Hello all,
Is there a way to "simply" eject an external disk, like its possible in Mojave ?
in Big Sur, I have to shut all apps, then open disk utility,
and run SOS, then find the disk in Finder and clic the eject button.
These are a lot of things do to just eject an external drive !
What do you think ? thank you for telling me about your (good) experiences.
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 11.5
Have to jump in here and ask >> Has there been any WD Elements Software that was on the external drive when purchased, installed to the computer ?? This is an important question because if YES - that software is not required and should be Removed as per the Developers Instructions. Apple macOS is very will equipped to manage the External Drive . The Third Party Software 9 if installed ) might the the root cause of the drive flashing for a long time even after drag and dropping to the Trash ( Unmount )
Do you have any apps that are running that uses cache files like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements for Mac? If you have that app open and the WD drive setup for the cache/swap files you would get that "Drive is in use by other app" error message.
Also did you install any of the software that comes on WD drives? If so you should uninstall it according to the developer's instructions as the Mac OS does not need any 3rd party software to manage an eternal HD.
As I said above. Go into finder. Your drive should be listed under locations. Click the eject button next to it, or right click and select eject.
If it is not shown in the locations list, go to your computer name, and find it in the list there. You can eject from there, or drag it into locations for future use.
Or you can right click the drive on your desktop, and select eject from the pop up menu.
Here is a long shot. Do a restart in the Safe Mode. (Hold down the Shift key at startup.) That allows the OS to fix itself and empty caches. Often times it will clear various strange things. It's worth trying.
Hi Ronasara, You don't mind to read what I said to Tony ? ps thanks for your idea !
1. I connect a WD elements to my MBP and work
2. after working, I do as "before" with all Apple OS's : I throw the external drive in the trash or I click eject
3. In Big Sur the WD lamp continues to flash indicating that the disk is not ejected.
4.then I go to Finder, I find the disk and I click eject (this as you suggest, operation that I knew)
5. the disk disappears from the finder BUT the little disk lamp keeps flashing !!! therefore the disc is NOT ejected.
6. Now if you open disk utility, you will see that the disk is still listed there!
7.and if you do an SOS the disk will disappear from disk utility and the small lamp on the disk will no longer flash.
And soooooo, to me and today, this long job is the only way to really eject an external drive.
So now you have to ask - what software or system is accessing files on the disk that might prevent it being ejected?
Thank you for your reply. I explain;
1. I plug in one of my WD elements drives on my MacBook Pro 16" (2019) Big Sur version 11.5
2.on my desktop there is only one disk at a time
3. to eject it, I click on the disc and drag it to the trash
4. At this moment the logo of the external drive disappears BUT the small lamp on the drive continues to flash.
5. If at this moment I remove the disk (which is flashing) I will receive an error message from the MacBook
thanks for your reply Tony please read this ;
1. I plug in one of my WD elements drives
on my MacBook Pro Big Sur version 11.5
2.on my desktop there is only one disk at a time
3. to eject it, I click on the disc and drag it to the trash
4. At this moment the logo of the external drive disappears BUT the small lamp on the drive continues to flash.
5. If at this moment I remove the disk (which is flashing) I will receive an error message from the MacBook
OK Tony, thanks for your help and clear screen shot.
Tony, you said
"As I said above. Go into finder. Your drive should be listed under locations. Click the eject button next to it, or right click and select eject."
Yes I know this. See what happens :
At this moment the logo of the external drive disappears BUT the small lamp on the drive continues to flash.
If at this moment I remove the disk (which is flashing) I will receive an error message from the MacBook.
The only way to make sure that the little lamp of the external drive no longer flashes is first to operate
an SOS with Disk Utility, and then do what you suggest with Finder.
I think this operation is very long if compared with Mojave. I hope the forum will give me a simpler way to eject external disks
Thanks again !
Hello Tony, my mother tongue is French and I am trying to express this problem as best I can.
For me, eject or throw in the trash gives the same result. Am I right ?
