Unable to access External Drives and Disk Utility after updating to macOS Sonoma.

Since I updated to macOS Sonoma, I've been experiencing issues with my external drives (in ExFAT). I can't access them, nor can I access Disk Utility (which continuously displays a "Loading disks" message). Only when I use the Disk Arbitrator app to prevent the drives from mounting, it allows me to run Disk Utility and "First Aid," enabling access to the external drive. However, the folder icon images are missing, and in the Sharing & Permissions info, it reads "You have custom access." Is anyone else experiencing similar problems, or does anyone know how to resolve this? Thank you very much.

[Re-Titled By Moderator]

Mac mini

Posted on Oct 8, 2023 4:06 AM

Top-ranking reply

r_e_d_oo

Level 1

18 points

Posted on Oct 24, 2023 12:12 PM

For me on M1 PRO MBP the issue looks like Sonoma is somehow reliably corrupting external exFat SSDs on every shutdown. If I unmount my SSDs before shutting down, they mount and work flawlessly on next start. But when I shutt down with the external SSD mounted, then it becomes unusable. To solve this state I... connect the drive to a Windows PC. It works but offers to scan and repair the drive as it detected errors. After the short repair procedure under Windows magic happens! It works again under Sonoma again! Until ofcourse I forget to unmount before the shuttown and let it mess with my drive again. I've lost so much time and some data on this issue. It is absolutely unacceptable and infuriating to release update like this... But if it's by design that is disgustingily outrages eneough for me to ditch the entire Apple ecosystem whatsoever. It doesn't seem to be the software up to any proffesional standards.

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291 replies

May 30, 2024 1:09 AM in response to BungalowBill92

Small Update : I just had it happen with an SD card on a Mac Studio M1 Max (using its built-in reader). The SD card was working and while copying some files, it just disconnected (crashing finder and had to restart). Now the mac won't read that particular card anymore. It works perfectly fine on any other device. Inserting any other SD card in the mac also works fine. Seems like once something gets disconnected, that's it for that media.

May 30, 2024 2:40 AM in response to BungalowBill92

If it helps sparks any ideas, using 'log stream | grep 'IOUSBHostFamily', managed to get this log which happens as soon as I connect an external ssd that """is not working""".

2024-05-30 11:34:01.970375+0200 0x115a7 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) usb-drd0-port-ss@00200000: AppleUSBHostPort::enumerateDeviceComplete_block_invoke: enumerated 0x152d/0583/3108 (USB Storage Device / 1) at 10 Gbps

2024-05-30 11:34:01.973966+0200 0x11c41 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) AppleUSBHostResourcesTypeC@(null): AppleUSBHostResourcesTypeC::allocateDownstreamBusCurrentGated: Client <private> is requesting 896mA wake and 0mA sleep for port 1

2024-05-30 11:34:01.973989+0200 0x11c41 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) AppleUSBHostResourcesTypeC@(null): AppleUSBHostResourcesTypeC::allocateDownstreamBusCurrentGated: Client <private> port 1 has EDT current overrides of 3000mA wake and 3000mA sleep

2024-05-30 11:34:01.973996+0200 0x11c41 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) AppleUSBHostResourcesTypeC@(null): AppleUSBHostResourcesTypeC::allocateDownstreamBusCurrentGated: Granting 896mA wake and 0mA sleep based on override for port 1

2024-05-30 11:34:01.974201+0200 0x11c41 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) USB Storage Device@00200000: IOUSBHostDevice::setConfigurationGated: AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice selected configuration 1

2024-05-30 11:34:01.980203+0200 0x885 Error 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) AppleUSBIORequest: AppleUSBIORequest::complete: device 1 (USB Storage Device@00200000) endpoint 0x81: status 0xe0005000 (pipe stalled): 0 bytes transferred

2024-05-30 11:34:01.984139+0200 0x11c43 Error 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) AppleT6000USBXHCI@00000000: AppleUSBHostController::createStream: device <private> pipe <private> streamID 32 completed with 0x0

2024-05-30 11:34:01.985216+0200 0x11c43 Error 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) AppleT6000USBXHCI@00000000: AppleUSBHostController::createStream: device <private> pipe <private> streamID 32 completed with 0x0

