Cannot use large cheap SSDs with MAC

I was running into that exact error with a cheap 16TB SSD Drive I have been using to shuttle photoshop files between personal home Mac and work PC. I have had luck with them by formatting them on a PC (standard windows format tool) with exFAT and the Allocation Unit size set to 1024kb. It pops up on my Macbook M1 without any issue and I can open up 100+ mb psd files directly from in into Photoshop on either the Mac or PC.

I wouldn't use it for storing the only backup of a file (any SSDs aren't the best option for this anyway) but for transporting large copies around it works great. I see little risk in using them as they are always plugged into a hub or dock and powered only by a good quality USB-C cable.

in support of what Servant of Cats is saying...

The error posted is a failure to write the last block claimed to exist on the device. That means the size of the WORKING part of the drive is not as the drive presents itself.

HWTech wrote:

You may want to review some tech articles showing what you may be buying:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/walmart-lists-a-30tb-portable-ssd-for-39-it-is-naturally-a-scam/

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/01/64gb-microsd-cards-are-posing-as-16tb-portable-ssds-on-amazon/

Along the same lines as that last one:

ArsTechnica – Reviewer buys 16TB portable SSD for $70, proves it’s a sham (What's 15,936GB between friends?)

There is no such thing as a large cheap SSD which can be purchased for $15. They are all scams. Plus most of the no-name Chinese products (unknown brands) may even be dangerous to even use since they may lack typical safety circuitry found in the name brand models. You could damage your $2,000 Mac by using a $15 SSD just to pinch pennies....makes no sense to me.

Even some respected SSD manufacturers make inferior products these days in order to attract the penny pinchers....many of those SSDs are even junk and may perform no better than a slow hard drive.

You may want to review some tech articles showing what you may be buying:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/walmart-lists-a-30tb-portable-ssd-for-39-it-is-naturally-a-scam/

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/01/64gb-microsd-cards-are-posing-as-16tb-portable-ssds-on-amazon/

FYI, Some years ago even a simple USB-C charging cable (some from name brands) were destroying Google phones.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/google-engineer-leaves-scathing-reviews-of-dodgy-usb-type-c-cables-on-amazon/

Edit: Usually when the erase fails like that, it indicates the drive is bad. If the erase fails twice in a row, the drive is bad.

HWTech wrote:

There is no such thing as a large cheap SSD which can be purchased for $15. They are all scams. Plus most of the no-name Chinese products (unknown brands) may even be dangerous to even use since they may lack typical safety circuitry found in the name brand models. You could damage your $2,000 Mac by using a $15 SSD just to pinch pennies....makes no sense to me.

This reminds me of memory card scams.

Scammers advertise memory cards with high capacities for low prices. Many of these are rigged to report more storage to a computer than they actually have. If you are a photographer who fills your cards, you discover that your later photos have overwritten and destroyed your previous ones. Assuming you can recover any at all.

PetaPixel – Warning: Watch Out for Fake Memory Cards on eBay

Make Use Of – How to Spot a Fake MicroSD Card and Avoid Being Scammed

Fstoppers –Careful of Fake Chinese SD Cards!

Hi,

You mean we shouldn't use cheep Chinese SSD for Mac?

I'm using Toshiba, SanDisk, Transcend, and Verbatim SSDs for my Macs.

Use it with your cheap PC it works with.

Buy a decent quality to work with your Mac such as the ones from OWC:

www.macsales.com