External hard drives keep ejecting

[mholdef]

I have external hard drives that keep ejecting on their own (and/or my Studio display goes black then reopens normally). I noticed happens mainly when using Lightroom.

One additional thing I noticed is my Lightroom Catalog is ober 4 GB (and I received a message about this with no clear instruction what to do BTW)

I'm using Mac Sonoma 14.6.1.

At first I thought was a hard drive faiure, so I replaced the disk.

Then I did a reinstall of Mac Sonoma, but issue this there ...

Anyone else experience this and found a solution ?

Thanks

Mark

 

[Htbaa]

Have you tried a different cable to connect the hard drive? Maybe it looses connection because of a faulty cable.

 

[mholdef]

Have you tried a different cable to connect the hard drive? Maybe it looses connection because of a faulty cable.

Yes, I have. I also tried connecting with a different adapter, as well as connecting drives directly to the Macbook Pro instead of through the Apple Studio Display

 

[MarshallG]

Have you tried a different cable to connect the hard drive? Maybe it looses connection because of a faulty cable.

Yes, I have. I also tried connecting with a different adapter, as well as connecting drives directly to the Macbook Pro instead of through the Apple Studio Display

Cables are a more complex subject than they seem. The USB Consortium has done a horrible job with labeling requirements.

With a USB-C to USB-C cable, it can be a cable that supports 3A of power and USB 2.0, and nothing else. Or it can support 100W of power delivery and USB 2.0 (480 mb/s). Really!

You want to be sure that you have certified ultra high speed cables, and whether power delivery matters or not is another issue. With all that said, sometimes when my laptop sleeps, it ejects drives. I’ve been thinking of just writing up some AppleScripts which automatically eject drives after some time, and another that I click to re-mount the drive.

Apple OS-X uses write caching, which makes external drives much faster, but poses a danger if the drive suddenly unmounts. However, the caches do get written to the drive after a write operation, so if it’s randomly ejected after some idle period, no data corruption occurs, despite the dire warnings of the operating system.

 

[Zorgon2]

I have external hard drives that keep ejecting on their own (and/or my Studio display goes black then reopens normally). I noticed happens mainly when using Lightroom.

One additional thing I noticed is my Lightroom Catalog is ober 4 GB (and I received a message about this with no clear instruction what to do BTW)

I'm using Mac Sonoma 14.6.1.

At first I thought was a hard drive faiure, so I replaced the disk.

Then I did a reinstall of Mac Sonoma, but issue this there ...

Anyone else experience this and found a solution ?

Thanks

Mark

How are the drives formatted?

A mechanical HDD should be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

An SSD should be formatted as APFS

If you're using the drive straight out of the box, the format is most likely exFAT which can cause issues.

 

[Nick on the Baltic]

A 4GB file shouldn't be a problem unless your file system is FAT/FAT32.

The ejecting problem seems to be fairly common, going back several OS versions. Never seems to have been clarified whether it was a software problem or hardware related. Some folk seemed to associate it with the Mac sleeping, or the drive sleeping, others with poor quality cables, others with specific models of drive.

The display going black sounds like the display mode/resolution is changing, though if it happened when you disk was connected to the display there many be a link there.

tl;dr it happens, nobody know why :-(

 

[lightandaprayer]

mholdef wrote: At first I thought was a hard drive failure, so I replaced the disk.

When you suspect that an internal or external drive is having issues you can use Apple's Disk Utility (located in Applications/Utilities) to diagnose and possibly repair it.

But since Disk Utility is very limited in the amount of information it provides users regarding the overall condition of the drive, many of us use third-party utilities. Some apps provide 24/7 monitoring and alerts when something is amiss.

For some years now I have used DriveDx . It monitors a variety of drive health indicators and has health status alerts. One thing I like is that I can easily access the app via an icon in the Finder Menu Bar and it has a S.M.A.R.T. status dot (green is everything OK).

While DriveDx cannot repair disks, it can display up to 15 health indicators and can provide an early warning that it may be time to repair/replace a drive. It can also save you money when it confirms the drive status is good.

It should be noted that while current internal SSDs are usually fully supported, the level of monitoring of external SSDs depends on variables such as the SSD/enclosure hardware & firmware as well as how it is connected to the Mac eg. USB 3 vs. Thunderbolt, etc.

I recommend checking out Knowledge Base & Troubleshooting (FAQ) particularly External USB/FireWire Drives Support, Hardware Support Issues and Known Drive Firmware Issues.

Of course, running the utility during the free demo period will show you the compatibility of your current hardware, so that's a must-do before buying a license.

