... then again: I never had USB random ejections on any MacOS until including Monterey,
but I had bad experiences with USB multi-port hubs.
Anyway, I do not dare to upgrade to 13.3 yet and read this thread every day ...
;JOOP!
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DO NOT UPDATE TO 13.3 - Portable drives get ejected.
- Thread starter zama36
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but I had bad experiences with USB multi-port hubs.
Anyway, I do not dare to upgrade to 13.3 yet and read this thread every day ...
;JOOP!
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
While I also suspect that at least some of this is associated with power management code in macOS, my own attempts at the same remedy with 2 powered hubs did not resolve this issue for me.
I have basically tested through everything that can be tested and all signs point back to macOS bugs (since Big Sur). It almost feels like a “lucky” scenario, meaning “we” must just try different things until we find something that doesn’t unexpectedly eject.
The U in USB ties directly with Apples old “just works” spin. USB devices are supposed to plug in and just work. It’s not MSB (M for Maybe) or HSB (Hopefully) or even U*SB (if you use the magic combination of cable or hub or firmware or settings or if it is a Tuesday or if fate smiles upon you, etc.)
Fan redirection/defense is rampant in all such threads but I challenge anyone with the problem to connect to an older Mac running macOS before Big Sur… or any PC… and I bet the problematic drive will function as expected. That rules out most of the redirection variables slung at each other.
If a person has a Mac doing this and the ability to roll back macOS to before Big Sur, the problem will likely be fully resolved. Those people shine the brightest light on the cause of this problem. If all else is exactly the same and we change only the os variable, the cause is very likely pinned down to the one thing that is changed.
Again, the only remedy while we wait for Apple to fix macOS bugs is to try different hardware until we “luck out.” If someone has a device doing this, it is probably NOT going to be resolved by a different cable, settings, app, more middlemen hardware, firmware update, etc. Just swap out the problematic for new until you get lucky… or wait for Apple to get around to debugging port management software in macOS. Maybe the 4th generation since Big Sur will be the one? Maybe the 5th?
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'as usual'? and the problem is 'probably'?
some factual info from the OP would be worthwhile. but 'probably' isn't saying much, and may not relate to the issue at all...
Check your cables. Say what you want about Apple’s $130+ Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable, but so far this is the only cable I have found that prevents disconnect. Even prior to the update mentioned. I have tried about 15 other cables and experience issues. But the Apple cable has worked flawlessly. Not sure why this happens.
I have had my drives eject in the middle of a transfer before. Really not sure why it happens. But I haven’t seen it yet with Apple’s cable.
I have had my drives eject in the middle of a transfer before. Really not sure why it happens. But I haven’t seen it yet with Apple’s cable.
Yeah, check your cables, check your hubs, try different ports, reset your SMC, etc.
I've got six external drives connected to my 2018 Mac Mini 24/7 and its not an issue at all. Two WD MyBooks (one is my Time Machine drive that has never disconnected in 3 years unless I did it myself), and an OWC Quad Elite Pro case that is full. Never once saw my Oyen case disconnect either (just replaced that with the OWC recently).
My Logic library, Cubase library, Ableton library, all my sample archives, my audio recordings, documents, downloads, everything is on those externals. Its definitely not a 'Ventura' thing as Ventura itself has been pretty much rock solid here since the first beta a year ago..
I've got six external drives connected to my 2018 Mac Mini 24/7 and its not an issue at all. Two WD MyBooks (one is my Time Machine drive that has never disconnected in 3 years unless I did it myself), and an OWC Quad Elite Pro case that is full. Never once saw my Oyen case disconnect either (just replaced that with the OWC recently).
My Logic library, Cubase library, Ableton library, all my sample archives, my audio recordings, documents, downloads, everything is on those externals. Its definitely not a 'Ventura' thing as Ventura itself has been pretty much rock solid here since the first beta a year ago..
Good to hear that for you is rock solid. I am still on Monterey and reading these horror stories made me hesitant. The networking bug seems to be corrected and the few ones I see, like this one, seem no big deal, or not really universal (just for a few unlucky people).
So I assume you are now on 13.3, right?
Yeah. I don't know why, especially since my Mac is mainly an audio workstation, but I'm one of those people that usually runs and does all the latest updates as soon as they come out haha.
Having this exact problem - brand new MB Air 15" M2 with Ventura 13.4.1.
It doesn't matter how or where my external drives are connected - they ALL get "ejected" at once (1 directly attached to laptop, 2 others via a hub)
I had them all on the hub - thought the hub was to blame... NOPE !
