Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

With Monterey update, can't see certain hard drives

After updating this morning, I can't see certain G-drive hard drives on my MacBook pro. Some that I formatted over a year ago are fine. The two new most recent ones won't appear. I have checked that the finder show all hard drives. Disk utility doesn't seem them either. However, when I plug them into another MacBook pro that hasn't been upgraded they appear in the finder. What should I do?


Thanks!

Posted on Oct 26, 2021 3:05 PM

Reply
Question marked as Best answer

Found solution. If I plug in an apple-manufactured usb-c to usb-c cable from iPad, the drive mounts and reads correctly. Unbelievable

Posted on Nov 7, 2021 4:52 AM

158 replies

Nov 8, 2021 9:40 AM in response to cdobbs

The work around is wonderful, all that can be done now is to let Apple know about it and they will make a decision as to whether it's a bug or by design.


(A great example is when they made changes in iOS to stop providing power to certain devices that were drawing too much through the Lightning to Camera adapter. In that case the change was made on purpose and those devices needed to be used with the version of the adapter that provided power.)


As I stated, if you have an open case with Apple Support on this, let them know of the workaround.


If you do not, open one:


Contact - Official Apple Support

Nov 9, 2021 2:17 PM in response to MontereyVictim

That's not true.


Ports are not just go/no go connectors, there is a lot of software required for them to function as intended.


Don't summarily state the ports don't support the cables when it's likely to be that macOS needs to be tweaked.


Regardless, file feedback with Apple if you haven't already opened a case with Apple Support.


Nov 9, 2021 5:25 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Dogcow-Moof wrote:

If the ports were "faulty," using adapters would not work.

Unfortunately that is not entirely true with regards to USB-C ports. You can have a half bad USB-C port. Rotating the USB-C connector 180 degrees upside down can sometimes make a device work. I have personally experienced this on the USB-C Macs I repair both with chargers and data connections.


Unfortunately the issues with external hard drives/SSDs are very complicated due to the multiple brands, models, file systems, etc. Plus there may be other differences between Intel & M1 Macs. We also need to keep in mind that last year many users also complained about having issues with many external drives. Most of the reports last year were with M1 Macs, but there were also a fair number of reports with issues on Intel Macs after upgrading to Big Sur. Unfortunately the issue last year was never really investigated by any of the tech sites (I'm not sure it was even properly reported) and I never did see any articles that ever mentioned the issue being fixed. I did see some references last year from certain hardware vendors that did mention some USB drives having chipset compatibility issues (JMicron) with M1 Macs, but those references were later removed (either the vendors provided an alternate product that was compatible or perhaps a firmware/software update was issued either by the vendor or Apple).


There may not be any one correct answer or solution to these USB drive issues. It certainly does not help that Apple loves their secrets so much that Apple may never acknowledge any problems and may never even mention a fix in any of the macOS patches/updates notes.


Nov 9, 2021 6:24 PM in response to HWTech

You can of course have a bad port; by calling the ports faulty the claim is made the issue is systemic, and that’s the issue I have.


If the ports themselves were in some way defective, adapters and cables wouldn’t be a workaround.


As I stated above, the best thing to do is to keep Apple Support up to date and to file feedback.


Note I also recall the Oxford 922 FireWire 800 bridge chip issue with MacOS X Panther that was only resolved via firmware updates for the drive enclosures involved.


Nov 10, 2021 12:55 AM in response to viathelens

Exactly the same story. I have a MacBook Air and a G Drive and I too spent hours on the phone with Apple support. My drive is partitioned and the Mac sees all partitions but none will mount even after trying safe mode, first aid etc etc. So I wrote to Western Digital (makers of G Drive) and they wrote back saying they were aware of the issue and advised me to check back periodically on their forum site for news of a solution. Totally unacceptable. In my view, anyone who contacts them using the Incident form should be automatically replied to when a fix is issued. I then contacted the Apple store where I bought my drive to ask for a refund or exchange as the G drive has a 3 year guarantee and mine is only 18 months old. But the problem is if I got another one off the shelf, it would probably still have the same problem, as Monterey wasn't in existence when these were produced for sale. And Apple have now confessed that G Drive / Western Digital isn't the only manufacturer having this issue - apparently, Seagate, Lacie and Scandisk are too. I was told to sit tight and wait for the next update to Monterey which should include the fix. Whilst at the moment this seems to be the only option, it really is unacceptable. I bought the G Drive from the Apple store in the belief that whilst it isn't an Apple product, it must be at least recommended by them otherwise they wouldn't give it shelf space and that at the very least they would test updates on all products that they sell. Very disappointed in Apple and in the response from Western Digital. And I'm also told that this happened to certain hard drives when Big Sur was issued. Really, were no lessons learnt?

Nov 10, 2021 1:19 AM in response to Jono Slack

I've now tried with a number of different cables, with a number of different responses

Apple cable - comes up with a message saying the drive is unreadable (but light on drive doesn't flash)

Most other cables - light on drive flashes and it shows in Disk Utility but won't mount

Two different cables - the computer restarted immediately

Clearly 12.0.1 doesn't fix it

WD say that it's Apple's call (probably agree)

I'll just have to wait!


Nov 10, 2021 7:12 AM in response to pdtnyc

Unfortunately, it's not a holistoc solution. It will get your computer to see the drive (and mount it), but the data transfer rates provided by a USB-C charging cable are abysmal — try toggling from one recent Time Machine backup to one from months ago, for example.


I'm going to try an Applr branded USB-C cable designed for higher transfer rates today. Will report back if this helps.

Nov 10, 2021 7:46 AM in response to Jono Slack

Jono Slack wrote:

Hmm
I was looking for such a cable (I agree, the charge cables are really slow). I'm not sure which part number this might be, presumably it's a thunderbolt cable? Any advice welcome!

The Apple charging cable only supports USB2 according to the Apple documentation. An official Apple UBC-C Thunderbolt cable which can handle the Thunderbolt protocol and USB3/4 protocols have a lightning bolt on them to indicate Thunderbolt. Some other manufacturers may use the same marking, but others may not. See this Apple article (see the section "Charging"):

About the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Cable - Apple Support

With Monterey update, can't see certain hard drives

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.