External HDD not showing up

[etaleb]

Guys - I'm using an Anker USB 3.0 to SATA adaptor to connect a 18TB SATA HDD and it's worked fine for 6 months. However, after a macOS update (currently I'm on 14.3), it's connecting because I hear it turn on when I plug the USB to my Mac mini m2 Thunderbolt port but doesn't show up in Finder. Finder - settings - general and sidebar tabs both have hard drives selected. I can't find the Allow accessories to connect in privacy & security but other threads state that's a setting that shows up on MacBooks (not mini). Any idea how do I troubleshoot this? Should I just get another enclosure instead of using an adaptor? Please suggest an affordable one - this hard drive mostly hosts all my family photos & videos and I was planning to import everything into the Photos tool but the gallery will still be on the external HDD

Thanks

 

[Bigwaff]

With the drive attached, open Disk Utility. Does the drive appear in the sidebar? Make sure menu View > Show All Devices is selected.

 

[gilby101]

1) If it doesn't appear in Disk Utility, can you find it in System Information (Option-click Apple menu and select System Information) in the USB section?
2) Make sure external power is connected to the adaptor.

 

[etaleb]

Did both disk utility view show all devices and it doesn't show. System information doesn't show it either but under USB, it does show my Logitech webcam and Jabra headset. Under Thunderbolt/USB4 bus 1 & 2, it shows 'No device is connected'

Should I attempt to get an enclosure or unlikely it'll help? Or should I roll back a software update and try?

 

[gilby101]

I can't find the Allow accessories to connect in privacy & security but other threads state that's a setting that shows up on MacBooks (not mini)

"Allow accessories" is only for Apple silicon (Mx) laptops. Apple link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102282

 

[gilby101]

System information doesn't show it either but under USB, it does show my Logitech webcam and Jabra headset. Should I attempt to get an enclosure or unlikely it'll help?

Only a small sample, but I have found external 3.5" drives without their own power can be marginal. Is external power connected to the adapter?

After that you will need to start swapping to another drive and/or another adapter to determine which is at fault. I pass on giving advice about adapters/enclosures.

Do you have a backup?

 

[etaleb]

external power is connected. I’ll try to connect the HDD to my MacBook Air in the morning using the same adaptor and HDD. In the mean time can you also recommend an enclosure/dock combination if such a thing exists? Something open profile with 2 usb-c ports and 2 display/HDMI is sufficient thanks. Or if you think network attached storage is a better option long term, I’m fine with that (I have a fast 1g wired network). However I access my media files often and plan to import everything into photo library which will also sit on this HDD

I have a backup on my old windows PC

 

[Fishrrman]

I suspect the cable/adapter.

Get a USB3.1 gen2 SATA docking station.
(alternative is a USB3 SATA docking station)

These are often called "toasters".

Cheap, many choices out there. Here are some:

Amazon.com: Usb3.1 Gen2 Sata Dock: Electronics

Online shopping from a great selection at Electronics Store.

www.amazon.com

These are VERY useful accessories to have around.

(It could also be an internal failure of the drive itself, but when a drive gets cranky, the FIRST THING to be checking/substituting is the cable/adapter/enclosure, etc...)

 

[etaleb]

It didn't show up on my Windows computer too (all messages below). But then I replaced with another smaller HDD and connected the Anker to my MacBook Air and my Mac mini and windows computer and that HDD doesn't show up too. All windows error messages below for both HDD"s. Based on that, I'm assuming the Anker USB adaptor has gotten bad?

Windows errors below:
As soon as I connect either HDD, I get this - USB device not recognized, the last usb device you connected to this computer malfunctioned and windows doesn't recognize it

​

In device manager under USB controllers
Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

A request for the USB device descriptor failed.

Device USB\VID_0000&PID_0002\5&349cb4c2&0&5 was configured.

Device USB\VID_0000&PID_0002\5&349cb4c2&0&5 had a problem starting.

Driver Name: usb.inf
Class Guid: {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}
Service:
Lower Filters:
Upper Filters:
Problem: 0x2B
Problem Status: 0x0

Driver Name: usb.inf
Class Guid: {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}
Driver Date: 06/21/2006
Driver Version: 10.0.19041.2546
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Section: BADDEVICE.Dev.NT
Driver Rank: 0xFF0000
Matching Device Id: USB\DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE
Outranked Drivers: usb.inf:USB\DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE:00FF2000
Device Updated: false
Parent Device: USB\ROOT_HUB30\4&3283f6f7&0&0

 

[etaleb]

I suspect the cable/adapter.

Get a USB3.1 gen2 SATA docking station.
(alternative is a USB3 SATA docking station)

These are often called "toasters".

Cheap, many choices out there. Here are some:

Amazon.com: Usb3.1 Gen2 Sata Dock: Electronics

Online shopping from a great selection at Electronics Store.

www.amazon.com

These are VERY useful accessories to have around.

(It could also be an internal failure of the drive itself, but when a drive gets cranky, the FIRST THING to be checking/substituting is the cable/adapter/enclosure, etc...)

Long-term, do you think connecting a dock to the Mac mini is better vs a 2-bay Synology NAS? Is directly attached storage to the Mac mini going to offer better performance? I never ejected the last HDD and it was connected 24/7. In fact, the HDD used to go to sleep so I ran a script that automatically ran every 58 seconds to prevent it from going t sleep

 

[Fishrrman]

I have never used NAS, so I can't recommend it.

I've always preferred a "direct connection" to the Mac -- SCSI, firewire (years ago), USB, etc.

