iMac improperly ejects 3 XHDs mouse & keyboard stop working

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growler62000 Author

Level 2

196 points

iMac improperly ejects 3 XHDs mouse & keyboard stop working

Last night, using my late 2015 27” iMac…4.0 GHz quad core i7, 24 GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Magic Mouse 2, Magic Keyboard, macOS Monterey v. 12.7.1…I had a big problem!

I got 3 upper right screen, popup notifications that my 3 External HDs had been improperly ejected. I also had my mouse & keyboard (Bluetooth) both not working/not connected. I connected my keyboard with the Apple USB cable to eliminate BT as a factor in the keyboard not working & it did not work! So it was not a BT issue.

It also is not a cable issue, since 3 separate XHDs (2 for Time Machine & 1 for daily Carbon Copy Cloner backups) all dismounted, improperly, at exactly the same time.

As I sat & waited, the screen timed out & went dark (bc no inputs) & ~1 minute later my mouse & keyboard started working again with a bottom screen notification that they are connected. Also, 2 of 3 XHD re-mounted. (My #2 T.M. XHD did not)

I closed all windows & ran 1st Aid on Macintosh HD: “volume appears to be OK.”

I ran Etrecheck Pro v. 6.8.3 (build 68032) “Major Issues: None”

(I will attach Etrecheck report)

While trouble shooting all this for hours, the problem happened 3 more times.

I had to do the dreaded, manual power button force shutdown!

My #2 T.M. XHD was not re-mounting so, I unplugged the power & USB cable for that & replugged & then it did mount.

EtreCheck report 11-19-2023

My 2 T.M. XHDs are plugged into the iMac USB ports directly. The CCC XHD is plugged into a USB Hub. (Anker 10-Port 60W USB 3.0 Hub with 7 Data Transfer Ports and 3 PowerIQ Charging Ports)

I do not know what the issue is. I’m not sure what XHDs & keyboard & mouse all have in common other than they are all peripherals connected to my iMac. However, when Mac disconnected the USB connections of the 3 XHDs, it also disconnected the wireless BT connections of Mouse & Keyboard.

iMac 27″

Posted on Nov 19, 2023 6:09 PM

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Answer 1

growler62000 Author

Level 2

196 points

Nov 21, 2023 12:37 AM in response to Jack-19

Hi Jack,

Even though yesterday all day & night the problem did not reoccur, I just reset SMC & then reset NVRAM.

FWIW, I do not see any changes to sound settings or Display settings.

Next I am going to troubleshoot my CyberPower UPS: CP1500AVRLCD.

I have my iMac & peripherals connected to that. Yesterday, late night, I had a loud, piercing, continuous beep.

Display showed E02 & “!” Symbol.

Manual says E02 = No Charge, Contact CyberPower

“!” = Fault

I contacted CyberPower (It is under warranty)

They want me to disconnect everything & check battery cables & then measure battery voltage & then check charge wire voltage. To see if the Charger Fault is the unit itself or the 2 batteries.

Hopefully, they will not like the readings & will replace the unit or batteries or both.

IDK if this problem with the UPS has anything to do with my iMac issue. But, possibly a defective UPS was supplying irregular voltage or doing something with the power that caused the Mac to do what it did several times the other day.

—-Steve

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Answer 2

growler62000 Author

Level 2

196 points

Nov 21, 2023 5:22 PM in response to BDAqua

I’ve been using that SSD T5 for years along with another that I swap each month to do a daily CCC backup/clone of my system.

I set it to backup early AM, when I am not using my Mac & it takes ~ 2 minutes.

Hard to believe that it suddenly caused this issue.

What is new is I got an iPhone & connect it to charge each night.

Also connect to transfer documents & photos.

So, far no reoccurrence of that problem.

CyberPower is sending me new replacement batteries for my UPS.

One battery was @ 13+ V & the other @ < 9V.

The charging cables tested OK

IDK if this issue with UPS had anything to do with my Mac disconnecting Mouse, keyboard & 3 XHDs.

If BT runs off USB bus, then something caused Mac to dump everything on USB.

Mac operating normally for now but, I’m still plugged into the CyberPower, with 1 bad battery, until I get replacements. CyberPower acting normally now.

If this happens again, I will bypass CyberPower until I receive new batteries.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

251,091 points

Nov 21, 2023 2:24 PM in response to growler62000

Portable SSD T5:

Product ID: 0x61f5

Vendor ID: 0x04e8 (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)

Version: 1.00

Serial Number: 123456851339

Speed: Up to 5 Gb/s

Manufacturer: Samsung

Location ID: 0x14800000 / 25

Current Available (mA): 900

Current Required (mA): 896

Seems it wouldn't take much to push this over the limit & bring something down.

I think Bluetooth, Camera, & Wifi all run off the USB Bus.

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Answer 4

Jack-19

Level 8

46,308 points

Nov 19, 2023 6:16 PM in response to growler62000

Hey there!

Your EtreCheck report seems to be pretty clean. To begin troubleshooting, I'd recommend you reset the NVRAM and SMC:

Then, see if the issue persists. If it does, test in safe mode: Use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support.

-Jack

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Answer 5

growler62000 Author

Level 2

196 points

Nov 24, 2023 12:12 AM in response to BDAqua

So far, no more Mac issues but still connected to CP UPS, with bad battery & it has dwindled to 0 charge. Still showing E02 error but, I have muted the warning tone. They shipped the new batteries but, very slow shipping via UPS. Scheduled to arrive 11-29-23.

I hope Mac does not dump my peripherals again.

Even if I never know whether either; Resetting NVRAM, SMC or replacing the UPS batteries fixed the issue or it was something else.

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

251,091 points

Nov 21, 2023 10:30 AM in response to growler62000

Apple Icon>About this Mac>System Report>Hardware>USB, how many mA are being used...

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Answer 7

growler62000 Author

Level 2

196 points

Nov 19, 2023 9:01 PM in response to Jack-19

Hi Jack,

I’ve never reset NVRAM or SMC.

Seems easy to do.

Am I correct that resetting SMC will not change any settings? It either will or will not fix the problem but, doesn’t change anything that I would notice?

Re resetting NVRAM, the article says:”…you might need to adjust any system settings that were reset.”

Do you know what types of system settings might be changed? After restart, what should I check/look for ?

Thanks for the help!

—Steve

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Answer 8

Jack-19

Level 8

46,308 points

Nov 19, 2023 9:03 PM in response to growler62000

Hi Steve -

The only settings that might get reset would be sound volume, display resolution, startup-disk selection, and time zone. Most of these are simple to adjust or would correct on their own. And since you're using the internal SSD as your startup disk, you don't need to worry about the NVRAM reset changing your startup disk.

-Jack

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