Monterey struggling with External SSD

Based upon detail from another forum ( see link ), which although I'm unfamiliar, a post sheds light on Monterey & Spotlight indexing pertaining to Time Machine external drives. {I'm using a 2020 Intel iMac & now, macOS 12.2 & a 2TB SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD, that has been in continuous use since 2019}

When I attempted adding my external Time Machine drive, I received an error message... "xxx is a Time Machine backup folder. You can not add it to the privacy list." This corroborates what the forum's link points out... Monterey's Spotlight does not index network drives. (Although the guy in that forum wanted to index his Music Library on an external drive & figured out a Terminal procedure to do so.)

I've been using my SanDisk SSD for Time Machine without issue, until Monterey. As I previously did have my SanDisk SSD added to the Privacy window in pre-Monterey Spotlight, I deleted the SanDisk SSD as part of the process getting Time Machine functioning as it should (& as it did prior to Monterey).

Let me add a couple of recommends which might help others... a caveat to those using newer, M1 Macs.

1. My SanDisk SSD (and, Time Machine) was rendered unusable post, Monterey install. I found the best way to erase the SSD (essentially starting over) was by erasing the top-level disk, using Monterey's Disk Utility, and reset the SSD to Untitled, ExFAT, & Master Boot Record. [Note: I was very fortunate I had a good, Carbon Copy Clone on another SanDisk SSD - so, my loss of all prior, Time Machine backups was not a big problem as I could not get access to any of that backup Data.] ...Then, I erased the nested drive to Untitled, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), GUID Partition Map; and then, Converted the nested drive to... APFS. ...Once conversion was complete, I used Get Info to rename it as I wanted. ...I can say that with the completion of this process, I no longer experienced any issues mounting & dismounting (using Disk Utility) the SSD. When I re-selected the newly converted, SSD for Time Machine, it set up & completed the 1st backup quickly. Time Machine backups have since been running smoothly.

2. I have found macOS Disk Utility has been the more reliable way to dismount an external SSD, instead of using Finder. ...And as result, I use a created, Automator app that employs a Terminal command {to Disk Utility} for dismounting my Time Machine SSD. {The SSD gets too hot to leave continuously connected; a pain, but so it goes.} ...I keep this Automator app in my Dock for easy access to dismount the Time Machine SSD.

Having employed the above for the last 5 days (from this Post), I'm confident the external SSD, Time Machine drive will continue running well. ...When the next macOS update takes place, I will find out if the current, Time Machine set-up transitions & works with the newly updated, Monterey, or the Update causes problems {meaning, hasn't yet resolved the basic, Time Machine issue with external SSDs}. ...And, we'll have to again sort out Time Machine.

Update: I purchased a Thunderbolt 3 SSD which came with a thunderbolt 3 cable. It works perfectly on the MBP M1 Max and Monterey 12.2 which got me thinking... I tried the Samsung T5 SSD with the Thunderbolt 3 cable. It worked perfectly! Interesting, the mounted icon was different when using the Thunderbolt 3 cable. Using a USB-C 3.1 cable, I get a silver drive icon as per older Catalina. When using the 3.1 cable on the new MBP with Monterey 12.2 I get the silver icon and the drive doesn't work properly. When I use the Thunderbolt 3 cable on the Samsung T5 SSD, I get a gold drive icon and the drive works perfectly albeit slower which is expected. Maybe try a Thunderbolt 3 or better cable on your non-thunderbolt drives and see if they work better.

Hey, hopefully you've solved you're issue by now, but I just had the same issue and the senior Apple Technician walked me through recovery start up - disk utility - Show all devices - first aid to hard drive - then mount. It mounted right up and I'm rolling right along! I just had to share after losing sleep over it! Please vote this as a solved answer so that it can help some folks! ;)

Thanks for your insight. I have gone through the identical procedure now. In addition LaCie has cleared one of my 5TB drives, and I even have a TM again. I am not trusting it yet though, because I got failures doing a disk backup on SuperDuper. Failed. And this is not the only procedure that keeps failing.

