WD Mypassport ssd wifi 4TB Upgrade

WD External and Portable SSD My Passport Wireless SSD
1

Hello, I own the WD Mypassport SSD Wifi with 1TB and would like to upgrade it to more disc space up to 4TB (or more). So after research I got the WD blue 2.5 SSD with 4TB and followed this youtube tutorial

Unfortunately, when updating firmware via SD Card, the process stops and all LEDs flash in rhythm 3x - pause -3x. Is this SSD incompatible? According to the Youtube comments, the ‘WD blue 3D Nand’ is compatible and the ‘WD blue SATA 2.5’ would seem not to be, but the serial numbers seem to be the same ( WDS400T2B0A). Does anyone else have experience with an SSD storage upgrade and can recommend a compatible 4TB (or more) that will fit 100%?

2

The same here!
I have 4TB hdd version v1.03.04
Tired update to 4TB WD blue 3D Nand
I tried firmware v1.03.04; as well as v1.04.17 which everyone said. It seems none of them can be installed to the ssd
After I put ssd on the motherboard, I can directly connect to mac and windows, via USB, it can be recognized well; somehow, firmware on SD card can not push the firmware to the ssd.
Right now, I am trying to disk-to-disk copy(from hdd to ssd); I doubt if it will work, since the wifi password part.

3

Hi, I had the same idea and tried to clone the 1tb ssd to the 4tb ssd. The result was that the 4Tb ssd was seperated in 2 partitions, one with 1tb space identical to the old ssd, and the rest was unused data. Anyway, I connected it to the MPW motherboard just to test if it will boot, but I only get the same blinking led like before.
I guess that the controller just don’t work with ssd above 2tb

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Mine original one is 4t wd blue hdd.

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After my 4t to 4t copy done, i will try to reboot. If not, i plan to save the original 4t disk image first, in case i damage it, because i keep playing with it. :slight_smile:

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Ok, maybe the controller is compatible with 4tb hdd, but with ssd I’m not sure… haven’t read any post of succesful upgrade with 4tb ssd yet. But yeah, keep on trying, I’m curious how it works out for you, please share your experience with your testing :slight_smile:

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I am also interested.

Shame someone doesn’t make an SSD device that has the Wireless passport functionality.
The WD attempt; which is a bit LARGER than the HDD analogous device was a bit ridiculous.

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I agree I really want a SSD version!

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I know this comes a little late, but today I tried my luck with the WD red 4tb SSD and it worked.
My main reasons for going with the red: more robust, better quality and according to SSDs - Google Sheets
same controller. I tried to research the controller of the previous HDD and also came up with Marvell (although I got no details on the version). It was a shot in the dark, but I was quite certain, as the dude in the video mentioned the Marvell controller. Apart from which, I also saw another video on YouTube with another guy having performed the 4tb upgrade with the old 3D NAND version.

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Wow, thx for the info, sounds awesome :slight_smile:
Did you update the firmware with sd card like in the video?

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@ewok79 Yeah. In the beginning, there’s no other way, cause the Firmware, as I understand it, is loaded onto the disk, so, when exchanging the disk, there’s literally no firmware. Afterwards you can do upgrades/reinstalls from the interface. As I saw no difference, I even tried the SSD firmware and that, too, installed without a hitch. Ain’t got the faintest clue, as to why WD’s offering seperate firmware for PRO and SSD in the first place, though.

Edit:

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Sorry, I can’t provide better proof. As you can see, I also did the battery mod. Once after the first flash, I had the fast blinking LEDs. Turned it off and on again, since then it worked without a hitch. In the middle of copying 2tb of data. These are the times USB gets in the way, takes forever :sweat_smile:

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As I see, you have the WD wireless pro which comes in original with HDD and black case. I own the WD wireless SSD, the one with the grey/orange case. I wonder if the method also works on this device, as the upgrade with 3D NAND version didn’t work for me. But yeah I can give it a try with the red one.

Can you provide me a link of the firmware that you used?

