External ssd caddy USB problems

I have a Macbook Pro 15" 2017 running Mojave and for several weeks now I've been having a problem with an external SSD in a caddy. It's a Salcar caddy with an LED that lights white for a USB 2.0 connection and blue for a USB 3.0 connection.


In the past the caddy would always light blue when plugged into a thunderbolt port on the Mac but these days it doesn't matter which of the four thunderbolt ports I use, the caddy lights white 90% of the time. I can sometimes get the LED to light blue if I put the plug into the Mac very slowly or halfway and if I slightly move that USB-C plug the LED usually turns white or sometimes disconnects (with error).


My point is that no matter which of the four thunderbolt ports I use they are all as temperamental as each other. I can only manage to get a USB 3.0 connection 10% of the time by re-plugging several times until it decides to give me a blue LED. Surely all four ports can't have become faulty at once? I've also tested the data transfer speed and the external caddy is transferring faster with a blue LED as expected.


I'm confused whether this is a problem with my Mac or the caddy electronics as it's behaving weirdly with all four ports.


Any help would be much appreciated.


Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Aug 13, 2020 2:37 AM

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2 replies

Aug 14, 2020 11:34 AM in response to FG08

Hi FG08,


Thanks for your post! We understand that you are unable to get USB 3.0 connection with your external SSD. If you haven't already, try resetting the SMC.


How to reset the SMC of your Mac


If the issue persists, try creating another user and test.


Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac


If the issue persists, follow up the SSD manufacturer.


Let us know what you find out!


Take care!

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External ssd caddy USB problems

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