MBP '19: sometimes need to restart to mount USB drives

[jimtron]

I've been having this issue where external drives sometimes don't mount, but do after restart. My MBP is USB-C (no regular USB ports), and I'm using a USB-C hub/adapter. Wondering if it's the hub that's causing it?

Before restarting, I've tried unplugging and re-plugging, both the drive and the hub, no luck. Any ideas? Are there USB-C adapters that are known not to do this?

 

[cmaier]

I've been having this issue where external drives sometimes don't mount, but do after restart. My MBP is USB-C (no regular USB ports), and I'm using a USB-C hub/adapter. Wondering if it's the hub that's causing it?

Before restarting, I've tried unplugging and re-plugging, both the drive and the hub, no luck. Any ideas? Are there USB-C adapters that are known not to do this?

When you say they don’t mount, what happens?

i’ve been having an issue where I have to force-kill finder to get stuff to mount properly, ever since Catalina. Hoping an update resolves it.

 

[maplingstorie]

make sure your usb-c adapter has enough power to deliver to your hard disk. what kind of adapter are you using?

 

[Fishrrman]

mapling may have the answer.

Is the hub powered, or UNpowered?
If unpowered, you may be "overloading the bus" (insofar as power is concerned).

 

[jimtron]

When you say they don’t mount, what happens?

i’ve been having an issue where I have to force-kill finder to get stuff to mount properly, ever since Catalina. Hoping an update resolves it.

Hard drive is lit, but drive doesn't mount on desktop, and doesn't show up in DiskUtility.

make sure your usb-c adapter has enough power to deliver to your hard disk. what kind of adapter are you using?

This one, not powered. The USB-C hubs/dongles I've seen so far aren't powered, but I'll look for one...is there a model you recommend?

 

[ZMacintosh]

sounds like the adapter/hub is not able to provide enough power to your disk. is your hard drive powered by USB only? if so, Apple has USB to USB-C adapters and those work fine on powered and non-powered USB drives.

 

[jimtron]

sounds like the adapter/hub is not able to provide enough power to your disk. is your hard drive powered by USB only? if so, Apple has USB to USB-C adapters and those work fine on powered and non-powered USB drives.

USB drive has its own power.

 

[ZMacintosh]

that's most likely the issue you have there. and I never heard of that hub/adapter may want to check out a powered hub or a more known hub.

 

[jimtron]

that's most likely the issue you have there. and I never heard of that hub/adapter may want to check out a powered hub or a more known hub.

By "has its own power," I meant that my USB drive has an a/c adapter and is plugged into the wall.

Any recommendations on a USB-C hub/adapter, with HDMI and SD slot?

 

[jerryk]

If you have a powered drive rotational drive it may have trouble coming up if you MacBook wakes from sleep. My Seagate unit sometimes need to be power cycled if I let the MacBook go to sleep. I found when I use this drive I have power for the MacBook also, so I set the Mac to never sleep when connected to A/C power.

Ultimately I found it to be a hassle and only use this power drive occassionally. I bought a NAS and normally store media and other data on that. That has a delay coming up (20-30 secs) when it is spins the drives down, but always reconnects to the Mac. Also it has much more and cheaper expansion capabilities.