DriveDx is currently $20 (regularly $25) for a standard personal license for up to 3 computers.

 

[Saint 112]

I was having a similar issue.

I bought a MacBook air and a dock to connect HDs and SSDs I already had. I never had issues with my Mini.

I started having issues with ejections. Sometimes the external monitor would turn black too. I eventually found out it was the monitor cable that was faulty. It was the one that had been bundled by the vendor (HP). After I replaced it everything was OK.

 

[Htbaa]

I was having a similar issue.

I bought a MacBook air and a dock to connect HDs and SSDs I already had. I never had issues with my Mini.

I started having issues with ejections. Sometimes the external monitor would turn black too. I eventually found out it was the monitor cable that was faulty. It was the one that had been bundled by the vendor (HP). After I replaced it everything was OK.

To add in on this with my MacBook Pro I had issues with external monitors going into sleep and not coming back. Had to replug the USB-C dock to have it fixed. I recently got a new 4K monitor and found out my dock was limited to 30hz with HDMI 4K, so got another dock that didn't have that issue. But again I had issues where the monitor would not wake up. Eventually I switched from HDMI to DisplayPort and issue resolved.

So, if it's connected to some USB-C dock/hub that might be the cause of it as well. So far I haven't had any issues with external disks or other devices disconnect. But might be something to look into to.

 

[mholdef]

I was having a similar issue.

I bought a MacBook air and a dock to connect HDs and SSDs I already had. I never had issues with my Mini.

I started having issues with ejections. Sometimes the external monitor would turn black too. I eventually found out it was the monitor cable that was faulty. It was the one that had been bundled by the vendor (HP). After I replaced it everything was OK.

To add in on this with my MacBook Pro I had issues with external monitors going into sleep and not coming back. Had to replug the USB-C dock to have it fixed. I recently got a new 4K monitor and found out my dock was limited to 30hz with HDMI 4K, so got another dock that didn't have that issue. But again I had issues where the monitor would not wake up. Eventually I switched from HDMI to DisplayPort and issue resolved.

So, if it's connected to some USB-C dock/hub that might be the cause of it as well. So far I haven't had any issues with external disks or other devices disconnect. But might be something to look into to.

Thanks

I just ordered some new cables that would allow to plug directly into USB C from the hard drive instead of using an adapter

Will see how that goes

 

[vdubreeze]

What external drives, exactly? II have a handful of Samsung external SSDs from throughout the past five years. All of the "Shield" models have finicky ports. Sneeze within 10 feet and they disconnect. None of the rest, other Samsung models, disconnect ever.

 

[Saint 112]

To add in on this with my MacBook Pro I had issues with external monitors going into sleep and not coming back. Had to replug the USB-C dock to have it fixed. I recently got a new 4K monitor and found out my dock was limited to 30hz with HDMI 4K, so got another dock that didn't have that issue. But again I had issues where the monitor would not wake up. Eventually I switched from HDMI to DisplayPort and issue resolved.

About 10 years I bought a Mini and a 2560x1440 monitor, connected them together with the HDMI cable and I had a 1080 image. How come? I was tipped that MacOS could not display more than this via HDMI and that I had to go for DisplayPort. I had to buy yet another cable because the Mini had the same port for Thunderbolt 2 and DP. I stayed with DP ever since. Apple has always been careless with HDMI.

It remains a mystery to me how come a faulty video cable can cause USB disconnections.

So, if it's connected to some USB-C dock/hub that might be the cause of it as well. So far I haven't had any issues with external disks or other devices disconnect. But might be something to look into to.

I find the connections with USB-C and Thundebolt 4 very weak and prone to faults. I regret FireWire: too bad Apple dumped it, it had a very good potential and I never experienced any issue with it. You could daisy chain devices.

 

[Zeee]

I missed this thread. About 6 months ago I was dusting and I knocked over an ED. I thought I damaged it because the same thing was happening. I was about to replace the drive but after a search for answers it turned out to be the cable. I guess over time they get brittle and it was very old. New cable solved the problem.

 

[mholdef]

What external drives, exactly? II have a handful of Samsung external SSDs from throughout the past five years. All of the "Shield" models have finicky ports. Sneeze within 10 feet and they disconnect. None of the rest, other Samsung models, disconnect ever.

Western Digital and Seagate

 

[Thom Hogan]

I was having a similar issue.

I bought a MacBook air and a dock to connect HDs and SSDs I already had. I never had issues with my Mini.

I started having issues with ejections. Sometimes the external monitor would turn black too. I eventually found out it was the monitor cable that was faulty. It was the one that had been bundled by the vendor (HP). After I replaced it everything was OK.

