iMac stops recognizing external drives in dock?

[stanw]

Using a 2015 iMac, I have a StarTech dock plugged in via USB3 and very often when I eject a drive and put another one back in, the dock powers up though nothing mounts. I have to turn it on and off, and unplug and plug back into another usb port, over and over before it recognizes it. Is this a known issue or is it an issue with my dock? This problem occurs with multiple drives, so I have ruled the issue with the drives out.

Thanks.

 

[fastlanephil]

Have you tried mounting them with Apple's Disk Utilty if they do show up there. You can always try a PRAM reset and an SMC reset though that's a long shot. Is it possible to try the StarTech on a different Mac and see if the problem persists.

 

[stanw]

How do you mount in Disk Utility?

 

[Taz Mangus]

How do you mount in Disk Utility?

I take it the hard drives don't show up in Disk Utility? Have you tried plugging the enclosure into another Mac computer? You could also take the enclosure down to the Apple Store and plug it into Mac computers at the store. I would suggest contacting the manufacturer of the enclosure and see what support they can give you. Sometimes there are firmware updates that need be done to the enclosure.

 

[Fishrrman]

What I've done to handle mounting/dismounting/mounting/dismounting issues on my 2012 Mac Mini:

I bought a 3' USB3 "extension" cable. It has a male connector on one end and a female connector on the other.

I plug the male connector into the Mini, and have the other end "sitting free" under the display.

Now, if I wish to connect a USB3 drive -- HDD, SSD, flashdrive, SD card reader -- I just plug it into the end of the extension cable.

When it's time to dismount, I drag the icon to the trash, and disconnect whatever was plugged into it.

Now -- plug in another device, and it shows right up on the desktop.

Etc, etc. Works every time.

If you're using a "dock" type device, it would be trivial to:
a. eject icon from desktop
b. remove drive from dock
c. put NEW drive INTO dock
d. if it doesn't auto mount -- quick disconnect/reconnect at extension cable.

Granted -- this IS a 'workaround' -- but it works.

 

[cincygolfgrrl]

How do you mount in Disk Utility?

Open Disk Utility.app. Any drives mounted will be listed in the left-side pane.

It seems like your dock is the problem.