Samsung T5 SSD unable to connect, and then work properly

This is actually a continuation of a thread authored by someone else in 2020, which is closed now, so I had to restart here.

I wanted to sympathize with the OP re: his experience with the Samsung T5 SSD.

But, while I'm at it, I'll ask if anyone has discovered how to make this device work properly.

This is all being done with a MBP 15" M1 2021 model, latest Ventura updates.

I've had this 500GB Samsung T5 SSD for a few years, and brought it on the basis of good Amazon reviews (I'm guessing most of those reviews aren't as well informed as one might like).

I'd been using the Samsung-supplied USB C (drive) to USB A (computer) connector since the beginning, and experiencing the sort of nice, blistering speeds one should expect from a SSD.

I've recently been cleaning up my Mac, making sure all my backup schemes are working, checking on my growing supply of old external hard drives to see which to keep and to junk.....so, IT spring cleaning.

I purchased a USB C to C cable for the T5 because it didn't make sense to me to have the USB C to A....to dongle, to Mac....arrangement.

It didn't work. Drive never showed up in Disk Utility or Finder.

Ok....so maybe it's a bad cable. Got another brand from Amazon. Same outcome.

So now I thought maybe I had a bad drive or firmware. I looked on Samsung and saw that there was a firmware update.

Issue #1...

The lengths to which one has to go to update this drive's firmware.

You have to disable system kernel extension protection (through recovery partition boot), and also disable SIP (again, recovery mode, using Terminal). After you've completely disabled all your laptop's most important security features, you install the Samsung software and do the firmware update. Then, if you're like me and don't want software remaining on your computer that you don't plan on using again, particularly when it's circumventing your system's security, you have to repeat all those steps in reverse to get it off. And....removing the Samsung kext files....that was a project. Messing around with kernel things makes me nervous.

Bottom line is that Samsung made this process as difficult as possible for Mac users.

Issue #2....

Now that I've got the T5's firmware updated, MacOS sees it on a USB C to USB C connection, but...

When I run Black Magic, the C to C connection runs amazingly slowly. Like, slower than every platter USB HDD I have. For the technology that SSD is supposed to be, it's completely broken.

But....when I hook it up through the Samsung supplied USB C to A, and then to dongle to Mac situation, I'm back to blistering speeds.

Either.....

1) I've managed to find 2 bad C to C cables from 2 different manufacturers, in a row (seems unlikely).

2) Samsung has lousy quality control (maybe).

3) Samsung has hobbled this drive to only work with their cables (where have we seen that business practice before?).

Anyone else experience these things with the Samsung T5 SSD?

Thanks.