Knowing the very slow speeds of their external hard drives, WD decided to release a new firmware in order to increase the speed of the devices with only a few percents. This article is meant to help with the upgrade process providing a set of required information and steps.

1. open the administration web interface: http://DEVICE_NAME/ (where DEVICE_NAME may by the IP or the NAME of your MYBOOK).
2. Check the information available in the upper-right corner:

Device Name:  DEVICE_NAME  
Firmware: XX.XX.XX
Drive Status:  OK 

• The upgrade process will delete all the data in the root partition.
• All the applied patches and hacks will be lost.
• Most of the patches described in this site can still be installed after the upgrade.
• The data partition will not be affected
• Some setup information (IP, usernames, shares, etc) will be conserved with the new firmware.
• A few security bugs are fixed. There is no need to apply security patches described in this site.
• Perform the firmware update after all shares attached to the computer are disabled, WD Anywhere Access is stopped, and any mapped drives are disconnected.
• Consider backing up the system before starting the upgrade process.
• Proceed with the upgrade only after you understood everything implied in this process.

There are many possible ways to check for the available firmware. Two of them are: using the Web Interface and using the Direct Link. The first one is the easiest one, but the second one is provided as a reserve plan in case the first failed.

1. open the administration web interface: http://DEVICE_NAME/ (where DEVICE_NAME may by the IP or the NAME of your MYBOOK).
2. Select the General Setup tab.
3. The system will ask to authenticate. Enter the your administration username and password.
4. Click on Upgrade the System Firmware
5. If the system detects that there is a new firmware available will display this message and the Upgrade button.
6. By pressing the Upgrade button the firmware update process will start.

Depending on the current firmware and the device model there are different files available:

• Current version: 01.01.18
  • 2 disks edition – websupport.wdc.com/firmware/list.asp?type=wdg2nc&fw=01.01.18
  • 1 disk edition – websupport.wdc.com/firmware/list.asp?type=wdg1nc&fw=01.01.18
• Current version: 02.00.15 (or newer)
  • 2 disks edition – websupport.wdc.com/firmware/list.asp?type=wdg2nc&fw=02.00.15
  • 1 disk edition – websupport.wdc.com/firmware/list.asp?type=wdg1nc&fw=02.00.15

To start the update process enter the Upgrade the System Firmware utility by accessing:

http://DEVICE_NAME/auth/firmware_upgrade.pl?fwserver=LINK

where:

• DEVICE_NAME is the IP or the NAME of your MYBOOK
• LINK is the WD web support link chosen in the previous section (without the http:) ===== The update process ===== * During the update process the device will reboot twice. * The Shared Storage Manager utility will be unavailable. * The SSH access will be unavailable during and after the process. * The web browser may indicate Page not found. Refresh the page after 15 minutes or more. * The entire process may take more than 30 minutes; this includes the file download, too. ===== Related resources ===== * Hacking WD MyBook World Ed: Firmware 2.00.15 * New Firmware release discussion forum * WD MyBook World edition FAQ and Knowleadge base