I have a sneaky suspicion, that Apple will release an update including the mess that was generated around HD handling with DiskUtility and especially TimeMachine, which I still perceive as a loose canon. Luckily I have a new M1 Max that shouldn't collapse anytime soon. This gives me confidence that Apple might fix this mess soon. We are not the only ones with these problems, and I would not trust your solution totally. Yet. Better safe than sorry.

Updated macOS to 12.2.1.

After mounting my Time Machine SSD (had left Backup Automatically checked prior to updating), I returned after about 30 minutes to find a backup had been completed several minutes after SSD was mounted. ...I dismounted the SSD, using my Automator app, and subsequently disconnected. (Forgot to previously mention, I use an TB3 USB-C cable for connection, & always disconnect the SSD after dismounting.) ...so, for now, Time Machine and related, all working without issue.

I completely agree! After it fixed my problem, I went ahead and transferred the data and formatted it to AFPS so that it would be more easily read and I wouldn't lose that hard drive again.

And Thanks for your insight!

To update the drive's firmware go to the drive manufacturer's support site and look for the instructions for updating firmware.

Usually you need to download a utility from the support site as well as the firmware update. Some manufacturers only have a utility for a PC and in that case you have to connect the drive to a PC to update its firmware.

mariafromdarlington wrote:

Can you tell me how I update the drive’s firmware please?

I have a similar issue, but I don't think that "Monterey struggling with External SSD" should be marked as "solved" because the proposed solution requires a specific hardware configuration. A general solution is needed. Here is my experience.

I have a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Intel processor) and two portable Samsung SSD's. One is the X5 with a Thunderbolt interface, and the other is the T7 with a USB interface. I use the X5 for Time Machine backups and the T7 for general purpose storage. I started with macOS Catalina and later upgraded to Big Sur. Everything worked great. The X5 is so fast that I seldom notice that backups even happen. Then I upgraded to Monterey (currently patched to 12.2.1) and started having issues with the X5.

Before Monterey, I could unmount the X5 and T7 and then unplug them. No problems. Now with Monterey, when I unmount and unplug the X5, it seems to work, but later when I plug it back in, it won't mount. Instead, it just gets hot, like it's working hard on something but unable to complete it. To recover, I need to shut down and restart the MacBook. Then I can plug the X5 in and it will mount normally. This is not an acceptable workaround.

First, I tried to update the Samsung software, thinking that maybe my older version was incompatible with Monterey. I carefully followed Samsung's Troubleshooting Guide for macOS (Revision 1.1, 2021). None of the advice in that document solved the issue. Next, I reformatted the X5 from Mac OS Extended to APFS. (Yes, this erased all my backups, but I was willing to pay that price.) That didn't solve the issue either.

Then I tried a few things in an attempt to isolate the problem or at least find some clues. Using Disk Utility, I can mount and unmount the X5 and T7. I can do this multiple times with no issues, and I can see the mount point appear and disappear in Disk Utility, Finder and Terminal. Again with Disk Utility, I can eject the T7 but not the X5. When I attempt to first unmount and then eject the X5, I get the error message: "Failed to eject Samsung Portable SSD X5 Media because it is currently in use." What could be using an unmounted volume? It must be some component of the OS, maybe the Samsung driver or something in Monterey (Spotlight? Time Machine?).

Next I used Disk Utility/First Aid. Running it on the APFS volume I got the following message:

Checking file system and repairing if necessary and if possible.

Volume was successfully unmounted.

Performing fsck_apfs -y -x /dev/rdisk3s2

error: container /dev/rdisk3 is mounted.

File system check exit code is 65.

Restoring the original state found as mounted.

File system verify or repair failed. : (-69845)

Next I unmounted the APFS volume and ran First Aid on the APFS container and got the exact same message as above.

This is consistent with the behavior I found when trying to unmount and eject the X5 using Disk Utility. What does it mean that the volume is unmounted while the container is mounted? When I unmount the volume, there is no option to then unmount the container. I don't understand what's going on here.