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I used this, because I got the pro. One of the commenters on the YouTube video posted success, when he tried the Pro firmware, instead of the SSD. But then again, that was back then. I couldn’t see any difference, or a good reason for WD providing two different FWs, when the drives basically work the same.
Just out of curiosity I also flashed the SSD firmware, over the browser UI this time, works and does exactly the same, no difference really. “Update” process went without a hitch, reporting success.

As for your upgrade endeavor, I really can’t be sure; there were people reporting success with 256G and 512G, but I also saw comments reporting failure to upgrade to 1TB. This dude managed to get 4TB 3D NAND blue working, which, too, was a catalyst for me to try, but I couldn’t get my hands on a 3D NAND, at least not for a reasonable price. That’s why I jumped to the red; that and the controller thing. The idea was to return it, if it wouldn’t work (Amazon - Germany; It wouldn’t have experienced a single read/write, if it wouldn’t have worked), cause I honestly don’t have any other use for that kinda drive.

EDIT: Pro/SSD shouldn’t be the issue here, rather, than the drive. I really can’t see a reason, especially not, since I also flashed the SSD Firmware, as mentioned before.

On another note I’d love to have a genuine Wireless SSD, the rubber bumper’s just so nice, but they’re too ■■■■ rare here in Germany. And when you finally find one, they’ll charge an arm and a leg for it. Outrageous.

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Is this the part number for the 4TB WD Red you used: WDS400T1R0A. Thanks.

1 Like
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“Just out of curiosity I also flashed the SSD firmware, over the browser UI this time, works and does exactly the same, no difference really. “Update” process went without a hitch, reporting success.”

Du bist aus Deutschland, cool :smile::+1:t2:
Das SSD firmware Update über den Browser, das funzt aber doch nur wenn bereits auf der neuen SSD eine WD Firmware drauf ist?
Also bei einer blanken WD red 4TB müsste ich erst über den Flash per Micro SD die Firmware einspielen? Sonst gibt es ja kein Browser Interface… oder? Und danach kann man am Browser updaten?

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Seems to be. I just went with the model descritpion, cause there’s only the SA500 among the Red series and they only use Marvell controllers in that lineup. This is, what I bought.

Btw. good to see you again danny :smile: jumped ship on reddit and came over here, as I see :smile:

Kann ich leider, weder bestätigen, noch verneinen, weil ich direkt die Pro FW geflasht habe, weil ja bereits Nutzer in der Vergangenheit Fehlschläge mit der SSD Firmware gemeldet haben :sweat_smile:

Dazu muss ich aber noch anmerken, dass in der Vergangenheit hauptsächlich Pro Nutzer das Experiment durchgezogen haben. Hat aber den Hintergrund, dass die Pro schon seit eh und je die günstigere Variante war.

Exemplarische Rechnung: Pro gebraucht (~100€) + SSD WD Red (300€) = 400€. My Passport Wireless SSD mit 2TB bei cyberport bspw. 800€. Siehst schon den Unterschied.

Hat sich vielleicht auch über die Zeit bei WD so eingependelt, dass Pro und SSD, firmwaretechnisch, einfach gleich gemacht wurden, aber beide Varianten behalten wurden, um Verwirrung unter den Nutzern vorzubeugen?!

Korrekt. Ich bin mir zwar nicht sicher, aber ich bin unter den Kommentaren der diversen Nutzer (hauptsächlich, die, bei denen es (Anfangs?!) nicht geklappt hat) über Anmerkungen gestolpert, andere SD Karten zu verwenden. Ich hatte ‘ne 1GB Karte von meinem alten Becker Navi unter den Asservaten, die hab’ ich dann entsprechend missbraucht :smile:

