@nunjammin, thats a good idea. The hard drives are completely intact and accessible when connected to a SATA cable when the right software or in your case O.S. is used.
I personally bought (another expense) some software that allowed me to pull vital info off my drive on a Windows system.
Currently the device is fully functional, rolled back to 1.40, with no error lights. Solid blue... however the password applied on 1.41 is still present so i still can’t access the device.
I have heard nothing of recent from Buffalo other than RMAing the device. The last i heard was that their Japan and U.S. tech teams are looking into this. To be honest they need to address this issue sooner rather than later, its a shocking mistake to make from a brand perspective. Again offical software from the official source locking their own product. In short the data is still intact, deleting the partition is not a satisfactory method of erasing data for RMAing a storage device.
I hate using analogies however... it’s like taking the car in for a complimentry service, the garage installing new locks, yet losing the key. Then offering to replace the whole car with a new one but a copy of your bank details and lifes work is in the glove box of the old!
I actually really like Buffalo products and own two, the CHS, which i replaced with the LS-VWL due to the unsatisfactory speeds of the CHS.