M1 MacBook Pro "Disk Not Ejected Properly" several times during sleep

Bottom line: your solution isn't even a good workaround. Furthermore, it's almost ridiculously simplistic: "if I boot from my external USB drive, it won't disconnect." Bravo! You've really made a great discovery there! Now what if I have several external drives? Should I reboot from each one in order to use them?

If one hasn't installed a system on one's external drive, you can't boot from it. It's inconvenient (to say the least) to install a whole system on an external hard disk simply in order to avoid disconnection. Furthermore, it's well known that M1 Macs have problems booting from external drives.

I was having the same issues on an M1 MacMini with a OWC ThunderBay Flex 8. I followed what others have said in this thread and still the drives would just unexpectedly disconnect/disk not eject properly. I did the following ' I set the slider for "Turn Off Display" to never and checked "Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off". ' and so far after 48 hours I have not had a single drive report "unexpectedly disconnect/disk not eject properly".

I am not sure if this will work for everybody but so far it has worked for me.

I thought it had gone away with the last update, but now it seems to have returned with a vengeance.

I've just now unchecked Put hard disks to sleep when possible under Energy Saver and see if that helps.

I am fed up with this problem. Since upgrading to Big Sur I receive multiple "DISK NOT EJECTED PROPERLY" notifications through the day and especially when the computer is idle. I have definitely noticed that the last few years of MacOS upgrades have made maintaining a stable connection to an external HDD almost impossible. Big Sur is the worst yet.

And starting my day having to dismiss 20 Eject notifications does not make for a great Mac experience.

I am still seeing an occasional disconnect, but it isn't frequent. I have "Put hard disk to sleep when possible" checked and "Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off" unchecked. Both drives are connected via a USB-C "UGreen" hub.

Just to share my situation and setup.

I have a 5TB 2.5" WD external disk to my macbook air (2020 m1) thunderbolt port.

Basically I keep a backup of my pictures/videos on it.

Every time I leave the computer unattended and wake it up, I have the message saying that the disk was not ejected properly.

I am not using any hubs or nothing that would add complexity to the setup.

Big sur is simply shutting down the disk before the OS, and not even properly.

I could try the option to not to put the disks to sleep, but honestly I want the disks to rest while not in use, since this is a HDD and ideally I don't want it to be spinning 24x7

C'mon apple, you could at least admit there is a problem here?

Having same issue with MacBook Air M1 using macOS Big Sur 11.2.3. I have two external SSD drives, so far only the SanDisk Extreme Pro 1TB (newest model) portable is getting disconnected during sleep mode. This doesn't happen ever when laptop is being used. This drive is only used for Time Machine backups and I am concerned that it may end up getting corrupted. I have switch the two external drives so that the Sandisk is now plugged directly into the one available TB port I have left and the other external SSD is now plugged into the CalDigit dock. I will update if this makes a difference but I am doubtful that it will.

I don't understand why you folks are reporting these issues here if you're not reporting them at the same time to Apple Support. They won't get fixed by reporting them here, and many similar reports would help make the problem appear important to Apple.

MBP13 M1 Dec20 I have the same issue with disks being ejected even whilst i'm working on them. I was using a Satechi hub with the two plugs slimline thing, and with a Samsung T5, power cable and a SD card it would keep dumping the T5 unsafely. I sent the hub back and the new one did the same. SO i haven't bought another hub since.

Today I've been using the MBP again as a side computer exporting jobs from lightroom, with the T5 and a QNAP TS453BT3 Nas direct attached with TB3, and now that is being dumped. I seriously hate this machine it's been nothing but dramas since I purchased - it won't even tether to a 5dmkiv ffs. So yes I'm still using my old MBP2013 with mojave. pathetic.

Anyways, I'm working with support now so will let you know if the issue is resolved

I have a new M1 Mac Mini and have been experiencing "Disk Not Ejected Properly" issues with a variety of external disks. In my case, they are not restricted to the sleep/wake events discussed by others on this thread, often unmounting whilst active.

I have done extensive cross-testing of multiple drives and cables with the M1 Mac Mini and a 2016 Macbook Pro, at first running MacOS 11.2 and then retesting with the 11.3 update. The disks seem to be stable when connected to the USB-A ports directly or via USB-A/USB-C connections made via an Anker 10-port USB Hub when its connected to the Mac Mini via USB-A.

Connecting the drives directly to the USB-C ports on the Mac Mini results in either disconnection when sleeping, or in the case of a brand new Lacie 10TB D2 Professional drive (firmware updated), also during activity. The latter will not infact stay connected and cannot be repaired or erased when it is mounted. It's signature blue light flashes rapidly whatever its state of activity.

At this point in time, it would seem to me that the problem is a compatbility issue between the new USB 4 ports and legacy USB 3.1 drives (and potentially other USB peripherals).

I am at a loss to know whether this issue can be solved by a software update, but as of the newly released MacOS 11.3 it persists.

Ive had issues with the qwc 14 port tb3 dock , with The M1 as we'll, the best answer I got was do a power cycle ,

I gave up on the owc dock and got a ankle thunderbolt power extend , It has a power on/off button and I haven't had a issue

I also have a Owc thunder bay T/B 2 , if I daisy chain it , I get Kernel panic , I had a logic board replaced under apple warranty ,

I did not get any definitive answer , Ive posted here , gone to genius bar , and talked to support a number of times, the crash reports talk permissions . and there is talk that going to security permissions , and decreasing the security protocols ,help ,

also clean my Mac x and setup app , which I used to run where , pointed out as malware to me , no answer to the version on the apple store , I only use malware bites now, and Iam documenting every crash report now with apple , and Ive been goin to the Genius Bar as well, to learn, I have a feeling that as apple starts updating things will change for the better , but its a bit frustrating , that at less then 6 months logic board is replaced , It probably bad from start as the Touch Bar didn't act as I thought it should, and when the machine came back from apple , I was happy to see that it did what was expected , I was thinking it was me , that I was not understanding , I will not proclaim to be tech guru , used computers all my life , know when somethings off, not necessarily why.

Why don't I see the same thing you do? I don't have an option for the Put hard disk to sleep when possible. I keep having this problem too.

duplicate

Well, I restarted and the problem hasn't resurfaced yet. You're using the CalDigit dock instead of the OWC?