No "network" in the way, it's just one more thing to go wrong.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Long-term, do you think connecting a dock to the Mac mini is better vs a 2-bay Synology NAS? Is directly attached storage to the Mac mini going to offer better performance? I never ejected the last HDD and it was connected 24/7. In fact, the HDD used to go to sleep so I ran a script that automatically ran every 58 seconds to prevent it from going t sleep

In general, DAS storage IS going to offer better (presumably you mean FASTER here) performance than NAS.

On the other hand, the NAS is independent of the Mac hardware (it's pretty much its own computer) and can be shared with others in your home or even your own cloud storage. And if you 2-bay it, you can have a much larger amount of storage than any single drive option you might choose. For example, add another 18TB drive as RAID-0 and you've got 36TB of storage in that thing. Or set it up as RAID-1 and drive 2 mirrors drive 1 so you have a built-in backup.

May I offer that if NAS, consider stepping up to FOUR (or even eight) bays with an eye towards allocating one of the bays as a backup drive for the whole NAS either as RAID-5 or using Synology's own RAID-like SHR option. SHR offers the ability to mix drive sizes and add them over time. If any drive ever fails, the SHR backup will let you replace the failed one and rebuild the system without losing any data. You can also "fatten" up the storage over time- even when all bays are full- by replacing the smallest disc in the group with a bigger one. You can use their RAID calculator to "What if" your storage possibilities. I have such a setup myself (for many years now) and it works fine.

If you go DAS, the "toaster" options described in #8 should do the trick. If you need a "sealed" enclosure, just about any well-rated enclosure should be fine. Be sure to get one that is self-powered vs. those that depend only on the USB cable connection.

 

[etaleb]

In general, DAS storage IS going to offer better (presumably you mean FASTER here) performance than NAS.

On the other hand, the NAS is independent of the Mac hardware (it's pretty much its own computer) and can be shared with others in your home or even your own cloud storage. And if you 2-bay it, you can have a much larger amount of storage than any single drive option you might choose. For example, add another 18TB drive as RAID-0 and you've got 36TB of storage in that thing. Or set it up as RAID-1 and drive 2 mirrors drive 1 so you have a built-in backup.

May I offer that if NAS, consider stepping up to FOUR (or even eight) bays with an eye towards allocating one of the bays as a backup drive for the whole NAS either as RAID-5 or using Synology's own RAID-like SHR option. SHR offers the ability to mix drive sizes and add them over time. If any drive ever fails, the SHR backup will let you replace the failed one and rebuild the system without losing any data. You can also "fatten" up the storage over time- even when all bays are full- by replacing the smallest disc in the group with a bigger one. You can use their RAID calculator to "What if" your storage possibilities. I have such a setup myself (for many years now) and it works fine.

If you go DAS, the "toaster" options described in #8 should do the trick. If you need a "sealed" enclosure, just about any well-rated enclosure should be fine. Be sure to get one that is self-powered vs. those that depend only on the USB cable connection.

Thanks for your detailed response - really appreciate it! Do you know if I would be able to open large files like a 8TB library in the photos application for example over the network?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Haven't tried it. I have opened large video libraries stored on it for FCPX work at times and not had issues, but can't confirm any of that was > 8TB.

I don't know the situation but 8TB in a Photos library is gigantic. I presume you know you can split libraries into smaller ones and then open the one that's needed at any time. This can sometimes make photo collections much more manageable. I have a few split up like that myself and then just open the library in Photos that fits the need at the moment.

However, with such a large single library and considering Synology NAS, you might want to also explore their own photo library manager called Photo Station. I haven't used it but if it works like their other "apps," it should prove quite useful.

If this is the driver of your previous "performance" question, you'll probably want DAS instead of NAS... and you might want to buy a RAID DAS... and maybe even a m.2 RAID like Thunderblade or Express4M2. As 8TB probably grows into 12TB or 16TB in the not too distant future, you may find you need even more speed than you'll get out of a HDD DAS or HDD RAID DAS. If that kind of even larger library seems likely, I'd probably be seeking out a Thunderbolt connection instead of USB too.

However (again), if you are able to break the library up into perhaps a few smaller libraries, then about anything still works. My gut guess is you are going to get to a size where it all just slows down. There are a few references online about a 1M photos limit... though I don't see anything that absolutely confirms that.

 

[etaleb]

Guys - I wanted to report back and thank everybody for their help here. I purchased a Sabrent EC-DFLT and the HDD is back into working order (thank god the HDD has no issues). I'm surprised the Anker adaptor went bad, just like that. Didn't even know these things happen with a pure mechanical device as it hadn't been touched over the last 6 months. Was it just a PIN or something that goes bad? What is the life expectancy of something like this Sabrent and should I have a backup at home just in case

Also, Sabrent tech support and looks like Apple too recommends ejecting external HDD's when rebooting the Mac mini. Is that really to be followed? Sabrent said if I don't, the HDD will develop bad sectors. My HDD is usually always connected but I do reboot the mini after every software update

Lastly, I found a few threads stating Photos doesn't support NAS storage so avoiding that for now

 

[gilby101]

Also, Sabrent tech support and looks like Apple too recommends ejecting external HDD's when rebooting the Mac mini. Is that really to be followed? Sabrent said if I don't, the HDD will develop bad sectors. My HDD is usually always connected but I do reboot the mini after every software update

I have never done that with my WD drives in WD enclosures. No bad sectors (yet). What is to be avoided is disconnecting before unmounted.