External Drives STILL ejecting during sleep in Ventura

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KJH1986 Author

Level 1

43 points

External Drives STILL ejecting during sleep in Ventura

Just updated to Ventura on a Mac Studio and I noticed that I still have the issue of my external HD disconnecting when the computer goes to sleep. I know this because I get the “disk not ejected properly” message when I wake the computer.

I suppose my question is this, are we EVER going to get a fix to this long-standing problem? This has been a bug I have dealt with on multiple macs, multiple external drives, and every version of MacOS for at least the last decade. It seems like something Apple should be able to fix, and yet, every time I upgrade to the latest OS I have the smallest hope that this issue might have finally been resolved. Every time I am disappointed to see that it persists. I’m far from the only person with this issue, and it is not a specific machine or OS causing the issue, it is every mac I’ve ever had and every version of MacOS.

Please, DO NOT suggest an “SMC reset”, “failing HD cables”, “reinstalling MacOS” or any of the other useless recommendations that serve no purpose other than to send people on a quixotic and time-consuming quest. This is a well known, well-documented , longstanding bug. This is clearly a problem that Apple needs to address and I’m finally annoyed enough to post about it after yet another year of the latest OS failing to address it.

The Mac Studio wasn’t cheap, and part of the expectation a person has around what is supposed to be a powerful, desktop workstation would obviously be that— given its intention as a professional workstation— that it isn’t ejecting external drives just because it needs a nap. Before you ask, yes, the behavior continues even if you turn off “put hard drives to sleep when possible” in the energy saving preferences. The only solution is a third party app like Jettison or to set your energy savings so that the computer never sleeps.

I just want to know if Apple has ever addressed this in any official capacity and if a fix is ever coming for this? The fact that there’s a market for third party apps that have to exist to try and mitigate this long-standing bug should be kind of embarrassing. I don’t get it, you can create your own processors that exceeded everybody’s expectations while running cool to the touch but you can’t get harddrives to stop ejecting? That seems odd. Does Apple plan on addressing this? Have they ever said anything about this at all? If anybody knows, I’d appreciate it.

Mac Studio, macOS 13.0

Posted on Oct 27, 2022 12:35 AM

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Answer 1

★ Helpful

leroydouglas

Level 10

179,358 points

Oct 28, 2022 6:40 AM in response to KJH1986

KJH1986 wrote:

Just updated to Ventura on a Mac Studio and I noticed that I still have the issue of my external HD disconnecting when the computer goes to sleep.

Please, DO NOT suggest an “SMC reset”, “failing HD cables”, “reinstalling MacOS” or any of the other useless recommendations that serve no purpose other than to send people on a quixotic and time-consuming quest.

I just want to know if Apple has ever addressed this in any official capacity and if a fix is ever coming for this?

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

or on line Apple Support

Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone

See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

You can file a bug report /submit your Apple Feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

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Answer 2

tbirdvet

Level 6

13,066 points

Oct 28, 2022 4:51 PM in response to KJH1986

This long standing bug is only fixed by not using sleep and only turning off the display function or using screen saver until Apple really fixes the issue.

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Answer 3

★ Helpful

thiagomeedeiros

Level 1

18 points

Oct 29, 2022 10:23 PM in response to KJH1986

Same thing happening to me. Disk not properly ejected message on my External SSD!

Always after sleep mode. In the new system, they removed the option of energy saver, where it was possible to put the hard disk so it doesn't turn off after sleep.

Apple complicating things simple again!

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Answer 4

Oct 29, 2022 11:49 PM in response to thiagomeedeiros

We're all users here, volunteering our time to help others. Apple doesn't routinely monitor these forums.

If you like, you can submit feedback - Feedback - macOS - Apple

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Answer 5

KJH1986 Author

Level 1

43 points

Oct 30, 2022 9:36 PM in response to thiagomeedeiros

In the new system, they removed the option of energy saver, where it was possible to put the hard disk so it doesn't turn off after sleep.

Apple complicating things simple again!

Just noticed this as well. I was already irritated that this bug is still present and I hadn't even noticed that in Ventura we don't even seem to have the option we used to have to prevent the computer from going to sleep and ONLY allowing the display to sleep.

