User profile for user: Mataglap
Mataglap Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

External hard drives all report I/O errors.

I have the following 15-inch MacBook Pro


  Model Name:	MacBook Pro
  Model Identifier:	MacBookPro15,1
  Processor Name:	Intel Core i9
  Processor Speed:	2.9 GHz
  Number of Processors:	1
  Total Number of Cores:	6
  L2 Cache (per Core):	256 KB
  L3 Cache:	12 MB
  Memory:	32 GB
  Boot ROM Version:	220.250.366.0.0 (iBridge: 16.16.4507.0.0,0)


I have several relatively new external drives that are attached. All of them report I/O errors after being mounted for about 30 minutes. In each case the files are not visible in the Finder or via the command line, but after a reboot or a DiskWarrior rebuild everything appears fine. This doesn't seem to happen when I boot into safe mode.


The fastest way to start generating errors is to use rsync to copy a bunch of files to any external volume


I have tried everything I can think of

  • Changed out all cables.
  • Tried them mounted one at a time. Same issues.
  • Reformatted them all using Disk Utility's security options erase. No errors.
  • Removed all hubs so each gets its own USB-C port


I can only conclude that some driver is causing this. It would have to be a driver that isn't loaded during safe-mode, but I have no other idea.


How can I better diagnose this problem?

MacBook Pro 15”, macOS 10.14

Posted on Apr 21, 2019 1:41 PM

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5 replies
User profile for user: Mataglap
Mataglap Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Apr 21, 2019 7:23 PM in response to Kappy

Thank you for your questions. I should have included more detail initially.


  • Happened before and after I installed the drivers
  • Both are Western Digital HDDs. 4tb portable and 8tb desktop. Each has a single USB micro-B 3.0 connector
  • Using USB micro-B to USB-C connectors. Original cables where USB-A connectors (I also tried a little USB-A to USB-C adapter)
  • Both are using GUID and both have been formatted HFS+ and AFPS (I tried both format types)
  • I haven't contacted WD yet since both drives format just fine, including 7-pass erase, without any errors. The errors occur during file copy operations.
  • There is also a Caldigit HFS+ USB-C to USB-C drive attached. The WD drives are meant as backups (hence the attempted rsync job). The Caldigit doesn't have any errors.


I have tried to systematically eliminate various causes. I think it is a driver of sorts since there are no problems when I boot into safe-mode


Console log snapshot (this goes on an on):


0	2019-04-21 19:21:12.058188 -0700		19:21:12.058188 -0700		1	default	0x1d5	0: 0x1d5	0	IOStorageFamily	kernel	disk10: I/O error.
0	2019-04-21 19:21:12.080725 -0700		19:21:12.080725 -0700		1	default	0x40c	0: 0x40c	0	IOStorageFamily	kernel	disk7: I/O error.
0	2019-04-21 19:21:12.102895 -0700		19:21:12.102895 -0700		1	default	0x40c	0: 0x40c	0	IOStorageFamily	kernel	disk7: I/O error.
0	2019-04-21 19:21:12.124418 -0700		19:21:12.124418 -0700		1	default	0x40c	0: 0x40c	0	IOStorageFamily	kernel	disk7: I/O error.



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User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
362,017 points

Apr 21, 2019 1:53 PM in response to Mataglap

Did you install any drivers? Are these HDDs or SSDs? Do their enclosures support USB-C, USB-A, or both? Are you using the proper cables between the drives and the computer? Are the drives using GUID and formatted APFS or HFS+ depending on whether they are SSDs or HDDs, respectively? Have you contacted the drives' manufacturers for tech support? Is there a specific I/O error reported?

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User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
362,017 points

Apr 22, 2019 10:30 AM in response to Mataglap

Are these drivers from WD for their two drives? What are these drivers for? Standard USB-based driver enclosures have no need for special drivers. If these drivers were installed they should be uninstalled and the machine then rebooted. It certainly appears that these drivers are at fault based on what you have reported. However, I'm not clear on what drivers you are speaking about.

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External hard drives all report I/O errors.

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