The clue here is not the drives ejecting, it's the monitor going black. This suggests that the monitor is connected through a hub or with cables that is not providing a secure connection. When the monitor drops away, the macOS may also not see the drives connected through the same hub or controller, thus the eject notices.

 

[Saint 112]

The clue here is not the drives ejecting, it's the monitor going black. This suggests that the monitor is connected through a hub or with cables that is not providing a secure connection.

Right, since I replaced the monitor cable there is no drives disconnection.

I have both a Thunderbolt 3 dock and a USB-C hub. I chose each of them because they a have DisplayPort port. The same issue happened with both.

When the monitor drops away, the macOS may also not see the drives connected through the same hub or controller, thus the eject notices.

I always suspected MacOS X being an idiot in many respects. You confirm my suspicion. I had many issues because of it. I mentionned my problem with an HDMI connection.

In 2021 I bought a MacBook Air M1. Because it dons only 2 ports I had to buy a dock. I connected my already seasonned monitor with a DP cable to the dock and I had a black screen. I changed the cable to no avail. I tried with a small USB-C to DP adapter and bingo! I had an image. I was suspecting the dock and I was considering returning it. But then I learned that the OS version I had, Ventura 13.4, could not transmit video signal through Thunderbolt 3. Yessir! The hardware had nothing but 2 TB ports butit didn't occur to the OS developers it could be handy to transmit video through this channel!

So it cannot really surprise me that if the video transmission is faulty MacOS thinks it's time to eject everything that's connected.

 

[Thom Hogan]

So it cannot really surprise me that if the video transmission is faulty MacOS thinks it's time to eject everything that's connected.

I don't think this is macOS's problem, it's the dock's problem. The cable between your computer and the dock is running data on a shared connection. If the hub/dock drops the connection for some reason, everything is dropped together.

I can't tell you how many of these problems I've dealt with, and it's always a faulty cable or dock/hub. And yet, if you have the right cables and docks/hubs, even daisy-chaining downstream works reliably.

 

[MarshallG]

To add in on this with my MacBook Pro I had issues with external monitors going into sleep and not coming back. Had to replug the USB-C dock to have it fixed. I recently got a new 4K monitor and found out my dock was limited to 30hz with HDMI 4K, so got another dock that didn't have that issue. But again I had issues where the monitor would not wake up. Eventually I switched from HDMI to DisplayPort and issue resolved.

About 10 years I bought a Mini and a 2560x1440 monitor, connected them together with the HDMI cable and I had a 1080 image. How come? I was tipped that MacOS could not display more than this via HDMI and that I had to go for DisplayPort. I had to buy yet another cable because the Mini had the same port for Thunderbolt 2 and DP. I stayed with DP ever since. Apple has always been careless with HDMI.

It remains a mystery to me how come a faulty video cable can cause USB disconnections.

So, if it's connected to some USB-C dock/hub that might be the cause of it as well. So far I haven't had any issues with external disks or other devices disconnect. But might be something to look into to.

I find the connections with USB-C and Thundebolt 4 very weak and prone to faults. I regret FireWire: too bad Apple dumped it, it had a very good potential and I never experienced any issue with it. You could daisy chain devices.

Cause if the cable is faulty, then there’s no connection; it’s as if the cable got unplugged, and no matter how good Apple’s software and hardware, if the cable disconnects, it’s not going to work.



it’s very sad that Amazon sells so much poor cable. But they do.

 

[MarshallG]

So it cannot really surprise me that if the video transmission is faulty MacOS thinks it's time to eject everything that's connected.

I don't think this is macOS's problem, it's the dock's problem. The cable between your computer and the dock is running data on a shared connection. If the hub/dock drops the connection for some reason, everything is dropped together.

I can't tell you how many of these problems I've dealt with, and it's always a faulty cable or dock/hub. And yet, if you have the right cables and docks/hubs, even daisy-chaining downstream works reliably.

 

[Thom Hogan]

So it cannot really surprise me that if the video transmission is faulty MacOS thinks it's time to eject everything that's connected.

I don't think this is macOS's problem, it's the dock's problem. The cable between your computer and the dock is running data on a shared connection. If the hub/dock drops the connection for some reason, everything is dropped together.

I can't tell you how many of these problems I've dealt with, and it's always a faulty cable or dock/hub. And yet, if you have the right cables and docks/hubs, even daisy-chaining downstream works reliably.

And most often it’s the cables.

I've found it to be docks/hubs that are underpowered to what's plugged into them, too.