External Storage Advice

[jparker402]

I have a MacBook Pro with 382GB available on a 494GB HD. I have a WD HHD "My Passport" attached for Time Machine. It reads that it has 1.12TB available. And it is probably coming up on 8 or 9 years old, Perhaps 4 or 5 years ago I got the Carbon Copy Clone app and purchased a Samsung T7 SSD to use with it. It looks like the Samsung says that it currently has 33.16GB available. And I use iCloud Drive,

Several times my MacBook has been telling me that I did not disconnect my WD correctly; when I did not disconnect it at all. Called Apple and the advisor suggested that maybe replacing my WD for Time Machine might not be a bad idea given its age. Started looking for another Samsung SSD when I was hit by sticker shock! Would appreciate thoughts/suggestions. I am not a power user. My storage needs seem to be low. I do use iCloud for whatever value that may be in the equation. I was thinking about an SSD because it is newer, but wonder if another HD would be okay. I do not move the computer often, but when I do I disconnect the external drives and leave them at home. Thanks!

 

[MacGizmo]

Buying an SSD right now is just insane. Buy yourself a regular HDD - preferably a 7200 RPM, but even a 5600 RPM drive will do for backups (since you're not in an immediate rush to get things copied as quickly).

That being said, there has been a bug that many people are experiencing for the last two or three OS upgrades (that I can see without going back further in posts here) that pops up a notification like you've had every time the computer wakes from sleep.

It could also be a bad cable connection (those funky USB-Micro B cable connectors that many desktop HDs use are notorious for being finicky):

 

[jparker402]

Yes, MacGizmo! This has been happening when I first sit down to the computer in the morning! When I hadn't been on it since the night before! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Grumpus]

It could also be a bad cable connection (those funky USB-Micro B cable connectors that many desktop HDs use are notorious for being finicky):

Yes, and in my experience, flaky connections can often be cured by unplugging and re-plugging the drive connector a few times.

 

[Fishrrman]

What you might do with the WD HDD is ... reformat and test it, and then restart time machine all over again.
I would run the disk utility "first aid" feature on it.
Do you get "a good report"?
If so, I'd REPEAT THE TEST about 5 times in succession.
Do you get a good report every time?
If so, "begin again" with tm.

Re the SSD with the CCC backup:
I'd just keep using it.
Try running disk utility's "first aid" on it.
What results do you get?

TIP:
I've noticed that, frequently when you run "first aid" on an external drive using disk utility, the operation will fail with a "could not unmount target volume" alert.

JUST IGNORE THAT and click the first aid option AGAIN.
On the second try, the volume dismounts and first aid WILL run...

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I’ve noticed a couple of HDDs that I bought recently use the “USB Micro B” connector that @MacGizmo pointed out, but only included USB-A cables. I don’t like using adapters (not JUST due to reliability issues; they also can make it difficult to plug in alongside another cable) so I ordered new cables like these.