Hard drive docking station drives keep disconnecting randomly

[usagora]

I've been using this hard drive docking station since 2018/Mojave without a single issue and then this hard drive docking station since 2021/Monterey without a single issue until Ventura. I've never had an issue with drives connected with this docking station disconnecting while actually using my iMac. But every day before I go to work, I put the display to sleep using control-shift-eject. About 1-2 times a month now, when I return home and wake up the display and enter my password, I'm greeted with a "disk not ejected properly" message for every one of the hard drives connected to the ORICO docking station.

So far I've seen no ill effects from this non-user-initiated improper ejections, but I'm concerned that if it happens when a Time Machine backup is copying over data, that my data could end up corrupted.

Anyone else having this issue with similar docking stations on Ventura?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

"Unexpected Ejections" has been a problem for select hardware since Big Sur. Some external hardware works, some doesn't. Some hardware from any single brand works, some doesn't.

Apple fans will likely pop in here and blame you, your cable, your docking station, firmware, etc- anything other than Apple- but this same problem appears in many threads on this site and even on Apple's own support forums. Do searches for "unexpected ejection" and you'll find MANY.

I've tested this to death and am 99% convinced it is a macOS bug(s) that only Apple can address. Basically the U in USB doesn't mean what it is supposed to mean with either Silicon Macs and/or Macs running a version of macOS since Big Sur. I'm confident it is macOS because I've seen many posts by others who had externals working fine on their Intel Mac pre-Big Sur to then begin doing this after they upgrades to Big Sur or newer.

Again, some things will work fine and others won't. It's basically a game of try different external hardware until you find one that will work.

I've got an OWC enclosure that has been and is perfectly reliable on Intel Macs running macOS BEFORE Big Sur. However, it won't stay connected more than about 3 hours on a "latest & greatest" silicon Mac running Monterey. I've seen nothing to make me think things are improved with Ventura, so I'm awaiting another point or two update before taking that leap. In the meantime, another OWC enclosure is standing in for that one and it works fine.

I've also done some lengthy backups to an OWC docking station lately and it remained connected for many hours (maybe 6-8 hours) while files transferred.

Again, you can run through all of the suggestions about to rain here: settings changes, swap cable, check for new firmware, etc. OR you can shortcut to a solution by simply trying another dock or two... or three... to find one that will remain connected.

I'm confident Apple will eventually get around to debugging their Silicon port software so that the U in USB will again mean what it is supposed to mean. But it's been a few years now, so I'm not necessarily thinking that fix is impending.

 

[usagora]

"Unexpected Ejections" has been a problem for select hardware since Big Sur. Some external hardware works, some doesn't. Some hardware from any single brand works, some doesn't.

Apple fans will likely pop in here and blame you, your cable, your docking station, firmware, etc- anything other than Apple- but this same problem appears in many threads on this site and even on Apple's own support forums. Do searches for "unexpected ejection" and you'll find MANY.

I've tested this to death and am 99% convinced it is a macOS bug(s) that only Apple can address. Basically the U in USB doesn't mean what it is supposed to mean with either Silicon Macs and/or Macs running a version of macOS since Big Sur. I'm confident it is macOS because I've seen many posts by others who had externals working fine on their Intel Mac pre-Big Sur to then begin doing this after they upgrades to Big Sur or newer.

Again, some things will work fine and others won't. It's basically a game of try different external hardware until you find one that will work.

I've got an OWC enclosure that has been and is perfectly reliable on Intel Macs running macOS BEFORE Big Sur. However, it won't stay connected more than about 3 hours on a "latest & greatest" silicon Mac running Monterey. I've seen nothing to make me think things are improved with Ventura, so I'm awaiting another point or two update before taking that leap. In the meantime, another OWC enclosure is standing in for that one and it works fine.

I've also done some lengthy backups to an OWC docking station lately and it remained connected for many hours (maybe 6-8 hours) while files transferred.

Again, you can run through all of the suggestions about to rain here: settings changes, swap cable, check for new firmware, etc. OR you can shortcut to a solution by simply trying another dock or two... or three... to find one that will remain connected.

I'm confident Apple will eventually get around to debugging their Silicon port software so that the U in USB will again mean what it is supposed to mean. But it's been a few years now, so I'm not necessarily thinking that fix is impending.

Well, I guess I should count my blessings that I get weeks of solid connection time vs. just hours like you do! Just seems odd that I've not had a single USB issue with Big Sur or later until this specific dock with Ventura. I'm not going to waste money continuing to buy $100+ docks just to experiment with, so I guess I'll just have to pray that these random disconnections happen when the drives aren't reading/writing data.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, you have been lucky. Again, not all hardware is affected by this problem. Many claim that all is well with their own enclosures, etc. However, it doesn't go to the other extreme where only a very few pieces of hardware are affected.

So being lucky can come down to just the mix of hardware someone happens to have. Of the hundreds(?) of enclosures out there, many work fine and some do not. It's not brand based, age of enclosure or even price based.

In my own efforts to figure this out, I've come to certain assumptions that SEEM valid:

• RAID enclosures are most likely to do this.
• SSD enclosures generally seem more stable than HDD enclosures.
• There MAY be something related to sleep as a catalyst, but sleep is definitely not the only catalyst. I've had "unexpected ejections" while actively transferring files between the internal drive and an external: definitely no sleeping involved.
• Whatever went buggy seems to have originated with Big Sur.
• It is not a Silicon-only issue as there are plenty of posts by people who discover this bug(s) on Intel Macs right after upgrading to Big Sur or newer.
• For some, the alert pops but they can still use the drive. For others, the drive is ejected and must be re-connected.

Be sure you have backups to police this bug just in case. Hopefully Apple will decide to debug port software eventually and the U in USB will mean what it is supposed to mean again. I thoroughly miss "just works."