WD Passport won't open after Catalina update

Questions
1

I updated my iMac to Catalina recently, but can’t seem to access my WD Passport hard drive. Whenever I attempt to open the drive I get the following message:

“DriveUnlock” needs to be updated.

The developer of this app needs to update it to work with this version of macOS. Contact the developer for more information.

Is the drive a dud? It’s only a couple of years old. Is there something I can do to fix this issue?

2

I don’t have a Western Digital hard drive, but this sound like an issue with Macs only allowing 64-bit apps now. The Passport is a pretty popular hard drive. My guess is that it contains some 32-bit software and that there will be a patch out shortly.

This is the same problem as old versions of photoshop being incompatible with Catalina.

3

Have you tried updating the hard drive’s software?

I found this post on the WD forums, which appears to be discussing the same issue with the Passport not unlocking.

I’ve got some good news!

Here’s a link to the WD security download for Mac: https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=172#ctl00_WD_rpSoftwareMac_ctl03_lbtnExpand

I can confirm that WD Security is installable AND does work on MacOS Catalina on MacBook Pro (late 2014) models!

Install WD security and run the app. When prompted, plugin your Passport. It will then prompt you to enter your Passport password. From there, you’ll be greeted with options to update your security settings which include options to (1) remove your password, (2) set a new password, (3) add auto-unlock to your computer, and a few other items.

Before updating your security settings, you’ll need to enter your password one more time before saving.

I just did this and my drive works again on Catalina!

That seems to have worked for several people. Maybe download that and report back?

4

I gave up on Western Digital after I had two drives fail after about a year in my PC. I know external drives are slightly different, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

If you’re looking for something similar, I’ve got a Seagate Backup Plus. It’s been a great small hard drive and has been going strong for about 3 years.