Samsung T3 SSD problem opening

[chaver4u]

I have tons of data on my external Samsung T3 SSD. It always worked perfectly on my MacBook Pro 2015 with the Samsung T3 SSD app.
I now have a MacBook Air 2020. Great laptop! Works perfectly after having migrated everything from my old MacBook, except....

the T3 no longer opens. I get a warning that the T3 is disconnected AFTER I connected it. Attached screenshot

But it is connected according to the Disk Utility. Also attached screenshot.
Strangely enough, there are at least 150GB (very very important) data on he T3 but Disk Utility only shows 31MB 'setup data'.

I am totally stuck.
Anybody any advice what to do?

Robert

 

[Audit13]

Does the T3 work with other Macs?

Could it be that the T3 app is not compatible with the new Air or Catalina?

 

[Boyd01]

I have three T3 SSD's and have used them regularly for about 4 years without problems. What exactly is the T3 app? Sorry, have never seen it. I always formatted them for MacOS before using, so I guess that erased the app.

Found this on their site, maybe it will help? Click on "Portable SSD Software Compatibility Troubleshooting Guide for MacOS" link here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

 

[chaver4u]

Does the T3 work with other Macs?

Could it be that the T3 app is not compatible with the new Air or Catalina?

I migrated all and everything using Migrant Assistant from my 2015 MacBookPro to my new 2020 MacBookAir. They are exact clones. My new MBA worked perfectly, and still does.

After a week I needed data from my Samsung T3 SSD. After I connected it (the way I always did on the old MacBookPro), it didn't show up with the screen to enter my password, but with a warning 'No Samsung Portable is connected' while I see on my MacBookAir that it is connected but not with the 150GB+ data but only with 32MB T3 Mac.app and Win.exe. The same detail is shown in DiskUtility.

I changed nothing nor added anything to the Samsung T3 SSD.

I am stuck and the data on that T3 SSD are very important

Robert

 

[chaver4u]

I have three T3 SSD's and have used them regularly for about 4 years without problems. What exactly is the T3 app? Sorry, have never seen it. I always formatted them for MacOS before using, so I guess that erased the app.

Found this on their site, maybe it will help? Click on "Portable SSD Software Compatibility Troubleshooting Guide for MacOS" link here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

Thanks. I went through that. It didn't give any solution to my problem.
Robert

 

[Audit13]

I migrated all and everything using Migrant Assistant from my 2015 MacBookPro to my new 2020 MacBookAir. They are exact clones. My new MBA worked perfectly, and still does.

After a week I needed data from my Samsung T3 SSD. After I connected it (the way I always did on the old MacBookPro), it didn't show up with the screen to enter my password, but with a warning 'No Samsung Portable is connected' while I see on my MacBookAir that it is connected but not with the 150GB+ data but only with 32MB T3 Mac.app and Win.exe. The same detail is shown in DiskUtility.

I changed nothing nor added anything to the Samsung T3 SSD.

I am stuck and the data on that T3 SSD are very important

Robert

Same thing happens when using the T3 with your 2015 Pro?

Sounds like something messed up when you connected the T3 to the Air.

 

[AdamJohnG]

I have found the following info on Samsung's website:

Portable SSD Product FAQs | Support | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Find frequently asked questions and solutions for your upgraded computing life with Samsung V-NAND SSD products. Samsung Portable SSD FAQs.

www.samsung.com

Click on:

"No Samsung Portable SSD is connected." message appears even though the Samsung Portable SSD software is installed on the Apple Mac system.

It seems that it is an issue when connected to High Sierra or later. See if you can get it functioning again and retrieve all the valuable info

Unless you are using some special function that the Samsung T3 App provides, it would be much better to have it connected natively to the Mac, like any other external drive.

Let us know if you can get it solved

 

[chaver4u]

For two years I have been using this 250GB external Samsung T3 SSD with 150GB of documents and pictures. It has always worked perfectly and mounted without any problem.

But since last week the SSD will not mount with the stored data. I see it is connected but I only see Samsung setup apps of 31MB, not the 150GB stored data.

On Disk Utility I see the same. Just 31MB of data and it also shows the capacity of the SSD as 131MB, while the SSD capacity is 250GB.
Strangest of all it shows it is formatted Fat32. Some people advised me to reformat to HFS, but that would erase everything on the disk.

I have tried several recovery apps but they don’t show more than what Disk Utility shows. Only one app (DiskDrill) shows after a deep scan 105MB of a few deleted folders, but not the 150GB data.

What can I do to open the SSD without losing 25 years of documents and photos?

Robert

 

[Boyd01]

Guessing there are two partitions, one of them (31mb) has the Samsung software and the other has your data (150gb). But you cannot mount the one with your data because of a problem with the Samsung software which is evidently needed to unlock it.

The time to format it for the Mac would have been when you first got it, too late for that now. Have you tried contacting Samsung tech support? Hopefully they will be able to help you. And if you do get it working, you need to start doing regular backups of your important files.

 

[chaver4u]

I guess there are two partitions. Only the second one I cannot see.
When I started with this SSD it mounted automatically and worked perfectly. I never bothered to check how it was formatted. I only found out now when the problem started.
I try to get hold of Samsung Tech. In their forum I read a few same problems but no solution offered.
Thanks for your help

 

[Boyd01]

Two people have asked whether you also tried the T3 on your 2015 MacBook Pro, but I don't see where you have answered. Even if you have cloned the 2015 MBP to the 2020 MBA, there could be some differences. Maybe you don't have the 2015 MBP anymore?

I would try the T3 on another Mac that is running an older version of MacOS for starters. If that doesn't help, try it on a Windows computer. It should be compatible because you said it's formatted as FAT-32, and using Windows might bypass whatever issues the Mac version of their software has. If you don't have another computer, you must have a friend or relative who would let you try this.

 

[chaver4u]

My old MBP I no longer had, but now for the good news >>>>>

The tech of one of the Apple dealers in Israel, Double Team in Tel Aviv, managed to mount and open the SSD: all my data are still there. I only bought my Macs there, not the SSD. But this is what good service and building customer relations look like. I will find out later today how and what he did.

I will definitely buy another (non Samsung) SSD to back up my back up. Lessons learnt.

Thanks everybody for the advice.
Robert

 

[bvikoolaid]

High everyone,

since i bought my Mac Mini M1 i notice my T3 wasnt working. i was getting an error saying i needed to download a SAT something. only today i realized that i left a password on the drive and the mac doesnt have the ability to use the set up function. So i connected it to my Samsung phone (i guess any usbc phone WITH the samsung ssd app installed) and i took off the password/encryption. AND VIOLA....it now works on my Mac M1.

sorry i was late to the party with this information. Samsung Drives are NOICE.

 

[Zapdoc]

High everyone,

since i bought my Mac Mini M1 i notice my T3 wasnt working. i was getting an error saying i needed to download a SAT something. only today i realized that i left a password on the drive and the mac doesnt have the ability to use the set up function. So i connected it to my Samsung phone (i guess any usbc phone WITH the samsung ssd app installed) and i took off the password/encryption. AND VIOLA....it now works on my Mac M1.

sorry i was late to the party with this information. Samsung Drives are NOICE.

May need to remove password from the SSD then download updated drivers and or firmware to SSD to suit Big Sur. My own T5 was not recognised until I did above now is recognised very fast as an additional drive by MBA M1 and is better than ever