External Storage will not eject

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Level 1

4 points

External Storage will not eject

I have a MacBook Air. I have SanDisk 2TB external SSD that I use for storage. I use Time Machine to backup the Mac on a different HHD. I have no problem ejecting the HHD that TimeMachine uses. I cannot eject the SSD after backing it up. I use the SSD for general expansion of the computer drive (without using TimeMachine) and it picks and chooses when to actually eject.

I have tried logging out multiple times. I have tried restarting the computer with the drive plugged in. I don't want to test the "journaled" feature that comes with unplugging the drive while the computer is shutdown, I'd rather this just work right. How do you get the feature/function "eject" to work properly?

Thanks in advance!

Posted on Nov 18, 2024 4:38 PM

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Answer 1

WheelieNick

Level 8

40,425 points

Nov 19, 2024 2:46 AM in response to Liquidium

What is the message that you;re getting when you’re trying to eject it? I have no idea if you can eject it when it is set up for Time Machine, I never eject my Time Machine drive, i just keep it plugged in 24/7

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

60,518 points

Nov 20, 2024 6:59 PM in response to Liquidium

See what process or processes may be accessing the SSD. Spotlight is the usual culprit most times, but it could be some other app you used which did not completely let go of the SSD. You will need to use the command line in the Terminal app. Use the following command making sure to replace "<path-to-volume>" with the correct path to the volume that is not unmounting.

sudo  lsof  <path-to-volume>

The easiest way to get the correct path is by dragging & dropping the volume from the Finder onto the open Terminal window. Just type the command making sure to leave at least one space after the "f ", then drag & drop the volume onto the Terminal window.

The command will prompt you for your admin password. Nothing will appear on the screen as you type the password, so just press the "Return" key to submit the password.

You will see a list of processes that are currently accessing the specified volume on the external drive. If you want to stop those processes from accessing the volume, then use the following command making sure to replace "<PID>" with the correct Process ID (aka PID) associated with the process:

sudo  kill  <PID>

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