External SSD ejecting itself!

rf4c wrote:

Hi everyone,

....

I run a "Kingston ssd nvme 2tb" in a "ineo M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure Built-in Cooling Fan"...

DIY enclosures can be an adventure whether on a Mac or a PC. Some enclosures will only play well with certain NVME SSDs. And more often than not, only certain enclosure/NVME combinations will work with certain computers or operating systems. Example, enclosure "a" with NVME "b" may not work at all or be unreliable but enclosure "a" with NVME "c" will be rock solid and non of those combos may work on a PC or visa-versa on a Mac. BTW, putting a hub between the computer and the drive just adds more to the problem.

So first, determine if the enclosure manufacturer provides a list of SSDs that have been tested and found working with your enclosure and your Mac and use that combination. If they do not provide any, then you may need to play musical chairs with NVME drives until you find one that works properly. Personally, I have found that Samsung "Pro" series seems to be most reliable followed by the WD "Black" series. Sabrent Rocket 4 SSDs look to be also good.

So, use what the manufacture suggests, if any, or try one from the above.

First thing to suspect is ... if you are using bus-powered USB peripherals they may be attempting to draw more power than the computer can provide. This is often a problem with bus-powered devices, especially if you have multiple such devices connected. And with that built-in fan, the drive is definitely pulling more power than a simple external SSD drive.

Try connecting the drive by itself through the hub. If it works ok that way, then perhaps you have too many USB peripherals connected.

Second thing to suspect is ... the hub itself. Connect the drive directly to your Mac by itself (no hub & no other USB peripherals except kbd & mouse) and see if it works fine that way. That will tell you if the hub is the culprit.

rf4c wrote:

If I connected to a mains powered USB hub (e.g. like Anker make), would the fact that it's powered from the mains deal with the power issue?

You have to verify that the powered hub actually powers all the USB ports. Many powered hubs only deliver power to 1 or 2 ports for charging purposes only (they're just charging ports, not regular USB data ports with power).

I have used a number of bus powered USB hubs over the years on iMacs and Mac minis.

They all tend to disconnect occasionally, usually when I connect or disconnect another device.

I have also seen numerous mentions of this in the reviews on Amazon for those fancy (expensive!) hubs that fit above or below the mini.