I had this issue and couldn't find a suitable solution anywhere, so I wanted to share my solution.
Flip the USB-C cable 180-degrees. USB-C is supposedly not orientation-specific, but that doesn't actually seem to be true.
I haven't had a problem since.
Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
You're correct! In theory, flipping the cable 180 degrees shouldn't make any difference. But in practice, especially with cheaper or third-party cables, devices, or even ports that are out of spec, you can run into odd behavior like this. One great reason never to use cheap cables!
Some USB-C connectors aren't wired or soldered perfectly symmetrical, and the internal switch in the USB-C controller (called the CC logic, which negotiates orientation and power delivery) might behave inconsistently. I've also seen this happen when one orientation makes better contact with the internal pins due to slight manufacturing imperfections or wear. Flipping the cable can sometimes "wake up" a device or get it to behave normally again, especially with charging or data negotiation issues.
You're correct! In theory, flipping the cable 180 degrees shouldn't make any difference. But in practice, especially with cheaper or third-party cables, devices, or even ports that are out of spec, you can run into odd behavior like this. One great reason never to use cheap cables!
Some USB-C connectors aren't wired or soldered perfectly symmetrical, and the internal switch in the USB-C controller (called the CC logic, which negotiates orientation and power delivery) might behave inconsistently. I've also seen this happen when one orientation makes better contact with the internal pins due to slight manufacturing imperfections or wear. Flipping the cable can sometimes "wake up" a device or get it to behave normally again, especially with charging or data negotiation issues.
Unfortunately, the Thunderbolt cable did not fix the issue. I found that both my SanDisk drives were failing. After further research, it turns out there's a version of the USB-C spec (I think 3.2) that SanDisk supports but not supported on my laptop. I returned both SanDisk drives and got other USB-C drives (Fantom and another one) that are working flawlessly.
Update. After 5 days the drive disconnected. Trying a Thunderbolt cable now.
did the issue solved by thunderbolt cable ?
SOLVED - Fix an external SSD drive that keeps disconnecting.
