my macbook pro keeps ejecting my seagate external hard drive

Same issue as everyone else. Many different drives, so this is not an issue with the drives. I tried both USB drives, but it seem to happen with other ports. This sure sounds like an OS issue and it's major since it effective prevents backups!

I have the same problem with a Seagate 2TB 3.5" external USB hard drive connected to an Intel Mac Mini running Snow Leapord (OS X 10.6.7). It regularly seems to spin-down and eject, and then almost instantly reconnect, happens every 5-10 minutes. If I'm actively accessing information on it (i.e. through iTunes), then it has no problem, but the moment it's been inactive for more than 5 minutes it starts disconnecting and reconnecting over and over again until I start using it again.

The same thing happens if I hook the drive up to my MacBook Pro running the same OS. Doesn't happen if I use it with Windows/Linux PCs.

Has anyone managed to do anything to stop their drives from doing this, is it an OS issue (sounds likely)?

J.

Also, the drive doesn't shut off when the computer turns off. I think this is an issue with some Seagate drives.

I have have found that I have this problem with usb thumb drives and my NTFS seagate 1.5TB usb3 portable drive. I haven't had this problem with my OSX formated Seagate 1.5TB drive though. I'm starting suspect it has something to do with FAT and NTFS partitions. I have eliminated all external causes, save software on my Macbook (late 2008 runing 10.6.7)

it happens randomly, when I delete a file (small or large), when transfering files. it's so random that I can't narrow it down.

Although this is a year old post (original) the problem has been around for awhile. I have two Seagate FreeAgent disk drives powered by an externally powered USB hub, connected to my core 2 duo imac. The older drive 1TB, (two yrs old) is fine, never ejects itself, the new one that I bought last month, 1.5TB, is the culprit. Aside from making clicking, clunking and arcing noises, it will eject and reconnect itself several time an hour. I just downloaded the FreeAgent go sleep dmg referenced above,and installed it a few minutes ago, I will keep an eye on things to see if the problem has been resolved. I contacted Seagate a few days ago and and asked for a replacement since the new drive is only a month old, they sent an email today saying that they are out of stock. Both of these drives were originally formatted for Windows at the time of purchase, and i reformatted and partitioned them as GUID for use with OS X 10.6.

From the numerous comments about the same problem, independent of the brand of drive, it does appear that there is some sort of firmware glitch that exists between the Mac OS and the external hard drives. Now that Apple is aware of the ongoing issue, perhaps they will address it in the new OS 10.7, Lion??? Then again, maybe not.

I am another person having similar problems. Here's my situation:

I have 2 drives - a 1TB Seagate Expansion Drive and a 2TB Seagate Expansion Drive. (Both USB Connected)

The 1TB way bought Christmas 2009 and the 2TB Christmas 2010.

Both drives have been split up in to 3 partitions, for simplicity let's say the 1TB has partitions A,B,C and the 2TB has D,E,F.

Partitions A and D are formated Mac OS Extended to work with Time Machine

Partition B is NTFS for extra Windows (boot camp) storage

Partitions C,E,F are formatted FAT32 for general storage.

Now here's where it gets into the weird ejecting:

Only Partition F is affected by the random ejecting. It will eject every 5-10 minutes when data is not being read or written and give the "Improper Eject" message box. The drive also never seems able to power down or go to sleep.

I have tried different ports and reformatting to fix this but no success. I am currently trying the "Never put drives to sleep" suggestion from this thread and we'll see if that is a permanent fix.

I should note that all though the problem drive is half a year old i just started using it this past week because i had no need for the space before then.

Also i am running a 2007 21"iMac (core 2 Duo).

if anyone comes up with anything or has questions just let me know.

I believe the problem is a crummy connection to the hard drive the interface wobbles, and disconnects when you move the drive. I just looped the cable and rubber banded it to the box. Fixed 90%

Definitiely a low tech solution

I had the same problem with my Western Digital Drive.

My solution was to erase the drive using Disc Utility and then go to the Wester Digital Web Site/downloads and dowload and install the latest firmware on its own, without the Wester Digital software package. After installing the latest firmware the drive behaves as it should and does not eject itself. Hope this helps others affected. It seems that the WD software clashes with Max OSX somehow.