This laptop replaced a 2020 MB Air 13" M1 - same drives, same cables - not a single problem until now.
If anyone has a specific case open with Apple still let me know - I will happily join along
It doesn't matter how or where my external drives are connected - they ALL get "ejected" at once (1 directly attached to laptop, 2 others via a hub)
I had them all on the hub - thought the hub was to blame... NOPE !
This laptop replaced a 2020 MB Air 13" M1 - same drives, same cables - not a single problem until now.
If anyone has a specific case open with Apple still let me know - I will happily join along
There is a setting in the Display menu, under the "Advanced" button to keep USB stuff from going to sleep when the monitor does. Ran across that this weekend as something was disconnecting on me, and I have the Power settings set to never go to sleep. Noticed my OWC drive enclosure spinning up and down every now and then, that seems to have done it.
Under 'normal' circumstances still have not seen any randomly ejecting drives under Ventura on my previous Intel Mini and mew one month old M2 Pro model either..
Under 'normal' circumstances still have not seen any randomly ejecting drives under Ventura on my previous Intel Mini and mew one month old M2 Pro model either..
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
It's not just about sleep... though sleep does seem to be a catalyst some of the time.
For me it has done it more than once while actively transferring files from internal drive to external. Obviously, neither end can be asleep during a file transfer.
The sleep thing leads to recommendations for apps to keep the connection awake 24/7 and similar but that solution is simply going to wear out the external faster than the way that historically works... which lets a Mac sleep, drive sleeps, Mac wakes, drive wakes and no "unexpected ejections."
I've pounded through EVERYTHING trying to get a near mission critical enclosure working fine with my "latest & greatest" Mac Studio Ultra. Nothing works. However, pull in a pre-Big Sur Mac and hook the same cable to it (all else renaming the same) and that external is perfectly stable again.
I'm convinced we need Apple to fix this problem in macOS. The user solution until then is to buy a different enclosure and try that one. Be sure you can return it if it "unexpectedly ejects" too. Eventually you find one that will stay connected. It's too bad it is now this way instead of "just works" but this is the way it is.
Some enclosures will work fine and others won't. Age (of enclosure) is not a factor as I pulled out ancient ones when I was testing to try to figure out a solution other than macOS. It's not a brand thing as the replacement one that works for me is the same brand as the one that is now problematic on (since Big Sur) Macs.
Users should try the easier stuff they can try such as swapping a cable, trying a different port, bypassing a hub if they are using one, etc. But odds seem very high, this is a bug(s) in macOS and only Apple can mostly resolve this issue so the U in USB means what it should again.
Again, anyone doubting cable or hub or enclsoure or firmware, etc... just hook the one ejecting to an old Mac or a PC and it will probably be stable again. That should tell us all something. If not, re-read posts of those who have downgraded macOS back to something before Big Sur and the problematic drive resumes a stable connection. If that one variable is the only variable that changes, the problem seems centered in one thing.
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Pre-Big Sur?
Monterey has been ultra stable for me. Ventura is, so far, too, but I don't have external disks connected all day to the Air.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Yes, again, this is not a problem for everyone with all enclosures. It affects some enclosures. If it was a universal problem for all, it would already be addressed by Apple. Most of those "some" enclosures will work fine again if connected to a Mac running macOS before Big Sur OR to any PC.
I have a dependable enclosure that is affected and the (hopefully only temporary) replacement from the same brand works fine. HDD-based enclosures seem to be more likely to have this problem than SSD-based enclosures but neither is immune, nor always a problem for everyone.
Some people have no issue at all. They are simply the lucky ones. Others have many problems. The rest of us may lean a bit into either group with as little as one drive that only has this problem some of the time... or often. I have an enclosure that will dependably "unexpectedly eject" within about 3 hours (though there have been a few exceptions where it made it to as many as 15 hours or so). Hook the same with the same cable to a pre-Big Sur Mac or a PC and it will likely go months with no ejections.
If someone hooks up an external for a quick transfer and then manually ejects it, they could have a problematic enclosure but never discover it because they are ejecting before the system will "unexpectedly eject" it for them. For example, my own seems to be especially likely to eject in hours 2-3. So if I was using it for even 30-60 minutes and then manually ejecting, I might never notice because I'm beating when the system "unexpectedly ejects" it.
Those who tend to notice most often basically leave some enclosure(s) permanently attached... such as a Time Machine drive or some dedicated external storage they want always available at any time they use their Mac. The "sleep" thing tends to grow a lot of suspicion because a sleeping Mac is often asleep for MANY hours... any of which could have been the time when the unexpected ejection occurs.
