How to unlock, mount Backblze recovery drive

Using a Linux machine to unlock a Backblaze restore drive is definitely possible, though the process differs slightly from the “plug-and-play” experience on Windows or macOS.

The Reality of “Unlock Software”

Backblaze does not provide specific Linux-compatible software to unlock their restore drives. The drives they send out (typically Western Digital My Passport models or similar) rely on hardware-based encryption. When you use the official Backblaze software on Windows or Mac, it automates the process of identifying the hardware, prompting you for the unlock code, and mounting the volume. On Linux, because there is no official driver or interface, you are interacting with a standard, encrypted mass-storage device.

Your Options for Unlocking on Linux

If you plug the drive into a Linux machine, the kernel will recognize the hardware, but it will appear as an encrypted volume that Linux cannot natively “unlock” without the proper interaction with the hardware controller. Here is how you can handle this:

1. Use a Windows or Mac machine for the initial unlock: This is the highly recommended path. Connect the drive to a Windows or Mac computer, use the official instructions to enter your Drive Unlock Code, and copy your files off the drive onto another device (or to a network share/NAS). Once the files are copied, you can move that second storage device to your Linux machine. This avoids the technical friction of dealing with proprietary hardware encryption on Linux.
2. Accessing via a Virtual Machine (VM): If you do not have another physical computer, you can pass the USB device through to a Windows or macOS Virtual Machine running on your Linux host (using software like VirtualBox or VMware).

• You will need to ensure your virtualization software has proper USB controller support.
• The VM will “see” the raw USB drive as if it were plugged into a physical Windows/Mac machine.
• You can then run the unlocking process within the VM and copy the files to a shared folder that your Linux host can access.

3. The “Advanced/Hacker” Route (Not Recommended): Some users have attempted to use Linux utilities designed for specific hardware encryption controllers (like wdpassport-utils or similar community-driven projects found on GitHub) to interface with the drive’s firmware to send the unlock command. Warning: This is risky. If the utility is incompatible with the specific revision of the hardware controller Backblaze sent you, you risk making the drive inaccessible or “bricking” the bridge between the drive and the USB port.

Summary of Best Practices

• Do not force it: If you don’t have experience with Linux command-line tools for hardware encryption, avoid trying to force the drive open on Linux.
• The “Bridge” Method: Use the VM or another computer method to get the data off the drive as quickly as possible. Once the data is moved to a standard, non-hardware-encrypted drive, you can easily plug that into your Linux machine and use it however you like.
• Check the Drive Unlock Code: No matter which method you use, remember that the “Unlock Code” is not your account password. You must retrieve the specific 10-15 character code from the “My Restores” section of your Backblaze web dashboard.