2024-05-30 11:34:01.986539+0200 0x11c43 Error 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) AppleT6000USBXHCI@00000000: AppleUSBHostController::createStream: device <private> pipe <private> streamID 32 completed with 0x0

2024-05-30 11:34:10.261640+0200 0x6be Error 0x0 0 0 kernel: (IOUSBHostFamily) AppleUSBXHCIStream: IOUSBHostStream::abortGated: device 1 (USB Storage Device@00200000) endpoint 0x83 stream 31: aborting 1 requests

MRYFLYGUY

Level 2

231 points

Oct 28, 2023 9:08 AM in response to Crimsonseraph188

Did you check SAMSUNG for a firmware update? You could try running First Aid on the drive with the disk Utility. I had to update VNC server and VNC Viewer client to get screen sharing working.

Dec 11, 2023 3:59 PM in response to BungalowBill92

Still 14.2 has not fixed the issue with external hard drives in ExFAT

JMG54

Level 1

8 points

Jan 26, 2024 5:18 AM in response to Barney-15E

I formatted the WD drive with Disk Utility and it is read by Sonoma contrary to the post below.

JMG54

Level 1

8 points

Jan 26, 2024 12:32 PM in response to Pete Buchta

Search for the app which stops your hdd from shutting down on the App Store.

udamianu

Level 1

17 points

Feb 11, 2024 6:46 AM in response to Pete Buchta

The issue is on EXfat Filesystems only.

for other kind of FS never had any issues.

last update not solve.

i had some problem with sound libraries on EXfat HD.

Oct 9, 2023 7:37 AM in response to MRYFLYGUY

I understand. I was hoping not to have to do so since I use both Windows and Mac. However, from what I can tell, many people attribute the issue to the ExFAT format. What format could I use that would be compatible with both Windows and Mac and wouldn't cause these problems on Mac?

Thanks for answering!

MRYFLYGUY

Level 2

231 points

Oct 9, 2023 8:17 AM in response to BungalowBill92

There will come a time when you'll have to cut your ties with Windows to continue using Mac. You may be there. Are you using Boot Camp on your Mac or a Windows emulator - or a separate Windows machine sharing drives? I arrived when Ventura was installed on APFS.

Oct 9, 2023 8:24 AM in response to MRYFLYGUY

No, not really. I mainly use a Mac, but I find useful to have a format that's compatible with both for exchanging files with coworkers. I'm going to try formatting one of my external drives in APFS and see if that resolves the issues.

Thank you for your responses! I'll let you know

Oct 13, 2023 8:21 PM in response to MRYFLYGUY

Sometimes it's the workplace that forces us to still use Windows compatible drives with exfat formats as in my case. And sending files through the internet is a bit of a security issue if the files are sensitive. Of course, encrypting the files is an option. Just saying that the inability to read exfat drives closes one avenue of file transfer.

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Oct 18, 2023 6:44 PM in response to Tsinoy Newbie

So it looks like ExFAT formats can't be read by Sonoma ? What a shame.

I have no problem reading/writing ExFAT on Sonoma.

I guess one must use USB Fobs now to transfer between Macs and Windows then.

How would you format that drive?

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Oct 20, 2023 11:48 AM in response to tbirdvet

tbirdvet wrote:

Barney-15E, I just noticed that copying a large file to a ExFAT formatted drive takes 4x longer than if the drive is formatted to APFS. Have you seen this issue? Just started with Sonoma.

No, I haven’t tested it, but I would expect APFS to be incredibly faster than ExFAT

Oct 25, 2023 8:28 AM in response to MRYFLYGUY

exFat is nice because this raid is used as a mass storage device for active projects for a remote editing system. When the raid isnt in use it is backed up regularly to a Qnap server in the office. Having a universal format drive is crucial to the workflow.

Oct 28, 2023 2:22 AM in response to Barney-15E

The issue was with the personalized folder icons not appearing and some problems when connecting the disks. I could access the files inside without any problem, but the functionality was limited. I've seen in other forums that it's a common problem for some Sonoma users, so if it's just an isolated issue, they should try to resolve it. Thanks for your comments!

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Unable to access External Drives and Disk Utility after updating to macOS Sonoma.