Could you please reread what I'm doing:
1. I connect a WD elements external drive and work
2. after working, I do as "before" with Apple OS's : I throw the external drive in the trash or I click eject
3. In Big Sur the WD lamp continues to flash indicating that the disk is not ejected.
4.then I go to Finder, I find the disk and I click eject (this as you suggest, operation that I knew)
5. the disk disappears from the finder BUT the little disk lamp keeps flashing !!! therefore the disc is NOT ejected.
6. Now if you open disk utility, you will see that the disk is still listed there!
7.and if you do an SOS the disk will disappear from disk utility and the small lamp on the disk will no longer flash.
Could you try this with your computer ?
In fact, I'm looking for a simpler way to eject external disks.
Tony, thanks for your patience with my poor English
best,
I have a thought to offer. When ejecting and the flashing is happening, does it eventually stop? The reason I ask is that in the past I've noticed that when I eject a disk it flashes for a short time while it is disconnecting, then it stops.
No problem with the language.
Did you understand my question:
How long do you wait for the light to stop flashing after ejecting the drive?
If you have file operations still happening when you click eject, they will have to complete before the drive is actually ejected to avoid data loss. Imagine for example you are overwriting a large file and that operation is half way through. If the drive was ejected at that point, the file would be lost. So MacOS will finish the operation to make sure data is secure before finally ejecting the drive.
So your light might flash for a while after ejecting the drive. You should normally wait until the flashing stops before un plugging.
Think of it like shutting down your computer. It takes some time. You wouldn't remove power until it has properly shut down.
Hello Tony
*** How long do you wait for the light to stop flashing after ejecting the drive?
the drive never stop flashing until I use SOS from Disk Utility
*** If you have file operations still happening when you click eject
Yes of course, I fully understand what you say. But its not the case. The work I do with external Drives doens't involve larg files
Plus, when I want to eject the external disk, I always shut all apps
*** You should normally wait until the flashing stops
the drive never stop flashing until I use SOS from Disk Utility
*** You wouldn't remove power until it has properly shut down.
Yes of course. This is not the case
Thanks for your ideas Tony
Thanks P.Philips
first try:
I type unmount WD B the disk flashes a few times, then the little lamp stays on. However, the disc logo remains on the screen.
After three minutes the lamp flashes a few times and comes back on without flashing. The disc logo is still on my screen.
So I dare not remove the disc.
What to do ?
I open Disk Utility and ask for an SOS on the external drive. The disc logo is still on my screen! I drag it to the trash, the logo disappears from my screen.
Then I look again at disk utility. AND the external drive is still in the disk utility! while it is no longer on my screen!
After a few minutes this is what happens;
1. The logo is no longer on my screen
2.the small lamp flashes slowly
3.I put my hand on the disc and do not feel any movement in it
4.I open utility disk the mother disk is still present
but the WD B segment has turned gray (so like an ejected part)
second trial
As I do not feel anything spinning in the external disk, I remove the plug knowing that the lamp flashes. The MBP is not showing me an eject error.
I reconnect the external drive. I open Disk utility and notice that the mother drive and the WD B segment are present.
I ask for an SOS, then in disk utility click on eject. I put my hand on the disk and don't feel any movement,
but the lamp flashes slowly. I remove the cable and get no error message.
This second try looks good, but I don't like it at all since I removed the cable while the lamp flashes.
So the problem is not resolved. I wonder if I won't go back to Mojave and wait better times.
PS the Drive Genius 6 app does not work either.
NordVPN was also not working. I have already lost days of work.
Thank you all for your good will.
Old toad you must be a Prince in disguise ;-)
Precisely I bought this 16 "MBP (64 Gig DDR4. Radeon pro 8 Gig.) To work my RAW's with ACR from Creative Cloud. But I take care to close all applications before ejecting an external drive.
I do not know at all this case of caches, I use Onyx a French software to empty them and do the maintenances.
And I did not install any software from an external drive.
This is all very frustrating.
Merci vieux crapaud !
Big Sur ; how to eject WD elements external hard drives ?