Korrekt und korrekt. Obwohl das nächste “Update”, wenn du’s so schimpfen willst, sinnfrei ist. Ich hab’s lediglich aus Neugierde gemacht (Pro FW<<>>SSD FW). Gab 'ne Erfolgsmeldung und es hat sich absolut NICHTS geändert. Schon nach dem Flash der Pro FW wurde die Platte direkt als “My Passport SSD” im Interface angezeigt. Einzige Unterschiede zum Originalen: das Gehäuse und der Speicher :slightly_smiling_face:

EDIT: @ewok79 was deinen ersten Versuch angeht, verweise ich dich mal auf meine Diskussion auf Reddit mit dem Nutzer über dir. Da hab’ ich bereits alle Details meiner Vorarbeit geschildert. Ich kann, jedoch, nichts genaueres dazu sagen, da ich’s nicht selber probiert habe. Fakt bleibt, jedoch, dass die 3D NAND, blue und blue SA510 verschiedene lineups sind. Ich hab’ mich nicht an die 2nd Gen blue getraut, weil ich sie in meiner vertrauten Liste nicht finden konnte, das scheint so 'n Zwischending zwischen 3D NAND und SA510 zu sein. Mit der 3D NAND wurden ja bereits zahllose Erfolge gemeldet, wie du schon weißt.

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Ok vielen Dank! Also ein Versuch wäre es wert :smile:

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I used to have an account here! I was part of the discussion years ago when people were first looking into it. I wanted a less expensive alternative to the Gnarbox 2.0 but I abandoned it because no one was able to get it moving forward.

In any case, I’m going to look into ordering a WDS400T1R0A and give it a try. It’s a shame the WDS400T2B0A doesn’t work, it would be so much easier on my wallet.

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Ich hoffe von deiner Erfolgsgeschichte zu hören :wink:

I’m eagerly waiting to hear your story of success, as well, my friend :wink:
I know, what you mean, but think of it this way: the Red lineup is in any case a better investment, quality-wise.
Apart from which, as I told ewok79, I can neither confirm, nor deny the WDS400T2B0A working. ewok79 reported at the beginning of this thread, that his endeavors were a bust, which is why I told him, that I believe the 3D NAND (multiple reports of success), the blue (no success on ewok79’s side) and the blue SA510 (definitely no success, crappy controller, no DRAM) are different blue lineups and I picked the Red, over the blue, because the 2nd Gen blue wasn’t even listed among the other SSDs, where I checked the controllers.
You could go for blue, but only 3D NAND, if anything, and that’d practically be more expensive, than the Red with the additional downside of being “just” blue.

I read about the Gnarbox; the concept and the idea is pretty neat. From what I could see, it’s got some decent hardware on the board, considering the ICs. But storage space-wise not exactly my cup of tea and also lacks the space and interface to perform proper upgrades, not even mentioning battery performance and apps/app interfaces.
I know WD almost never does a good job when it comes to maintenance and customer support. But this piece of hardware is good enough for us to keep pushing forward, I believe.

I do however strongly recommend both of you do the battery mod. There’s a little light soldering involved, but if you ain’t got 2 left hands, it should be doable. I can point at this Thread to be your guide. I also recently stumbled upon a company in the UK doing 3D prints, where I got to talk to the guy and he agreed to provide a modified version of the 18650 sleds, where the BMS can also safely be tucked away, which would provide us with easy means to exchange dead cells in the future and spare you the headache of soldering the cells themselves (which of course can also be very dangerous, as I can tell from my own experience). I’m currently waiting on my order. In any case pre-paralleled (if you can call it this) contacts should be used, to keep the soldering to a minimum and the construction, as stable, as possible and also proper cables, from which I can also report of my own experience is imperative, as it REALLY facilitates the soldering.

UPDATE: what I forgot to mention: since my SSD upgrade my USB transfer rates (read/write) went up to 3x-5x of what they used to be, when I was on HDD :metal:

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My 4TB Red is arriving today, so hopefully I’ll the upgrade goes well.

Do you know the size of the BMS? I want to order the 18650 sleds you mentioned as a backup but I don’t want to cut open the battery pack since it’s still working and giving me a decent charge. Thanks in advance.