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In order to replicate the issue just connect any external SSD wait for a while and it will be disconnected with message "Disk Not Ejected Properly". SSD is connected to M1 MacBook Pro. It's neither a cable issue because I tried multiple cables, nor an SSD issue as everything worked just fine before upgrade.
I have the same happening, Sonoma 14.2 but with my external HDD. I used a WD mobile drive 5TB for years and it recently disconnected more and more often, until in the end it could not even be mounted anymore. Disk utility could not fix it. I thought the drive is the problem and got a new one, now a LaCie 5TB.
But the same thing happens. It keeps disconnecting once or twice a day, even when in the middle of a backup process.
This is a major bug.
When you post here, Readers are other users like you. Apple does not troll the forums looking for issues. Apple does not understand the urgency of this issue unless a LARGE number of Users let them know it is an issue.
Be sure you have either contacted support here, in hopes of getting more help or creating a Bug Report:
or posted a product feedback of type "bug report" here (but these are Not tracked and no response will be forthcoming):
As I said to someone else, please make sure to leave a report about it on feedbackassistant.apple.com and even maybe contact Apple Support Live Chat and tell them about your problem!
This is the only way and chance of this bug / problem ever being addressed and fixed!
Many people need to report it, so Apple will see this.
Please report it!!! 🙏😞
Interesting. YES, def related to thunderbolt ports. What speed SSDs cause issue? Have you noticed any other apparently inexplicable issues? For me it affected not only NVME disks, but -
I always suspected h/w b/c (for me) it started with one port, then 2, then all 4... and happened again the same way after all ports replaced. However, that could also be coincidence I guess.
Good you've reported direct to Apple. Hopefully numbers will get users heard on this...
same thing here, I've bought countless cables, adapters and drives to try and get it to stay connected. I bought this to do video editing and some days I can't even transfer the footage, it will disconnect constantly. Seriously thinking I should've bought pc.
Please make sure to report your problem on feedbackassistant.apple.com as I did for my SSD problems! We only stand a chance if we mass report it, so Apple hopefully will take notice of this! Please report it! It only takes a few minutes, and it will make a difference for sure! The more reports about this, the more chances of someone noticing it!
I had the same exact thing with the ScanDisk portable extreme 1TB, but the problem is with the drive itself, the controller is a bad quality one, after a while it totally died< had to open it to get the drive itself out of it and install it to an external ssd enclosure to rebuild the file system and retrieve my data, just be careful with these Sacndisk drives.
Before 8 Dec 23, I had Mac OS Ventura and things were smooth between my External NVME drive and my Mac mini m2 pro. But as soon as I upgraded it to Sonoma things between my drive and machine went bad.
My external Nvme drive keeps getting ejected automatically, at start I thought I may have moved the enclosure, but it was happening again and again.
Steps to confirm its the bad update about thunderbolt port in SONOMA.
So conclusion, its definitely something wrong with the Sonoma update about handling power or data on thunderbolt ports (I tried on 2 different ports ).
So I will be using the drive on USB 3.0 port until they resolve the issue in next updates , hope so.
I have a similar issue since the upgrade to Sonoma on my MacBook Pro M1. Two SanDisk Portable Extreme (one 1TB, the other 4TB) cannot be used properly. A copying process of about 60GB to the 4TB SSD all of the sudden stopped. From that moment on the SSD couldn't be unlocked anymore (see screenshot). I had to buy an expensive Data Recovery Software that worked on M1 and started recovering Video Footage and copying it to my other SanDisk Portable Extreme 1TB (it was the first time it was plugged into the MacBook after Upgrade to Sonoma). Copying process went well. The next time I plugged the 1TB SSD in it would take long to load the SanDisk Unlocker, unlocked it, navigated to the folder, it would load the content of the folder (like on a ancient windows 95), load, load. Then the drive disappeared from Finder without an error message or notification. Retried a hundred times. Sometimes it doesn't disappear but it loads forever(!) and I cannot preview files. When trying to preview a file it again loads of a minute or more and than fails to preview, sometimes the content of the entire folder just disappears in Finder. It's so weird. Ive been working with these two expensive SSDs daily on my MacBook Pro before the upgrade and never had a single issue.
For me connecting ssd drive on usb 3.0 port with USB-A connection is working fine.
The problem is with the thunderbolt usb c type port when we upgrade to SONOMA.
