M1 Mac - External "Disk not ejected properly" Error

[tsk]

For the first time ever, I'm seeing - randomly and not yet frequently - the "Disk not ejected properly" error coming up for my external SSD plugged into an M1 Macbook Pro.

This has never happened with any computer for me before and I don't believe the cable or drive are a problem. I looked up online and found a lot of other people are having this same problem with M1 Macs.

Has anyone found a solution? Or happening to you as well?

Click to read more...

 

[tsk]

Also, the external SSD isn't corrupted, yet, but it is definitely disconnecting it momentarily because Kontakt warned that some samples had disappeared when it happened today.

 

[MisteR]

I think it is a loose usb-c problem. Find the tightest cables you can and use only those. I've had this issue as well. The cables that ship with the little Samsung T series drives are too loose. I just went through the ones I had in a drawer until I found ones that worked. So unfortunately, I can't recommend a particular brand. But my guess is, if the plastic is squared off near the connector, the cable might be more stable. Most cables have rounded edges on the plastic. This is just a hunch, though.

Random info: Cables I haven't had trouble with include one that shipped with a WD Ultra Passport Drive (which has the squared off plastic and which I'm using with a T5), and the cable that shipped with my OWC enclosure (which is not squared off and I'm using with a Samsung EVO).

 

[tsk]

I think it is a loose usb-c problem. Find the tightest cables you can and use only those. I've had this issue as well. The cables that ship with the little Samsung T series drives are too loose. I just went through the ones I had in a drawer until I found ones that worked. So unfortunately, I can't recommend a particular brand. But my guess is, if the plastic is squared off near the connector, the cable might be more stable. Most cables have rounded edges on the plastic. This is just a hunch, though.

Random info: Cables I haven't had trouble with include one that shipped with a WD Ultra Passport Drive (which has the squared off plastic and which I'm using with a T5), and the cable that shipped with my OWC enclosure (which is not squared off and I'm using with a Samsung EVO).

I'm pretty certain it's not a cable issue as I used the same brand drive on other machines for years without a single issue, but the main reason I don't think it's the cable is because other people on the Mac forums seem to be having the same issue. I guess there's probably no solution yet.

 

[MisteR]

I'm pretty certain it's not a cable issue as I used the same brand drive on other machines for years without a single issue, but the main reason I don't think it's the cable is because other people on the Mac forums seem to be having the same issue. I guess there's probably no solution yet.

I'm not suggesting there's something wrong with the cable. But I consistently have problems with those cables in my 2017 macbook pro. It may be that the usb slots are loose. Or there is a slight variation in how tight the cables are. But it is a consistent problem and not just with M1s.

 

[tsk]

I'm not suggesting there's something wrong with the cable. But I consistently have problems with those cables in my 2017 macbook pro. It may be that the usb slots are loose. Or there is a slight variation in how tight the cables are. But it is a consistent problem and not just with M1s.

Oh I see what you mean. Now I see there are people with Intel Macs with the same problem. I guess the port could be slightly loose or something. It only seems to happen about once every week or so. Maybe I will try plugging it into where the mouse is now then put the mouse in the port which might be loose.

 

[storyteller]

If you have too many drives/devices on a hub drawing too much power from a single port, you can get intermittent ejections. Just a thought.

 

[Daren Audio]

Just to be on the safe side, make sure you have a backup. Had two of my external drives "disk did not ejected properly" and one is now damaged - cannot access any files in it.

 

[Øivind]

I get this everytime my Macbook Air M2 goes to sleep. Doesnt matter if its directly conected or via a powered hub. The ssd is a Samsung T7. I have to use Jettison, which auto ejects on sleep and remounts on wakeup.

 

[davidson]

I get this intermittently with an M1 mac mini a studio max. It's not a cable, drive, or enclosure issue, it's some software gremlin that causes the issue in OSX, probably following an install or disc access issue. A shut down and boot up usually fix it for me until it bugs out again.

 

[tsk]

Yea, I don't even have an enclosure and I'm using the same brand drive and the same cable as with my previous computer.

