External SSD not recognized by most recent macOS Catalina Beta

[richmlow]

Hi all,


The current macOS Catalina Beta no longer recognizes my external SSD (connected via USB). There was no problem in the previous Beta. I tried restarting the computer, but still the problem persists.

I was wondering if anybody has experienced this particular problem. Is this a known problem?

I sent feedback to the Apple Beta Program, letting them know. Hopefully, it'll get resolved soon.


Sincerely,
richmlow

 

[Fishrrman]

What make is the external SSD?
How is it formatted (i.e., HFS+, APFS, something else)?

 

[Erehy Dobon]

.

 

[richmlow]

The SSD was originally an internal SSD from my Mac Pro (2013 cylinder). It was put in the OWC external case and connected via USB to my new Mac mini (2018).

It worked fine on the previous macOS Catalina Beta. However, it no longer works on the current macOS Catalina Beta.


richmlow

What make is the external SSD?
How is it formatted (i.e., HFS+, APFS, something else)?

 

[Fishrrman]

Which particular Catalina betas did it work (and then not work) with?

Seems to me I've read that Apple has been "messing with" how USB devices are connected in Catalina (can't confirm this, perhaps others more in-the-know can).

If you connect the drive and open Disk Utility, can DU "see" the presence of the drive?
Or... nothing at all...?

 

[richmlow]

When I go to the office tomorrow, I'll open Disk Utility and see if it detects the presence of the external SSD.


richmlow

Which particular Catalina betas did it work (and then not work) with?

Seems to me I've read that Apple has been "messing with" how USB devices are connected in Catalina (can't confirm this, perhaps others more in-the-know can).

If you connect the drive and open Disk Utility, can DU "see" the presence of the drive?
Or... nothing at all...?

 

[richmlow]

The external SSD does not appear in "Disk Utility", nor does it appear in "System Info."

The external SSD is formatted in APFS.

Here is my system configuration:

Mac mini (2018)
3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5
8 GB RAM
External SSD (connected via USB port)

macOS Catalina
Version 10.15.3 Beta (19D62e)


richmlow

Which particular Catalina betas did it work (and then not work) with?

Seems to me I've read that Apple has been "messing with" how USB devices are connected in Catalina (can't confirm this, perhaps others more in-the-know can).

If you connect the drive and open Disk Utility, can DU "see" the presence of the drive?
Or... nothing at all...?

 

[Fishrrman]

One more question:
Is there any kind of ENCRYPTION on the external drive you are trying to connect?

 

[richmlow]

No encryption of any sort on the external SSD or the entire computer system.

richmlow

One more question:
Is there any kind of ENCRYPTION on the external drive you are trying to connect?

 

[richmlow]

Unfortunately, the most recent macOS Catalina 10.15.3 Public Beta (19D75a) still does not recognize
my external SSD.


richmlow

 

[komatsu]

Perhaps there's an incompatibility with the new Catalina Beta and the SSD controller chip in the external disk enclosure. A software regression...

This is what I was thinking.

Some chips in "bridge boards" or enclosure controller boards used in external disks do not work well with macOS.

What brand is the enclosure or external HDD?

 

[richmlow]

Hello komatsu,


My external SSD is the following:

The original internal SSD from a Mac Pro 2013 (cylinder) was put into an OWC (Other World Computing) Envoy Pro external enclosure. It is connected to my Mac mini 2018 via USB port.


richmlow

Which particular Catalina betas did it work (and then not work) with?

Seems to me I've read that Apple has been "messing with" how USB devices are connected in Catalina (can't confirm this, perhaps others more in-the-know can).

If you connect the drive and open Disk Utility, can DU "see" the presence of the drive?
Or... nothing at all...?

This is what I was thinking.

Some chips in "bridge boards" or enclosure controller boards used in external disks do not work well with macOS.

What brand is the enclosure or external HDD?

 

[komatsu]

It worked fine on the previous macOS Catalina Beta. However, it no longer works on the current macOS Catalina Beta.

re-reading your post, it is looking strongly like an OS issue.

If you have everything backed up onto ANOTHER disk, you could just format your problematic disk to exFAT.

 

[DeltaMac]

I recall reading recently about certain combinations of OWC enclosures and PCIe drives. I can't find the info now.

#relevant question: Does your external work when plugged into a different Mac?

Two places to look when the external is plugged in to your Mac (booted to Catalina):
System Information - look in the Storage tab to see if the drive is listed there, also in the USB tab.
That USB tab should show device information about the OWC drive. If NOTHING is listed about the device under USB, be sure to try a different USB cable. AND, no information would lead me to suspect the drive enclosure (you should see something, even if the flash storage card is not recognized.)
If you see nothing listed about the device - contact OWC support. They may be able to help.

 

[richmlow]

Thank you for the good suggestions from everybody!

I'll try connecting my external SSD drive to my 2013 Mac Pro (macOS Mojave 10.14.6) and see what
happens.

I'll get back to you soon.


richmlow

I recall reading recently about certain combinations of OWC enclosures and PCIe drives. I can't find the info now.

#relevant question: Does your external work when plugged into a different Mac?

Two places to look when the external is plugged in to your Mac (booted to Catalina):
System Information - look in the Storage tab to see if the drive is listed there, also in the USB tab.
That USB tab should show device information about the OWC drive. If NOTHING is listed about the device under USB, be sure to try a different USB cable. AND, no information would lead me to suspect the drive enclosure (you should see something, even if the flash storage card is not recognized.)
If you see nothing listed about the device - contact OWC support. They may be able to help.

 

[richmlow]

Hi all,


A brief update....

I installed the recently released macOS Catalina 10.15.3 (19D76) today. Unfortunately, my external SSD is still not recognized. It does not appear in Disk Utility and System Info.

I sent Apple some additional feedback.


richmlow

 

[DeltaMac]

When your external USB is plugged in - did you look in BOTH locations in your System Information?(USB, and Storage tab?)

What is the result when you plug your external into a different Mac?
If it also does NOT work in another Mac, likely your external enclosure is dead, and your system upgrade is a coincidence.

 

[haralds]

Perhaps there's an incompatibility with the new Catalina Beta and the SSD controller chip in the external disk enclosure. A software regression...

That is unlikely since macOS does not directly interact with that controller. It is "seeing" the same USB controller/protocol stack it saw before.

 

[DeltaMac]

That is unlikely since macOS does not directly interact with that controller. It is "seeing" the same USB controller/protocol stack it saw before.

I agree. Waiting for OP to try the external USB on another Mac, just to verify that external drive is still working.

 

[richmlow]

Hi All,


Problem has been solved!

While logged in, I decided to disconnect the external SSD (from USB port of Mac mini) and then immediately reconnect it back in. The external SSD is now recognized by macOS Catalina 10.15.3 (19D76).

I am no longer going to try out "Public Betas" of macOS....only "official" releases.

Thank you for all of your suggestions!


richmlow