USB Drive used to backup with Timemachine does not eject if backup is complete.. how to fix?

[shankar2]

Hi in Big Sur 11.1 macos I have a usb drive which I use to backup my macbook pro using timemachine. The backup work fines, and is automatic. However I'm not able to eject the usb drive after cmd-e command to eject the drive. Is there any solution/fix to this? I need to safely eject the usb drive after backup is completed. Thanks!

 

[vetoes]

I have same issue and just have been looking for solution, did you find any?

In my case it was happening before and after reinstallation of MacOS 11.4. If I wait a little after attempting to eject I will be given option to force it, which I did few times now.

 

[me55]

This is the only way to currently eject the Time Machine drive normally. Open Disk Utility and use this:

View attachment 1673853

Finder only ejects the container (last line) and the drive is still spinning. In that state, the red marked button will not work showing a message that the drive is still in use. When using the red marked button without ejecting in Finder, it will eject the container and the drive correctly.

I reported this bug using the Feedback website a long time ago, but the error still exists in the latest macOS version.

Taking a long time to eject Time Machine disk

 

[Apple_Robert]

I use the app Ejectify to safely eject drives that seem to not want to eject or when I want to quickly disconnect my Dock and go mobile. The app has been updated to allow for on demand eject. I paid less than $4 for the app. Granted, it doesn't beat getting the bug fixed but, it works in the gap.

Ejectify - No more "disk not ejected properly" notifications

Ejectify automatically unmounts external volumes when your Mac starts sleeping, and mounts them again after it wakes up.

ejectify.app

 

[CTHarrryH]

I drag the drive icon to the trash icon and it unmounts in a few seconds

 

[Blowback]

With Macs with the Touch /LED controls strip you get options for ejecting SSDs. I use 'eject all' from mine as CCC never ejects the SSD when done with a backup.

 

[vetoes]

Issue seems to be mds process (mds_stores), which is Spotlight and it is preventing USB drive to be disconnected. If I wait for Spotlight to stop it still doesn't work even. If I kill mentioned processes they just start back again. Any type of Eject option doesn't work, dragging icon to trash or via DisK Utility or using Finder.

If you Google this issue you will many results and many of them are very old. If it wasn't fixed by Apple by now it won't be by me either...

Only think that I discovered is that Unmount option is working via Disk Utility.