Monterey struggling with External SSD

I've seen posts that these problems may stem the firmware update delivered with Monterey for some Mac models. In my case, I also have a Mac mini (2018). For this model, the firmware did not change from Big Sur to Monterey.

Perhaps this is one reason why I've not come across issues with external drives. The other reason may be that I use Samsung SSDs (T5 500GB, USB 3.1 (Gen 2), Type-C) which seemingly have a high degree of compatibility.

One of the SSDs works well despite being connected via a USB 3.0 hub which is not recommended (presumably because of power issues).

- Pie Lover

Not quite comparable because it is an iMac, but anyway here we go:

Hardware Overview:

  Model Name: iMac

  Model Identifier: iMac18,3

  Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Core i5

  Processor Speed: 3.4 GHz

  Number of Processors: 1

  Total Number of Cores: 4

  L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

  L3 Cache: 6 MB

  Memory: 16 GB

System Firmware Version: 447.40.12.0.0

  SMC Version (system): 2.41f2

I have a Pluggable brand SSD Thunderbolt drive. I had to use Disk Utility to erase and partition the drive as APFS. When I did that, I was able to download and install Monterey onto the drive. I then used Time Machine to bring all my other files to the SSD. I then used Startup Disk in the System Preferences to choose the Pluggable drive as my boot drive. Since then, my 2017 iMac has been blazing fast (the internal drive is just a storage drive at this point).

As a side note, I tried to reindex the Fusion drive by going to Spotlight preferences, dragging the internal drive to the window to exclude it from indexing, and then deleted it to force the Spotlight to reindex the drive. I restarted the computer probably 4-5 times and it was really quick. But then, all of sudden, it went back to a startup time taking over 10 minutes. Something really, really funky going on with the software it would seem.

So, I'm glad the SSD drive is working out. My 2017 iMac is quite comparable in speeds now to a brand new 2020 Intel iMac with the external drive when working in Final Cut Pro.

I upgraded my 2017 iMac to the Monterey update last night. I had it configured to use an external SSD as the boot drive to improve the overall speed. Prior to the update, with the previous version of Monterey installed, it was taking 15 minutes or so to boot, now boot times have returned to what they were under Big Sur. In addition, all the graphics issues I was having (light mode text displaying in black) have resolved. So it does appear that this update addressed at least a few bugs.

Some progress I installed Monterey on the internal HDD and performance is tolerable, boots in about 3 minutes and desktop gets responsive after another 3

minutes. I’ll try the SSD next as it’s being picked up by Finder now hopefully it should work.

I have installed (fresh install) Monterey 12.1 on an external SSD (SanDisk Extreme 1Tb).

It works.

BUT if I connect the other external SSD (even when Monterey has booted), the mount hangs.

FYI, the other SSD is an ADATA where I boot regularly BigSur (and from which I am writing this), so it is definitely not an hardware issue.

So, progress, I guess, but not success.

I can't mount sandisk SSD to Mac after the Monterey update.

I tried with an apple manufactured USB-C to USB-C cable, it worked only once. But not twice.

I also did the SMC reset. Not working.

The used the terminal code but not working

What else can I do?

I also have the same issue. This article helped me issue with Monterey on 2020 MBAir. Any heavy data transfer to external SSD and the drive first disconnects Finder freezes and then comes a kernel panic. Identical on any of 3 external SSDs, formatted as APFS or OS Extended. Thank you

Similar problem here.

After an update to Monterey, my external Samsung EVO 4TB couldn't mount on my MacMini. I couldn't see it with DiskUtil. My MacBookPro couldn't see it (Monterey also). Even a MBook Air of a colleague didn't see it (Big Sur).

I had to go to a shop to format it with a PC.

Then, I can now see it and format it. But it's not working with APFS of HFS+. It seems to work with exFAT.

My external 2TB LaCie SSD slowed to a crawl after updating to Monterey. It then (I thought) failed. I sent it back to Seagate...... anyway, long story short..... The drive has returned, formatted to ExFat - and worked perfectly. I reformatted to APFS and it again slowed to a crawl (3 MB/s on Blackmagic) ...... I reformatted back to ExFat - note: this can take about 20-30 minutes - and now works perfectly again..... 500 MB/s on Blackmagic...... Dunno what the problem is - Apple or Seagate (or both) - but I hope this helps someone else....... Format as ExFat.

I ran into this problem yesterday and spent quite a while troubleshooting and finding a fix for me.

In my case I had a pair of SanDisk SSDs formatted APFS and their R/W speeds plummeted to super slow speeds in Monterey. On older macOSs (specifically Mojave) it was still fine.

By reformatting the drives as APFS on Monterey this solved the issue. In my case it was not as big of a deal since these were clone drives. I initially did one ExFAT and that worked fine but I really wanted APFS for the drives and experimented and finally got over my issues.

I have similar issues with Monterey macOS 12.1 on late 2018 Mac Mini. I have two Samsung external SSDs (500GB on USB3 and 1TB on USB-C) connected , and a third external disk which is a LaCie 4TB (format Mac OS Extended Journaled). Experienced kernel panic a few times a day. Same problem in Safe Mode. Have also reset NVRAM or PRAM. Problem settles down after disconnecting external drives. Very frustrating.

I'm also using a Mac mini (2018) with Monterey 12.1. I have 2 external SSDs both Samsung T5 500 GB models. One is connected directly to a USB 3.1 (Gen 2) port with a Type C connector. The other is connected to a (StarTech) USB 3.0 hub, again using a USB Type C cable. Neither disk is encrypted and I haven't installed the Samsung supplied software. The drives are formatted as multi-volume APFS containers (including Time Machine backup volumes).

These drives have been very reliable over the past 2-3 years (with Mojave, Catalina, & Big Sur). I haven't experienced any of the recently reported external drive issues with either of these devices.

The only time I experienced an issue is when I disconnected one of the SSDs before it was properly unmounted (which lead to system crashes). If I recall correctly, I wasn't able to completely repair it with the Disk Utility and eventually had to erase and re-format.

Hope this helps.

- Pie Lover

PieLover, frankly, I'm not sure this helps those who are experiencing issues. We've established — a long time ago — that not all drives and systems are affected, but some are. That 12.1 did not clear things up for those still experiencing problems with their external drives under Monterey is also well-known.

I was lucky — for the most part, my issues were resolved with 12.1. But others, sadly, are still facing problems.

I was trying to point out that the Samsung SSDs may not be a contributing factor. The LaCie 4TB drive could possibly be the culprit or the issue may depend on the specific file system or encryption.

Where possible, I prefer peripherals that don't require custom software to function. I've had good success with 3'rd party external SSDs, scanners, webcams, monitors, and computer audio equipment across a number of system upgrades.

- Pie Lover