External SSD Disconnects Repeatedly Mac Mini M1 (Big Sur)

Has anyone had an issue with your external SSD's on Thunderbolt (and a few times on USB3) just randomly disconnecting? It disconnects and reconnects instantly and comes back online after tossing a notification not to disconnect a drive without hitting eject.


I'm still trying to root cause this, but my hypothesis is that it's an Intel / Rosetta emulation issue. I've only been able to have this occur on drives that have an Intel process attached and writing to it (reading doesn't seem to cause it). And, it's not every single instance / case.


Adobe Premiere:

Exporting a from from a video as PNG or whatnot with a destination to that drive causes the notification to pop up around 60% of the time. It feels as though the longer the system is up the more likely the notification is (and sometimes it won't write the file, other times it will write and notify).


Dragging those same files from the main disk using the Finder, however, works fine (as does exporting from a native app like Pixelmator Pro).


Google Backup & Sync:

Upon boot one of my external SSD's gets hit with repeated disconnect notifications and I noticed that it's being 'synced' by Google Backup & Sync (as that's my destination for Google Drive). Once google drive is idle and done syncing, the notifications stop.


Unfortunately when exporting a video in Premiere to with source media on one of the SSD's, if google backup/sync runs and causes a disconnect, the video export will render out out "black" in the spaces in which the drive "blipped" offline for a moment.


Still trying to find use cases and track down how/when it occurs. One experiment, I moved all the SSD's off thunderbolt and onto a USB hub (with a few adapters and such) and the problem went away...but one of my other USB drives started getting the notification once or twice a day. So odd...


Thoughts? Want to share any information?


This is a 500GB Mac Mini M1 running 11.1 (16 GB memory).


Brand new system, my old mac's did not exhibit this problem but they also were not M1's and they were not running Big Sur.


PS: Also cannot reproduce this using Black Magic Speed Test against these SSD's even though it's Intel and it's doing large writes (maybe it's small writes that exhibit it easier?)



Posted on Jan 21, 2021 5:11 PM

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Posted on Mar 22, 2021 8:51 AM

I think my issue is resolved. Its been a couple of weeks with no disconnects due, I believe, to de-selecting "Put Hard Drives to Sleep" under System Preferences/Energy Saver selections. I was reading elsewhere that some people were having different sleep/wake issues, so thought I'd try this selection to see if it would make a difference, and it seems to be the answer so far.


Sleeping HDD was never a problem with Catalina on my old iMac (even though using SSD), so I didn't think it would be any different with Big Sur and M1 Mini (and it doesn't affect the Mini's SSD), but apparently it may* be the cause of the disconnects I was having with external drives.


*I will report if the problem recurs.

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170 replies

Jul 14, 2021 3:10 PM in response to dschommer

I have an Addlink S70 NVMe drive (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MNKJLTS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) in an external Thunderbolt 3 enclosure (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VFWBY9B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and I wanted to use the drive as a startup disk. Got it to install Big Sur 11.4 on the drive, but it crashes/disconnects constantly on the M1 Mac mini 16GB/512GB whether I use it as just a storage drive or as a startup drive. Same drive and cable on my intel Macs work flawlessly. This is absurd and may prevent me from buying another M1 Mac. Apple, you've got to fix this!

Aug 2, 2021 10:10 PM in response to dschommer

My theory is that it is Big Sur related. I haven't touched a thing on my system EXCEPT for the update to Big Sur. That's when it started happening.


It could be a coincidence that hardware failures have crept in at the same time, but what I'm reading on this thread shows me that it is most likely software related.


For the record, I have a late 2015 iMac 27 inch (iMac 17,1) connected to an OWC Thunderbolt Mini. I have 4 2.5 inch HDDs (no SSDs).


I was thinking of testing it by installing Catalina on another partition and seeing if the issue goes away. If it does, that would be pretty definitive.

Nov 19, 2021 3:19 AM in response to Jello_V

Jello_V wrote:

Understandable, but what I see is a perfectly working ssd on the iMac and a total disaster on the MacBook Pro... that just confuses me if my MacBook is "ok", or if it is a defective one.

I'm with you. It's absolute nonsense for it not to work, not to mention a serious gut punch after putting down that $$ for a Max. I feel for you. I have a similar setup.

If you can, go to an Apple store and demonstrate for them. If you can't, I'd send it back and keep sending it back until they give you the attention you deserve.

"Pro" needs to mean something to Apple other than "more expensive." You should get professional-level service on your purchase.

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External SSD Disconnects Repeatedly Mac Mini M1 (Big Sur)

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