External hard disk problem - attached to mac

[cool11]

I have a usb hub from anker, and a seagate external hard disk attached to it,
for many years, in mbp 15' late 2013.
Numerous versions of mac os passed from my mbp without problems all the previous years.

But now, the last months, I can see that after some minutes, mac seem to lose 'connection' with the external hard disk.
Though finder displays external hard disk and its contents as connected and visible/available, the reality is that they are not.
I just can't do anything with these files.
So I have to unplug, plug again, and then I gain some extra minutes before this problem appears again.

Is there any general problem with usb/ports/hubs etc, with big sur?
Does this seems to be a hard disk problem?
Or a hub problem? But I use several peripherals with this hub without problems.
Or what else is going on?
But all these started just these last few weeks. The only thing that changed is the latest update of big sur. But I am not sure that this is the case.
I also want to tell, that my mbp works properly without any other issues.

Can you help me to find out what is going on?

 

[ACB 123]

I use a WD external on my early 2015 without any problems and I'm using Big Sur ....

 

[Juicy Box]

Does this seems to be a hard disk problem?
Or a hub problem?

This is easy to test.
Connect the drive directly to the Mac. If your problem goes away, it is probably something with the hub. Maybe some compatibility issues with Big Sur, or maybe the hub is starting to go.

But I use several peripherals with this hub without problems.

Maybe it is a power related issue with the hub. The HDD requires more power than a lot of other peripherals.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I'll add that external drives and/or the electronics they contain can fail after "many years". Do the testing advised above as well as testing it on another Mac.

 

[rpmurray]

Do you have Energy Saver in System Preferences set to "Put hard disks to sleep when possible"? Even if you remember turning that off you may want to go back and check it. Apple OS updates have a nasty tendency to change some settings behind your back, especially anything iCloud related.

 

[cool11]

This is easy to test.
Connect the drive directly to the Mac. If your problem goes away, it is probably something with the hub. Maybe some compatibility issues with Big Sur, or maybe the hub is starting to go.


Maybe it is a power related issue with the hub. The HDD requires more power than a lot of other peripherals.

I connected it directly to mbp, and its behavior is the same... so possibly something going on with the disk?

I just cannot understand, how it is possible for such a disk to fail, when I use it every now and then, only for storage for rare files I do not keep on my mbp. On the other hand, it is about ten years old, but as I said, I rarely use it.

 

[cool11]

Do you have Energy Saver in System Preferences set to "Put hard disks to sleep when possible"? Even if you remember turning that off you may want to go back and check it. Apple OS updates have a nasty tendency to change some settings behind your back, especially anything iCloud related.

Where is energy saver? I cannot locate it anywhere.

 

[njvm]

It is the Light Bulb - did you try searching for it?

 

[BrianBaughn]

I connected it directly to mbp, and its behavior is the same... so possibly something going on with the disk?

I just cannot understand, how it is possible for such a disk to fail, when I use it every now and then, only for storage for rare files I do not keep on my mbp. On the other hand, it is about ten years old, but as I said, I rarely use it.

I think if it's ten years old you can assume it's on the fritz. Ten years ago you might have been able to get a 5 year warranty on a hard drive but I don't think that's the case anymore.

 

[rpmurray]

Where is energy saver? I cannot locate it anywhere.

I'm using a Mac Pro and it's beside the Displays icon on my machine. Maybe on your MacBook it's part of Battery?

You have Flash Player installed? No wonder you're having problems.

 

[Christopher Kim]

I just cannot understand, how it is possible for such a disk to fail, when I use it every now and then, only for storage for rare files I do not keep on my mbp. On the other hand, it is about ten years old, but as I said, I rarely use it.

Unfortunately, even if you don't use it that much, electronics do age. And 10yrs is definitely getting long in the tooth for a spinning-disk drive. Remember especially given mechanical drives had a lot of moving / spinning parts and platters, they can definitely start to wear over time.

If you have years of backups on there, I would suggest getting another drive soon (as a 2nd backup) in case the first drive dies.

 

[HDFan]

I just cannot understand, how it is possible for such a disk to fail, when I use it every now and then, only for storage for rare files I do not keep on my mbp. On the other hand, it is about ten years old,

I think if it's ten years old you can assume it's on the fritz. Ten years ago you might have been able to get a 5 year warranty on a hard drive but I don't think that's the case anymore.

Mechanical moving parts require lubricants which dry out over time. Recorded signals also weaken and may make the disk unusable if it isn't refreshed every 2 years or so.

There are 5 year warranties on more expensive disks, such as Seagate Ironwolf Pro drives.