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external hard drive disconnecting randomly

I'm beginning to spiral down into insanity!


I had an iMac 2015 until 6 months ago. Quite a few problems existed

but one of the worst was the constant disconnection of external drives.


There was no pattern to it - sometimes it would connect for days, yet

other times it would only connect for hours. No pattern emerged,

such as running certain programmes. The biggest mystery was

that I had two identical WD Passport external drives, one for file storage,

the other as the Time Machine backup drive.


Mostly, the storage one dropped, but much less often, the backup dropped.

I tried all the advice from various sites on the internet, but nothing worked.


About 6 months ago, I replaced the iMac with the M1 Mac Mini and

said goodbye to my problems……….I thought.


I recently bought a brand new external drive and a brand new powered

USB hub. The problem is back again. Sometimes a reboot brings it back,

other times it doesn't but physically unplugging it at the hub and re connecting

it will work.


I'm on the verge of burning it all down and defecting to MS!

Anyone out there with verified solutions

will have my endless gratitude!


Many thanks in advance,


Kind wishes,


Jim

Mac mini, macOS 12.6

Posted on Jul 18, 2023 9:41 AM

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Posted on Jul 18, 2023 10:00 AM

Microsoft has the same difficulty. The problem is low power in Energy Saver. It basically makes all external devices have difficulty. There is a setting in the Energy Saver settings about putting hard disks to sleep when possible. Be sure to leave this unchecked. The other thing that will prevent it is if you get hard drives that have their own independent source of power. Those that depend on the computer for power will not remain connected properly, especially when Energy Saver goes off. If using a USB-C hub, be sure it has its own source of power. Neither Thunderbolt nor USB-C is really immune from this. If your drive supports Thunderbolt, be sure to use cables that have the lightning bolt icon on them to connect to the Mac and drive. Straight USB-C cables that don't have that lightning bolt aren't as reliable.

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Jul 18, 2023 10:00 AM in response to rf4c

Microsoft has the same difficulty. The problem is low power in Energy Saver. It basically makes all external devices have difficulty. There is a setting in the Energy Saver settings about putting hard disks to sleep when possible. Be sure to leave this unchecked. The other thing that will prevent it is if you get hard drives that have their own independent source of power. Those that depend on the computer for power will not remain connected properly, especially when Energy Saver goes off. If using a USB-C hub, be sure it has its own source of power. Neither Thunderbolt nor USB-C is really immune from this. If your drive supports Thunderbolt, be sure to use cables that have the lightning bolt icon on them to connect to the Mac and drive. Straight USB-C cables that don't have that lightning bolt aren't as reliable.

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Jul 18, 2023 1:52 PM in response to a brody

Hi,


Thanks for your info. I was unaware of many points you made so I'll review and act on what you said.


If I could impose one last time, my new USB hub attached to the Mac Mini is a Kingston with two of the outlets powered for charging devices. Would I benefit by plugging the external into this port? Many thanks again for giving your time. Very kind wishes

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Jul 18, 2023 6:00 PM in response to rf4c

Unless the Kingston itself has its own AC/DC brick you plug in the wall, it may not have enough power to power hard drives.


Some examples of powered hubs:


https://www.amazon.com/USBGear-4-Port-Mountable-Charging-5Gbps/dp/B012DZ4NJ8


https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Splitter-Charging-Ethernet-Switches/dp/B0B24Q8SGT


As you see both of these devices have their own wall power plug.

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Jul 19, 2023 1:27 PM in response to a brody

Hi there,


thanks again for your help.

Thankfully the new Kingston hub is powered and has 2 ports specifically for charging devices.

I plugged the external into one of them and20 hours later, it's still communicating, so I'm hopeful !


Many thanks to you for giving so much time to me. I can start catching up my backlog now!

Very kind wishes,

Jim

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external hard drive disconnecting randomly

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