iPad Pro External SSD Not Showing in Files App

[Fatyank]

I’m not sure if this is the right section for this but thought I would start here. I’ve purchased a JSAUX OmniGrip Handle for photo work using my IPhone 15 Pro Max. The recommended SSD Card is 1TB M.2 2300. I purchased one from Sabrent and an enclosure to be able to read the card and transfer photos or videos to my iPad. I’m attaching photo of those items. The problem I have is iPad is not showing enclosure in Files app or File Browser Pro. When I connect enclosure to iPad (USB C) the blue connect light on enclosure is on so iPad knows it there. I’ve done restart of iPad, connected enclosure before and after iPad powered on, removed and reinstalled SD card in enclosure. Nothing works. I’m running iPad OS26 but I don’t think that is the problem. I have a SanDisk 2TB external drive that connects and works fine. Any troubleshooting tips ??

 

[Shirasaki]

Has the drive been formatted as APFS drive? Many of those drives I think are formatted as ntfs when they are sold. You need a modern-ish Mac (such as any Apple silicon Mac) to do so. Having the enclosure blue lights on only means the device got power.

 

[Fatyank]

That’s a problem. I only have a iPad and iPhone. No desktop or laptop. I think my son has a MacBook. I’ll get my Omni Grip in a few days and will be able to see if I’m able to transfer from it to my phone then I can get my photos/videos to photo app and eventually to my San Disk. It’s alot of transferring but should work

 

[sparksd]

Has the drive been formatted as APFS drive? Many of those drives I think are formatted as ntfs when they are sold. You need a modern-ish Mac (such as any Apple silicon Mac) to do so. Having the enclosure blue lights on only means the device got power.

An NTFS drive should also show up except that it will be read-only. I wonder if it's an issue of inadequate power.

 

[Shirasaki]

An NTFS drive should also show up except that it will be read-only. I wonder if it's an issue of inadequate power.

Right, that could also be the case. It’s an enclosure so it might demand more power.

 

[Hooyah]

If you can try the genuine Apple connector (which also has HDMI and power throughput) to see if that makes a difference, it could confirm a power issue. Although being an SSD with no moving parts I can’t see that being the case.

Test the adapter and SSD on other devices is your best bet.

It should appear even as default NTFS.

The Apple Store (if you live near one) might be a good place to ask for help with formatting the drive or maybe you can do it yourself with one of the employees on one of the demo Macs sitting there.

 

[rui no onna]

Has the drive been formatted as APFS drive? Many of those drives I think are formatted as ntfs when they are sold. You need a modern-ish Mac (such as any Apple silicon Mac) to do so. Having the enclosure blue lights on only means the device got power.

The internal SSDs just ship raw and aren’t formatted at all. The external SSDs usually ship with NTFS or exFAT.

Does iPadOS 18 allow formatting or was that just introduced in 26? May need to connect to PC/Mac first to format as APFS or exFAT before it can be used on the iPad. I’m not sure how raw drives show up on 26.

 

[sparksd]

iPadOS 18 does allow formatting but not of NTFS drives. The OP's JSAUX OmniGrip Handle supports NTFS & exFAT but even if it is NTFS, it should be visible but read-only.

 

[NoBoMac]

If you can try the genuine Apple connector (which also has HDMI and power throughput) to see if that makes a difference, it could confirm a power issue. Although being an SSD with no moving parts I can’t see that being the case.

This can be a problem even when dealing with flash storage: reader that draws a power that is not in spec with USB standards.

But the Apple certified connector is most likely needed and good suggestion. Does not have to be Apple, can be, for example, Belkin.

MFi Licensee App

mfi.apple.com

The only way I can get this to work is if I have the Apple camera adaptor as 1) it's a MFi connector 2) has a Lightning port to supply power.

The Made for iPhone/iOS bit can get in the way as, generally, the device will try to see if whatever is plugged in has a MFi chip/certificate and is "safe" to use. No MFi, no data.

 

[neutrino17]

I second the idea of going to the local Apple Store to troubleshoot this. I just did this last week with my iPad and an external device and they were very helpful.

 

[rui no onna]

iPadOS 18 does allow formatting but not of NTFS drives. The OP's JSAUX OmniGrip Handle supports NTFS & exFAT but even if it is NTFS, it should be visible but read-only.

Can iPadOS handle raw drives though? Completely empty and not initialized with no MBR or GPT.

Since this is basically an internal NVMe SSD installed in an enclosure, there wouldn’t be any formatting at all.

 

[sparksd]

Can iPadOS handle raw drives though? Completely empty and not initialized with no MBR or GPT.

Since this is basically an internal NVMe SSD installed in an enclosure, there wouldn’t be any formatting at all.

I assumed that it is formatted for his use with the grip.

 

[rui no onna]

I assumed that it is formatted for his use with the grip.

Assuming iPadOS can't handle raw drives, then the OP will need a MAC or PC for that.

The OmniGrip is basically just an enclosure so I doubt it would have built-in formatting capability.

I probably still have some brand new, sealed in box SATA SSDs. I'll test one of these days if iPadOS can handle disk initialization.

 

[Shirasaki]

The internal SSDs just ship raw and aren’t formatted at all. The external SSDs usually ship with NTFS or exFAT.

Does iPadOS 18 allow formatting or was that just introduced in 26? May need to connect to PC/Mac first to format as APFS or exFAT before it can be used on the iPad. I’m not sure how raw drives show up on 26.

Considering Apple always gimps their good on paper features I don’t believe iOS 26 suddenly can format drives the same way macOS does and with a lot of options. Also I don’t think iOS 18 supports formatting drives.

 

[sparksd]

Considering Apple always gimps their good on paper features I don’t believe iOS 26 suddenly can format drives the same way macOS does and with a lot of options. Also I don’t think iOS 18 supports formatting drives.

iOS 18 supports formatting drives -

iPadOS 18 Adds Support for Formatting External Drives

Nice find by Kaleb Cadle in the first beta of iPadOS 18: Now in the Files app on iPadOS 18, when we right click or hold press on an external drive and select “Erase”, new options appear for reformatting the drive. Currently, the format options here are APFS, ExFAT, and MS-DOS (FAT), the same format

www.macstories.net

 

[Shirasaki]

iOS 18 supports formatting drives -

iPadOS 18 Adds Support for Formatting External Drives

Nice find by Kaleb Cadle in the first beta of iPadOS 18: Now in the Files app on iPadOS 18, when we right click or hold press on an external drive and select “Erase”, new options appear for reformatting the drive. Currently, the format options here are APFS, ExFAT, and MS-DOS (FAT), the same format

www.macstories.net

Dunno if that is as robust as macOS version and I seriously doubt it. Also the power issue probably should be resolved first.

 

[sparksd]

Dunno if that is as robust as macOS version and I seriously doubt it. Also the power issue probably should be resolved first.

Definitely works as I've tried it.