and ran the universal updater again hoping that this time it detects it as Essential SE. But it detects it as Essential again.
How can I upload the correct firmware for SE to this drive please?
I don’t know of any procedure to defeat the model check, other than an invasive hardware method that will void your warranty.
One non-invasive way would involve hacking the update software. For example, if the updater looks for a particular model ID, then you could try using a hex editor to change that ID. BTW, are you still able to access your data?
Could you post the links to the updates that you applied?
If RMA is an option, then the OP may like to try one potentially dangerous method.
Apply the next firmware update, but disconnect the USB cable while the update is in progress. This should result in corrupted firmware, which in turn should cause the drive to identify as an “Initio default controller”. In this state the drive has prepared itself to accept a firmware download in much the same way as a newly manufactured drive with a blank flash memory. Now run the update sofware a second time. You should now be able to specify the product type, ie Essential SE.
If this doesn’t work, you will have a brick, but at least you can RMA it. Note that no physical damage will have been done – in either case you will end up with a firmware problem