I tried all of these options except changing the enclosure and none of the really helpful. It is not a coincidence that in Venture everything works fine. So the issue is on apple side and I raised a bug to fix it.
Drives like the MyBook came with software, and the manufacturer suggested you install that software.
What that software does is to "spare you the annoyance of having to re-initialize the drive" from its factory set Windows New Technology File System (NTFS, the W is silent because there are no other Operating Systems) or similar unusual (on a Mac) format. Instead, the software they provided would simulate a MacOS drive inside an NTFS file for your Mac.
The downside of using the manufacturer's software is that if the manufacturer's software is not loaded, the Macintosh Volume may not be readable, or may not be writable. This means that in startup manager, Installer, and in Recovery such as after a data loss, the Macintosh Volume may not be visible.
The standard advice given here to all users, including novice users, is to discard the manufacturers software and NEVER use it. "Best Practice" is to erase the physical device when new, using only MacOS Disk Utility, and create the fundamental data structures needed for consistent, reliable use by MacOS.
Be sure to "show all devices" which will allow you to ERASE the entire Physical Device by its immutable manufacturer-given device-name, not just user created Volume-name such as ‘Macintosh HD’.
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The litmus test for 'what format is that drive' is to run this Terminal command, and look for the NAME of your drive in the list. This is the output for an Apple File system drive, first for the (Physical), then for the (synthesized) APFS container-scheme:
diskutil list
...
/dev/disk6 (internal, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *240.1 GB disk6
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk6s1
2: Apple_APFS Container disk7 239.8 GB disk6s2
/dev/disk7 (synthesized):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: APFS Container Scheme - +239.8 GB disk7
Physical Store disk6s2
1: APFS Volume X14-SSD240 97.5 GB disk7s1
2: APFS Volume Preboot 26.5 MB disk7s2
3: APFS Volume Recovery 507.6 MB disk7s3
4: APFS Volume VM 20.5 KB disk7s4
my MacOS volume named X14-SSD240 is on a physical SSD drive about 240 GB in size.
What OS were you on before? I'm interested because I was (maybe still am, not sure) convinced this was a hardware (ports) issue on my Mac. I've had the identical issue on both Monterey and Ventura, but it's not just SSDs, it's my RAID and 2 x 7200 rpm backup drives as well. It stopped completely for several months after all 4 USB-C/thunderbolt slots were replaced. I stayed on Monterey but the problem gradually returned. Mac has been sent for twice since then. Last time they replaced the logic board and internal SSD but not the ports and upgraded OS to Ventura (I refused to agree to Sonoma because of all the issues I see reported here). However the problem continues on Ventura. It's less frequent than before, but definitely not cured.
Like you I do all my processing (photographer) on external SSD and this is a nightmare. (Also a nightmare for backups of course).
Update: I was having this same Issue with my fairly new Kingston XS2000. I chatted with Apple support and opened a case. We tried a few basic things and the drive kept failing to run First Aid. I ended up backing up the drive and reformatting it. Since then I have had zero disconnects. It seems like the drive got corrupted in some way when I did the OS upgrade to Sonoma. I bought this drive new while on Ventura so this is the first OS upgrade. It was annoying to have to reformat a 4TB drive but in the end fixed things.
Same thing for me with an external HDD used for backups. No issue until I upgraded to Sonoma, no issues during the day when the machine is in use, but at night multiple improper disconnect messages. Interestingly, the problem goes away if I connect the drive directly to one of my laptop's USB-C ports with an Apple USB-A to USB-C adapter. (previously I've had it connected to a Thunderbolt dock along with other peripherals.) I've tried different docks and the problem always exists if the drive is not directly connected.
Also, even if the drive is unmounted in the evening, the message still pops up. This suggests that the hub/dock is getting powered down, then powered back up, which would cause the Mac to 'see' the drive and remount it, then improperly disconnect on the next power down.
It's also not a coincidence that so many people have described it happening on multiple drives – including me (4 external drives, different models, different ages). Like you I've done the dance with cables, removing hubs etc. I also have various other issues including problems with dictation, which Apple genius bar diagnosed as being due to intermittent (wired) Internet connection via Thunderbolt ports. I'm still having this problem although I have yet to upgrade to Sonoma. I don't know enough about the relationship between hardware/software/firmware but I can't help thinking there is something else at play because it is not just Sonoma.
External SSD keeps disconnecting after upgrading to Sonoma