Finally, I unmounted the APFS volume and ran First Aid on the X5 media. That ran successfully with no errors.

After this, I got the idea of unmounting the X5 and leaving it plugged in while closing the MacBook lid. I waited half a minute for the computer to fall asleep and then unplugged the X5. Maybe the sleeping OS wouldn't notice me unplugging the X5. Starting up again, I reversed the sequence: plug in X5, open lid, mount X5. To my amazement, this worked! Except that I didn't need to perform the last step: when the computer woke up, the drive was already mounted. This is an OK workaround, though it's not great because now I have to carry the X5 with me all the time.

Best would be an OS that worked as well as before. The X5 worked just fine with Catalina and Big Sur, which points to Monterey as the culprit. Looking online, I see that others are having similar issues with external media and Monterey. Apple, are you listening?

UPDATE: For the workaround, I said to wait "half a minute" before unplugging the X5. A more reliable technique is to wait for the indicator light on the X5 to turn off. Later, when you resume, all you have to do is make sure the X5 is plugged in before opening the lid. Also, if you unplug the X5 from one USB-C port, it's not necessary to plug it back into the same port. Any port will do -- the OS doesn't seem to care. Finally, you must perform this procedure every time. If you open the lid before plugging in the X5, then the OS will not mount the X5 until you reboot. Like I said, this workaround is not great.

Yes they are very helpless, lol.

they tried and fixed mine for a moment through unmounting and remounting the disk in startup mode, I believe. Finally I accidentally plugged the drive straight in through a usb-c adapter and I haven’t had anymore problems. I’m just having to work around my hub because that seems to be what Monterey isn’t supporting with to some of my drives.

if you’re in a pinch and using a hub, try bypassing it.

Hooray! The latest update to Monterey (12.3) has fixed my problem. Everything works normally again. Thanks Apple software engineers! Overall, my advice is to update the OS. Connect the external drive directly to the laptop using the cable that came with the drive. Other cables and hubs may not support the drive. (For the Samsung X5, I have to use a Thunderbird 3 cable plugged into a Thunderbird 3 port or it won't work.) If you can get the drive to mount, then make sure the driver and firmware are up to date.

I had a problem where two disks were no longer recognized and were not visible as all in disk utility. after upgrading to monterey. When I put a usb c adapter on the older plug they both worked. I was driving them from a old usb dock. By putting a usb c adapter on the usb dock and conneting that to the usb c port on the computer still did not work. Next I hooked it to a usb c hub and connected the hub to the computer and VOILA! both drives are visible and accessible.

Mike

My Mac Pro (late 2013) OS X 12.3 is still having problems handling the 4TB external SSD (WD) in a Sabrent USB 3.0 enclosure. I have been using that drive and enclosure since Catalina with Mac OS Extended Journaled. After the update to Monterey, I had to reformat it. After many failures. I discovered I was only able to format the drive to APFS if I put it on my USB hub. I was also able to format it if I attach it through my Thunderbolt display. After it is formatted, if I move the drive to a USB port on the Mac, it quickly becomes unreachable and has to be reformatted again. As long as I keep the drive on the USB hub or Thunderbolt Display USB port, it appears to work. I guess I just need to live with that configuration until another update comes out and try again.

I have about 8 SanDisk Pro's which I rotate in turn for backups (not time machine). I find erasing them to be very problematic at best and often disk utility will hang. I can sometimes force the disk to re-format by using a windows machine to format the disk and then going back to the Mac to reformat to AFPS. I though booting into recovery mode was a little better but it still hangs from time to time. I have a Silicon MacBook Pro and an Intel Mac mini and both do this which is driving me crazy. Once formatted then do mount ok but disk write speeds are typically 50% of what they used to be. I tried different cables, direct, via HUB with USB-C and via HUB with USB-2/3. For some reason the slower the interface the more likely it seems to be but given the nature of needing a reliable quick backup option I wish apple would get this sorted.