So, not only is this bug still present, Apple has actually made it MORE difficult to work around a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place and they haven't fixed in years. They've somehow achieved in making the issue even worse now because one of the easiest (if not ideal) ways to remedy the problem is now missing as an option in the UI nightmare they now call "system settings" 🤦‍♂️

I've been using Macs long enough to remember when expecting that every new update would break something, take a step backwards in terms of UI or user friendlness, or take away something you relied on was something associated with using a Windows machine, not a Mac.

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Answer 6

KJH1986 Author

Level 1

43 points

Oct 30, 2022 9:40 PM in response to tbirdvet

As another user pointed out, the option to turn off sleep altogether appears to have been removed in Ventura. I can't find the option anywhere now. Seems like the only option is a third party app like "Amphetimine" to prevent sleep now.

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Answer 7

KJH1986 Author

Level 1

43 points

Oct 30, 2022 9:43 PM in response to leroydouglas

I filed a bug report and still haven't heard anything back. Given the longstanding existence of this problem and how many users know about it already I have to assume that my filing a report about it did about as much good as screaming into the wind.

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Answer 8

Dogcow-Moof

Level 8

35,653 points

Oct 30, 2022 11:04 PM in response to KJH1986

Apple often doesn't respond to bug reports unless they need more information from you.

Don't assume nothing is being done just because you don't hear back.

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Answer 9

tbirdvet

Level 6

13,066 points

Oct 31, 2022 4:08 PM in response to KJH1986

Look in system settings, display, advanced and see if there is a do not sleep function. It may have been relocated in Ventura.

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Answer 10

Dogcow-Moof

Level 8

35,653 points

Oct 31, 2022 6:36 PM in response to tbirdvet

In the mean time, running the command line utility:

nohup caffeinate -m > /tmp/c.out 2>&1&

should still work.

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Answer 11

KJH1986 Author

Level 1

43 points

Oct 31, 2022 9:08 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Currently I'm using Jettison so that my drives are safely ejected before sleep and storing my encryption keys for those drives in my keychain so that they can be automatically remounted when the computer wakes up. Not the most elegant solution but other than disabling sleep it's the only work around until this is fixed.

Given the potential for data corruption with a problem like this, it really is unacceptable that this has been an ongoing issue for so many users for as long as it has been. These are machines advertised as professional grade, for professional workflows. The idea that the OS itself may be responsible for corrupting a user's data or Time Machine backups seems like a pretty serious oversight. In the grand scheme of bugs and their respective levels of seriousness, something with this much potential for data loss persisting the way it has really feels like Apple fumbling the ball.

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Answer 12

★ Helpful

top10man

Level 1

9 points

Nov 10, 2022 10:28 AM in response to KJH1986

In Ventura, this option is now found in Displays / Advanced / Battery & Energy / . There is a toggle button for "prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off"

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Answer 13

cmaring

Level 1

12 points

Dec 11, 2022 9:02 AM in response to KJH1986

Same problem here...

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Answer 14

Dogcow-Moof

Level 8

35,653 points

Dec 11, 2022 9:37 AM in response to cmaring

Here’s the thing:

When the machine goes to sleep; external drives will be ejected.

So there are two approaches macOS could take:

1) Have the OS eject all externals before going to sleep. This is perhaps the safest approach rather than complain that the drives were improperly ejected, but the OS would need to try and auto mount the drives again upon awakening.

2) Don’t sleep the machine if there are external drives mounted. This is perhaps the more obvious thing to do, but it’s inevitable people would complain their devices aren’t sleeping when idle.

It’s unclear which approach is better, though I can certainly see people complaining that their laptops won’t sleep because they forgot they had a USB key mounted.

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Answer 15

Old Toad

Level 10

205,094 points

Dec 11, 2022 9:49 AM in response to thiagomeedeiros

Until there's a solution to the problem do what I do, don't sleep the Mac. Just set the Energy Saver settings pane like this:

SSD's don't need to be slept so just activate the screen saver.

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External Drives STILL ejecting during sleep in Ventura

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