Samsung T3 and T5 won't connect to MBP Big Sur 11.5.2

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Samsung T3 and T5 won't connect to MBP Big Sur 11.5.2

I have a two Samsung portable SSDs, one T3 500GB and one T5 1TB, that I use with my MBP mid-2015 running Big Sur 11.5.2. Both drives require passwords to gain access to contents. Out of the blue, neither drive is accessible via the Samsung Portable SSD app. While the drives and their unencrypted content appear in Finder, the app reports "no Samsung Portable SSD is connected." Other posts suggest responding to the app's access request in Privacy and Security settings, but there is no such message in settings. What could cause both drives to lose access at the same time, and how can I restore it? Thanks very much for your help.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.5

Posted on Sep 2, 2021 11:45 AM

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Answer 1

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Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

133,777 points

Sep 2, 2021 3:42 PM in response to dwhewlings

dwhewlings wrote:

... I want to protect the drive with a password. Is there a way to do that without using the Samsung app?

YES, you can encrypt any drive with FileVault:

Encrypt Mac data with FileVault - Apple Support

.

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Answer 2

Sep 4, 2021 12:26 PM in response to dwhewlings

If you can read the data on another Mac, you should be able to use the Samsung Utilities on that same Mac to erase the drive, specifying un-encrypted.

Once un-encrypted, Disk Utility should be able to ERASE it again, installing MacOS itself as Driver. If you specify that MacOS should create an encrypted Volume, it will do so in about a minute. If you ask for it to be done with data already on the drive, it will take all afternoon to complete the conversion to encrypted.

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Answer 3

Sep 2, 2021 11:53 AM in response to dwhewlings

Does that "Samsung Portable SSD app" load correctly and run correctly under Big Sur? Does it need an update for Big Sur?

LOTS of maker-specific Utilities have been nothing but trouble, and Users here recommend you roll the data off the drive and re-initialize DIRECTLY with Disk Utility, bypassing the vendor-specific Utilities altogether.

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Answer 4

dwhewlings Author

Level 1

24 points

Sep 2, 2021 12:10 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks Grant.

The T3 and its app has worked well for more than five years. I've only had the T5 for two months but it too has worked well with the app. Until now, I've seen the "no SSD is connected" message only occasionally, and a MBP restart has always fixed it. But this time, after three restarts, it's still not working.

I've seen the advice regarding disk utility, but I want to protect the drive with a password. Is there a way to do that without using the Samsung app? And it appears that by using the app, I have hidden the drive's contents and can't "roll the data off" without first getting access to it.

Thanks again for your help.

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Answer 5

dwhewlings Author

Level 1

24 points

Sep 2, 2021 1:07 PM in response to dwhewlings

More information: Both drives work on a 2018 MacBook Air running Big Sur 11.4. In this case, during installation I was presented with the instruction to allow access via Security & Privacy settings.

Back on the MBP, I tried reinstalling the app with no success. I also tried reloading the kernel extension via Terminal but it did not solve the problem.

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Answer 6

dwhewlings Author

Level 1

24 points

Sep 4, 2021 11:38 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hello Grant,

After multiple frustrating rounds with Samsung support, I will take your advice and ditch the Samsung app. I managed to copy the SSD's contents to another machine (on which the Samsung app actually works). Now I'd like to reformat the SSD before moving the files back (Mac OS Extended - Journaled + GUID Partition Map), but Disk Utility reports "couldn't open device (-69877) - operation failed." I have a sinking feeling that it's because the drive has a password set through the Samsung app. Can you advise? Thanks again for your help.

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