there is no option to “Put hard disks to sleep when possible.” In System Settings / Energy
i have 2 external SSD connected but no option in settings / energy to stop them sleeping, using Tahoe
tried restarting settings
tried rebooting
My only options are:
Low Power Mode
Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off
Wake for network access
Start up automatically after a power failure
What are you trying to accomplish..?
SDDs do not spin-down or sleep like HDDs.
If they are disconnecting or inaccessible, then you have another problem.
What are you trying to accomplish..?
SDDs do not spin-down or sleep like HDDs.
If they are disconnecting or inaccessible, then you have another problem.
Short answer:
The drive is being force-ejected because the dock can’t keep it powered and stable under heavy I/O. A better enclosure or a powered hub will stop the ejects permanently.
A bit longer answer:
I believe what you’re seeing is almost always a power, firmware, or USB controller issue, not a problem with APFS or macOS itself. Your WD/SanDisk is likely fine, but the PULWTOP USB-C dock can’t reliably sustain the power and data load when large transfers hit peak throughput. In Safe Mode, macOS disables third-party extensions and background services, which lowers USB bus stress—so the drive stays mounted. That’s why the symptom disappears there.
The fix is usually straightforward once you target the real cause. Start with these steps, in order:
The "other problem" appears to be a dock with insufficient power capacity, but it seems that you answered your own question.
Something appears to be missing from this Discussion. Perhaps it was removed.
leetut wrote:
YOU said "I concur 100% with Tesserax."
now you say "If they are disconnecting or inaccessible, then you have another problem."
which is it ????
What I saying, is that this has nothing to do with sleep or the sleep options that are available.
The problem is, that bus-powered dock is not providing enough power to support the internal NVMe SSD and the other external drives or devices that are plugged into it.
For John Galt's benefit, the OP's other thread is at @ SSD ejecting while transferring files - Apple Community
YOU said "I concur 100% with Tesserax."
now you say "If they are disconnecting or inaccessible, then you have another problem."
which is it ????
👍
External SSD sleep option missing on iMac