I already disliked my M1 Mac anyway (slows down once I hit about 40 Kontakt instances) but to be breaking external SSDs is really bad. I think this will be last Mac. Why would I pay double the price for something like this.

Monterey broke my external SSD's - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

External SSD Disconnects Repeatedly Mac M… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Looks like we're not the only ones.

 

[davidson]

Yea, I don't even have an enclosure and I'm using the same brand drive and the same cable as with my previous computer.

I already disliked my M1 Mac anyway (slows down once I hit about 40 Kontakt instances) but to be breaking external SSDs is really bad. I think this will be last Mac. Why would I pay double the price for something like this.

Monterey broke my external SSD's - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

External SSD Disconnects Repeatedly Mac M… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

Looks like we're not the only ones.

I can go 6 months without an issue and then suddenly boom, every time I sleep the mac a random drive will 'eject'. It started around big sur, when apple were ramping up all this disc permission security crap. Have you shut down and restarted yet? You may find you wont have the issue again for another 12 months or more. Don't give up on the silicon macs just yet, they're absolute beasts!

 

[wonshu]

My (uneducated) suspicion is on power cycling the ports on the laptops. I've had those disconnects on the laptop but not a single one on the MacStudio that's been running every day since last August.

 

[tsk]

I can go 6 months without an issue and then suddenly boom, every time I sleep the mac a random drive will 'eject'. It started around big sur, when apple were ramping up all this disc permission security crap. Have you shut down and restarted yet? You may find you wont have the issue again for another 12 months or more. Don't give up on the silicon macs just yet, they're absolute beasts!

Yea, I shut down every day, and in fact used to before this problem even started...

 

[Dave Connor]

If you have too many drives/devices on a hub drawing too much power from a single port, you can get intermittent ejections. Just a thought.

Does a powered hub solve this? I get this problem occasionally as well and swapping drives out is always a problem with having to disconnect several even to swap a single drive.

 

[storyteller]

Does a powered hub solve this? I get this problem occasionally as well and swapping drives out is always a problem with having to disconnect several even to swap a single drive.

It does! In general, if you have any ssd or hd on an unpowered hub, there shouldn’t be anything else on it drawing power aside from maybe a USB key/ILOK or something like that. With a powered hub, make sure you get one with enough juice. The cheaper ones tend to still under power the hub. You will probably want a power supply that is at least 5volts/1.5amps/7.5watts per port on the hub if you plan on full power draw per device With some overhead.

 

[Dave Connor]

It does! In general, if you have any ssd or hd on an unpowered hub, there shouldn’t be anything else on it drawing power aside from maybe a USB key/ILOK or something like that. With a powered hub, make sure you get one with enough juice. The cheaper ones tend to still under power the hub. You will probably want a power supply that is at least 5volts/1.5amps/7.5watts per port on the hub if you plan on full power draw per device With some overhead.

Thanks! I thought so but I wasn't sure about the specs I needed, so thanks for providing them. I'll make sure to get one with enough juice.

 

[storyteller]

Thanks! I thought so but I wasn't sure about the specs I needed, so thanks for providing them. I'll make sure to get one with enough juice.

If I recall correctly, I think USB3 specs are just 5v@900ma for each device, but [email protected] for downward devices and charging . Quick math is Volts*Amps = watts. So 5v@900ma is really just 4.5watts required as a baseline per port, but 7.5amps for the full spec with downward devices.

The abridged version is to generally look for a power supply of 35 watts to 60 watts depending on the number of ports on the hub.

 

[Paulogic]

Try resetting PVRam.. solved the problem for me ! using T5 and T7 drives

 

[peterharket]

Just to be on the safe side, make sure you have a backup. Had two of my external drives "disk did not ejected properly" and one is now damaged - cannot access any files in it.

This happened to me too: two disks disconnected, and only one was able to reconnect. In disk utility, it looked like my Mac confused the external (missing) SSD as the internal drive (the container of the SSD suddenly appeared under “internal”). I thought all hope was lost and that the disk was corrupted. Then I contacted Apple, and they advised me to start my Mac in safe mode, and that magically solved the problem