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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

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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 10, 2021 8:32 AM in response to pdtnyc

If we’re looking for commonalities, here’s some info about the affected (and unaffected) gear:


iMac. 20,1 (late 2020, Intel, 32G RAM)

Affected drive: G-DRIVE mobile USB-C 4TB

Unaffected drive: G-DRIVE mobile USB-C 2TB — this one is seen, and is functional


I have swapped out the USB-C cables that were included on both G-DRIVE units; I have swapped ports, to see if that had an effect. I have gone into Recovery mode, and tried to mount the 4TB drive — nothing has worked.


The common features may be:


G-DRIVE external drives w/USB-C connections

Drive capacity of 4TB — not certain, but a lot of complaints from 4TB drive owners.


Maggot

Nov 10, 2021 9:21 AM in response to Maggot

Hi There

Here's my information about affected (and unaffected) gear

Macbook Pro 14" M1 Pro late 2021

Affected G-Drive mobile USB-C 5TB (2021)

Unaffected drive G-Drive mobile USB-C 4TB - this one is seen and is functional (2018)


I've also swapped many different USB-C cables - and swapped between the 3 ports on the MBP

I've also tried the drive attached to a USB hub on a Benq monitor - again, it doesn't work

However attaching either drive to the USB-2 Hub on an Apple Thunderbolt display and they both work


So - I think it's more likely to be the age of the drive than the capacity -

I hope they fix it soon!


Nov 10, 2021 11:48 AM in response to Jono Slack

Jono Slack wrote:

Hi There
Here's my information about affected (and unaffected) gear
Macbook Pro 14" M1 Pro late 2021
Affected G-Drive mobile USB-C 5TB (2021)
Unaffected drive G-Drive mobile USB-C 4TB - this one is seen and is functional (2018)

I've also swapped many different USB-C cables - and swapped between the 3 ports on the MBP
I've also tried the drive attached to a USB hub on a Benq monitor - again, it doesn't work
However attaching either drive to the USB-2 Hub on an Apple Thunderbolt display and they both work

So - I think it's more likely to be the age of the drive than the capacity -
I hope they fix it soon!

Jono is right. I just ordered, and tried, an Apple USB-C cable (not the charging cable), and my G-DRIVE external disk would not mount. Meanwhile, the other one is working fine.


This is really frustrating. I was going to send the G-DRIVE back under warranty., but the fault lies with its integration with Monterey. I'm thinking of bringing my hard drive to the Apple Store and challenging them to mount the drive — maybe they'll find a cable that actually works (aside from the USB-C charging cable, which is a non-starter.)

Nov 10, 2021 12:01 PM in response to pdtnyc

pdtnyc wrote:

Thanks. I will end up pulling data from the hard drives using another computer. Will try the command line instructions tomorrow. What’s puzzling to me is that older G-Drives have no problem mounting to this computer. I would expect the exact opposite result.

Same thing. I looked at the manufacture date on bnoth my G-DRIVEs. The newest one, from 2020, is affected; the older one, manufactured in 2019, is working and mounted. Let's keep bumping this. The charge cable solution — it tops out at USB 2.0 speeds — is not a viable solution.

Nov 10, 2021 2:30 PM in response to Maggot

Maggot wrote:

Same thing. I looked at the manufacture date on bnoth my G-DRIVEs. The newest one, from 2020, is affected; the older one, manufactured in 2019, is working and mounted. Let's keep bumping this. The charge cable solution — it tops out at USB 2.0 speeds — is not a viable solution.


That's a rather revealing data point; it's likely that due to manufacturing issues, G-DRIVE switched to a different chipset in the newer enclosure, resulting in this issue.


That makes it feel more like the ultimate resolution will not be in macOS but rather in a firmware update for the G-DRIVE.


Excellent troubleshooting.

Nov 10, 2021 3:59 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Dogcow-Moof wrote:


Maggot wrote:

Same thing. I looked at the manufacture date on bnoth my G-DRIVEs. The newest one, from 2020, is affected; the older one, manufactured in 2019, is working and mounted. Let's keep bumping this. The charge cable solution — it tops out at USB 2.0 speeds — is not a viable solution.

That's a rather revealing data point; it's likely that due to manufacturing issues, G-DRIVE switched to a different chipset in the newer enclosure, resulting in this issue.

That makes it feel more like the ultimate resolution will not be in macOS but rather in a firmware update for the G-DRIVE.

Excellent troubleshooting.

Thanks! In a way, it would be best if it is a G-DRIVE firmware issue. (They have already raised the issue with Apple, but only regarding M1 and M2 chipset Macs.) This way, they have a vested interest in solving it: I had already made arrangements to return my external under warranty. They won't want hundreds of possibly functional G-DRIVES drifting back to the factory, when they could be made whole...

Nov 11, 2021 4:26 AM in response to Maggot

Like most of these things it's likely to be half of one and half of the other (G_Drive controller slightly out of spec and Apple firmware also). The difficulty is if they both blame each other and nothing happens!

I'm tempted to send my drive back as well (because it's a pain), but I need to replace it first to get the data off!

All the best

Nov 11, 2021 4:33 AM in response to Jono Slack

Yes but then what do you buy?? Apple support told me that owners of Lacie, Seagate, and ScanDisk (and those are just the ones he rattled off) are all experiencing the same issues. I was going to take mine back and get another but if it's affecting all the new models you won't know if you are buying another drive with the same issue.


Nov 11, 2021 5:14 AM in response to pdtnyc

After hours of frustration, I found your post and sure enough, my G-Drive AmorATD drive works fine with the Apple USB-C to USB-C cable. Stranger still, I have two of these drives and one of them works fine with the original cable, the other doesn't show up on the desktop and can't be mounted, yet works fine with the Apple cable. Both drives worked fine in all versions of OS 11, so there seems to be a Monterey problem with some USB-C drives...

Nov 11, 2021 7:36 AM in response to Jagbird1

Jagbird1 wrote:

Yes but then what do you buy?? Apple support told me that owners of Lacie, Seagate, and ScanDisk (and those are just the ones he rattled off) are all experiencing the same issues. I was going to take mine back and get another but if it's affecting all the new models you won't know if you are buying another drive with the same issue.

If it’s that widespread, and they’re admitting it, that bodes well for a fix coming sooner rather than later.

Nov 11, 2021 8:23 AM in response to hamsong

hamsong wrote:

After hours of frustration, I found your post and sure enough, my G-Drive AmorATD drive works fine with the Apple USB-C to USB-C cable. Stranger still, I have two of these drives and one of them works fine with the original cable, the other doesn't show up on the desktop and can't be mounted, yet works fine with the Apple cable. Both drives worked fine in all versions of OS 11, so there seems to be a Monterey problem with some USB-C drives...

Do you mean an Apple USB-C to USB-C charging cable? It will work, but it tops out at really slow speeds. I’d hesitate to call it fine — more like “barely functional.”


As for your other drive working flawlessly, that was also my experience. (Two G-DRIVE mobile USB-C externals.) Can you look up the date of manufacture on both? A few posts have noted that the older drives seem to work fine after Monterey, while the more recent drives won’t mount. (My 4TB drive, manufactured in 2020, has failed to mount, but the 2TB from 2019 is fine.)


If you have the original boxes, the manufacture date is on there.

With Monterey update, can't see certain hard drives

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