I'm having a similar problem with a Seagate Expansion 2TB/USB3.0. And the beauty of it is that my drive isn't connected directly to my mac, it's attached to a NAS. The drive ejects and remounts every hour, only when leave the Time Machine to work, and I think the computer or something goes to sleep. I've tried to disable sleeping, still the same issue. Didn't Apple products supposingly just work?! 😐

To thos whose Seagate drives are self ejecting, I have three external Seagate GoFlex desk drives, one is used as Time achine, the other two are used with older operating systems and will also be used to store the data now on MobileMe when that has its funeral in June. I was having the same ejecion problem with all three drives, but I trashed the Seagate installed software and used disk tools to erase and reformat the drives. Then I downloaded the software program from the Seagate website that is designed to stop the auto-eject feature. Once that was installed the problem was gone. One drive is connected via Firewire 800, the other two are just plain vanilla USB connections.Go to this page and read about half way down. http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=207851&NewLan g=en

Well, yesterday I tried some new things, and hopefully it will stop the HDD from sleeping, at least for some Seagate Expansion external drives.

Here are the steps you have to do:

1. Get into a Windows machine (it can be your Mac, but Windows is necessary for the software)

2. Connect you Seagate HDD

3. Install the following software:

- HDD Scan for Windows from hddscan.com

- Seagate Drive Settings from http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=drive-settings&vgnextoid =d548712f10e5e210VgnVCM1000001a48090aRCRD

4. Launch HDD Scan.

4.1. Select the Seagate External Drive.

4.2. Click the "New Task" button (the round button), and select Features > IDE Features.

4.3 In the Power Management pane make sure Idle Timer is set to "Disable" (my HDD was already set this way).

4.4 In the Advanced Power Management pane, click "Disable" (this was enabled on my drive).

4.5 Close HDD Scan.

5. Launch Seagate Drive Settings

5.1. Select the Seagate external drive.

5.2. Click the "Settings" button.

5.3. Select "Ajust Power Settings", if it's not the default selected item. In the right hand side, select Never, then click "Save".

5.4. Close the application.

6. Put you HDD back in the Mac or NAS.

I thinks the apps are changing a different values of the HDD, so that's why I used both.

Let me know if it worked for anyone.

Found it here: http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/207851en

2.

1. Download the FreeAgent Go sleep disable utility's enclosed DMG file to your desktop.

Seems to be working.

I have to constantly run the Disk Repair in Disk Utilities for my 1 TB WD. I just want to set it & live without random drive ejections.

Okay, so I've also experienced this, however, I did get around it - but the solution is less than ideal for most people. I had gotten a great deal on the Seagate 1.5t drive for $100 at Microcenter, but it started this ejection thing right after I'd re-formatted it for my wifes Mac. Once there, it would dismount mid-time machine, Etc. Terrible. Saw that they had a utility that "fixed" this, and I tried it, and it did not.

The reason it didn't work hadn't dawn on my until after I'd re-cased the original drive in a cheap $21 external drive case (which works perfectly for her).

You see, we had similar, but not identical issues with another soft-powered 1T drive from Toshiba, which would also just shut itself down - but my primary gripe with that was the soft power switch - and you had to keep it near enough to press the button from time to time. When I got this seagate, I chose it because there was no power button - but they decided that they can manage power better than Apple can (a common PC-land mistake when mapped into Mac-Land) - and when that happens, things break. The power management on this drive can be controlled, however, I'd bank that track 0 of the FAT drive (it's original format) likely contains the drive settings - and once I'd reformatted it for MacOS - Seagates ability to read that "control" track was done.

So these drives aren't the blame - it's the firmware on the USB-SATA interface that's lame. I'll bet this firmware reads a track on the drive for it's settings, and that first partition has to be FAT or NTFS or whatever it was for this drive to store, and function correctly.

Folks in MacLand aren't buying this as PC drives and using them with the original PC OS are they? We're all reformatted this to MacOSX - and that step might be the cause of the problem.

I've since re-used a different drive with the old hardware (it is after all a portal 3.5" drive) - and I've not seen the issue yet, but I'm expecting it. If I run into problems, I'll likely reformat it to whatever native format it had and leave it there - then run their utility and test again.

Good luck. I recommend re-casing the drive if you've having issues - USB 2/3 to SATA cases are cheap and plentiful online and at good computer stores like Microcenter. The case I got has a hard power switch, no drivers, and is just a box with a circuit card that the 3.5" drive plugs into - plus four screws to mount the drive and two more to close the case.

send your drive back to seagate if it is still under warranty.

I did this and got back a non ejecting one.

good luck all