Wake the Mac in the morning, see the "unexpected ejection" notification and it's easy to start assuming "sleep" has something to do with it. Maybe sleep code DOES but I suspect it's in power management code leftover from iOS that is still in macOS even if macOS "battery management" is a very different animal for some Macs and not a thing at all for others.
I have a dependable enclosure that is affected and the (hopefully only temporary) replacement from the same brand works fine. HDD-based enclosures seem to be more likely to have this problem than SSD-based enclosures but neither is immune, nor always a problem for everyone.
Some people have no issue at all. They are simply the lucky ones. Others have many problems. The rest of us may lean a bit into either group with as little as one drive that only has this problem some of the time... or often. I have an enclosure that will dependably "unexpectedly eject" within about 3 hours (though there have been a few exceptions where it made it to as many as 15 hours or so). Hook the same with the same cable to a pre-Big Sur Mac or a PC and it will likely go months with no ejections.
If someone hooks up an external for a quick transfer and then manually ejects it, they could have a problematic enclosure but never discover it because they are ejecting before the system will "unexpectedly eject" it for them. For example, my own seems to be especially likely to eject in hours 2-3. So if I was using it for even 30-60 minutes and then manually ejecting, I might never notice because I'm beating when the system "unexpectedly ejects" it.
Those who tend to notice most often basically leave some enclosure(s) permanently attached... such as a Time Machine drive or some dedicated external storage they want always available at any time they use their Mac. The "sleep" thing tends to grow a lot of suspicion because a sleeping Mac is often asleep for MANY hours... any of which could have been the time when the unexpected ejection occurs.
Wake the Mac in the morning, see the "unexpected ejection" notification and it's easy to start assuming "sleep" has something to do with it. Maybe sleep code DOES but I suspect it's in power management code leftover from iOS that is still in macOS even if macOS "battery management" is a very different animal for some Macs and not a thing at all for others.
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It's pretty easy to check the logs to see when the ejects happened. For me, they happen right after waking the computer with my mouse or keyboard (both USB). During the night the computer also wakes for nightly clones and Time Machine backups. They all run fine during the night, without errors. So, internally triggered wake events don't seem to trigger the ejects, unless they fix themselves.
The problem (for me) seems to be a timing thing. The USB is slow to initialize on wake, so the OS finds the disks to be missing.
My current dock, a CalDigit TS4, bought 2 months ago, was getting about one disconnect a week. Starting on July 3, I get disconnects every time I wake the computer in the morning (not during the day).
The problem (for me) seems to be a timing thing. The USB is slow to initialize on wake, so the OS finds the disks to be missing.
My current dock, a CalDigit TS4, bought 2 months ago, was getting about one disconnect a week. Starting on July 3, I get disconnects every time I wake the computer in the morning (not during the day).
Did you check your security options? (Not shure, the right english deskription) Go to System Preferences -> Data Protection & Security -> Allow USB connections (somehow in englich) ... change to "automatically when unlocked" (somehow)
This solved my usb drive problems ...
This solved my usb drive problems ...
Just a general remark: I made a list of OS updates over the last years and it occurs to me,
that, after some hesitations, silent periods and bursts, ever since 2023 OS updates come about
every month for all eligible systems; that means that all complaints in this forum become
out-dated within some 50 days, thanks to - or in spite of - APPLE.
So, it is necessary, if you want it or not, to update to the newest level, and make your checks again
and verify the status, before you can continue your complaint.
A lot of work, but more informative for all other readers.
;JOOP!
I'm experiencing USB drives being ejected a from a CalDigit TB4 dock that is connected to the MacBook Pro M1 Pro. This has just started since the last update.
Thankfully it's not as random as it was with the Mac mini M1 a year or two back and only happens when the laptop hasn't been restarted in a while and it goes to sleep. Loses connection of the drives and unlike the Mac mini, automatically reconnects the drives.
Thankfully it's not as random as it was with the Mac mini M1 a year or two back and only happens when the laptop hasn't been restarted in a while and it goes to sleep. Loses connection of the drives and unlike the Mac mini, automatically reconnects the drives.
I have two drives constantly ejecting on my MacBook Air M1, a SSD and a spinning harddrive. This is SO annoying, and obviously a bug, as it never happened (with the same discs) when running Monterey. Apple is losing it!
It happens when it goes to sleep, but also just randomly while working on the Mac.
It happens when it goes to sleep, but also just randomly while working on the Mac.