External SSD randomly ejecting

[fkk]

Hello!
I am using iMac Late 2013 Catalina 10.15.4 and Mac Book Catalina.
I am trying to connect external Samsung SSD using USB 3.0 Port.
It works perfectly on my Mac Book.
But whenever I am connecting it to my iMac it repeatedly connects and disconnects. One second it appears and suddenly I get an error about drive ejected not properly.
I tried different USB ports and it doesn't work on any of them. I've disabled Spotlight and Time Machine so it wouldn't interefere in some weird way with the new drive. It didn't help.
How can I fix it? What may be the cause?
I will be grateful for any help.
Greetings.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Hello!
I am using iMac Late 2013 Catalina 10.15.4 and Mac Book Catalina.
I am trying to connect external Samsung SSD using USB 3.0 Port.
It works perfectly on my Mac Book.
But whenever I am connecting it to my iMac it repeatedly connects and disconnects. One second it appears and suddenly I get an error about drive ejected not properly.
I tried different USB ports and it doesn't work on any of them. I've disabled Spotlight and Time Machine so it wouldn't interefere in some weird way with the new drive. It didn't help.
How can I fix it? What may be the cause?
I will be grateful for any help.
Greetings.

Try booting into safe mode and mount the SSD drive to see if the issue still happens.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

To help determine whether an issue is caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up, you can start up your Mac in safe mode.

support.apple.com

 

[fkk]

The issue continues to happen in safe mode as well.

 

[HDFan]

What enclosure are you using? I have found that some enclosure's firmware is subject to sudden ejects.

 

[Taz Mangus]

The issue continues to happen in safe mode as well.

Try a SMC reset (drive detached) and see if that helps. Beyond that, see if there is a firmware update for you enclosure.

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

The SMC is responsible for managing power on your Mac. Resetting it can resolve certain uncommon issues related to power or thermal management.

support.apple.com

 

[fkk]

What enclosure are you using? I have found that some enclosure's firmware is subject to sudden ejects.

I am using SAMSUNG 860 EVO 500GB SSD SATA III with some no-name USB 3.0 SATA ADAPTER

 

[fkk]

Try a SMC reset (drive detached) and see if that helps. Beyond that, see if there is a firmware update for you enclosure.

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

The SMC is responsible for managing power on your Mac. Resetting it can resolve certain uncommon issues related to power or thermal management.

support.apple.com

SMC reset did not help unfortunately.
There is no extra firmware for my SAMSUNG 860 EVO 500GB SSD SATA III.

Are there any other possibilities why this might not work?

 

[fisherking]

try resetting the nvram. try running disk first aid on the external (i know it's ok on the macbook, but i'd still check it). what else is plugged into usb? perhaps try removing other peripherals as a test...

 

[leventozler]

Sounds like a cable issue, I would try with a different cable.

 

[mpainesyd]

Sounds like a cable issue, I would try with a different cable.

I agree. Does the SSD have a USB-C port? If so, I am finding the USB-C cables, docks and ports a little flaky. With my (2015) Retina Macbook and I have ditched a couple of cables. I don't think the durability of USB-C is great compared with earlier USB connections.
If the SSD has a USB-3 port then definitely try another cable.

 

[HDFan]

o-name USB 3.0 SATA ADAPTER

This would be the first thing I would change. The advantage of a known vendor's adapter is that if there is a problem you can use their technical support. I have had a number of problems with devices ejecting due to issues with the enclosures' firmware. Problems went away when replaced with 1st tier products. Worth the extra cost.

But you can certainly try a different cable. Just be sure you can return it.

 

[Taz Mangus]

The cable issue does not explain why the SSD works on the MacBook but not the iMac. I would think it would have the same disconnect issue on both computers. It is always worth it to try a different cable or put the drive into a enclosure and try that.

 

[mpainesyd]

The cable issue does not explain why the SSD works on the MacBook but not the iMac. I would think it would have the same disconnect issue on both computers. It is always worth it to try a different cable or put the drive into a enclosure and try that.

I have found that a USB-c cable works with my iMac but not the (much older) Macbook. I suspect this is due to wear and tear with the Macbook port and that particular cable - they don't work together.

 

[fkk]

I've swaped no-name SATA -> USB 3.0 adapter for a proper enclosure and it started working. It was cable issue after all.
Weird tho that it worked on my macbook but didn't on iMac.

 

[Fishrrman]

Adapters/enclosures/cables are not all equal.
Sometimes "swapping one out" is "all that it takes...."

 

[HDFan]

I've swaped no-name SATA -> USB 3.0 adapter for a proper enclosure and it started working. It was cable issue after all.

Was the problem the enclosure or the cable? Did the new enclosure work with the old cable?

 

[fkk]

It was just an adapter. On one end SATA 3 and on the other USB 3.0. There was no enclosure. I cannot connect the adapter to the enclosure.

 

[an-other]

I have the issue on my 15" MBP with an external mechanical drive. I've seen reviews on youtube claiming Apple's USB-C ports are "loose." I tend to have things on my desk near the cables, so I can rationalise a " cable bump" with a loose port is triggering the issue. I understand your issue is with an iMac.

I'd suggest checking to see if you have the latest drive firmware. It's worth a shot for sure.

I do worry when I get the "Initialise Disk" option that I'll make a mistake one of these days!

 

[ibobby28]

I had some issue the front ports on the 5,1 and a usb ssd from time to time. Searched and tried several things with no luck. I flipped the cable around that came with the enclosure and the drive showed up without issues.
weird but it worked. lol

 

[dvnatic_studio]

I do have the same problem... my external HDD works fine on PC, but it keeps disconnecting on my MacBook Pro mid-2012
(I made 2 format partitions, one for macOS X (macOS, extended-journaled), one for Windows/NTFS)

 

[DidAppleGetLucky]

Try a different USB port on your Mac, they are not all equal ...

Worked for me, MacBook Big Sur, external SSD with inateck enclosure, right port kept disconnecting, left side port works OK.

BTW, Spotlight immediately starts indexing the external drive causing a very slow sluggish response to mouse events as it hogs resources ... a bit silly but you have to disable indexing under System Configuration.

 

[SpaghettiEngineer]

To anyone else experiencing this issue, try adding a `.metadata_never_index` file to the root of the affected hard drive and report back.

I initially experienced the random ejection only once with a mechanical HDD formatted as APFS Encrypted (as Apple entirely removed the HFS encryption module 🤬) and forgot about it as I hadn't seen it again, despite having at least one USB HDD mounted for a week or more at a time, for most of the last year.

Last week after formatting a new SSD, I saw multiple ejections a day and came across a thread where apple silicon indexing was mentioned as a potential culprit, but as there's no way to permanently ignore a removable device through spotlight (🤬) I realised I've been running `sudo mdutil -i off -dE /Volumes/<VolumeName>` when I format any hard drive the last year, as well as adding the `.metadata_never_index` file. This time I didn't run the mdutil command, but I did add the `.metadata_never_index` file, and (even though I don't believe this file actually does anything anymore) it's now been 3 days and I haven't seen a single ejection. If the issue doesn't present itself again, then apple's implementation of spotlight indexing is the culprit on Apple Silicon. It's important that others confirm the fix, as who knows how long it will be until Apple inadvertantly renders this fix useless.

NOTE: I am still on Ventura 13.7, so please also confirm your current macOS version.