MacBook Pro external disk repeatedly ejects and remounts

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62 points

MacBook Pro external disk repeatedly ejects and remounts

The external disk keeps being automatically ejected during use.

During use, the External disk just ejects and then automatically is remounted. This happens numerous times without warning, losing any link to a file being used.

A message appears when it is automatically remounted, showing:

I check with Disk repair and the utility was unable to resolve the issue:

Details: MacBook Pro 13-inch (early 2025) OS 12.7.6

External Disk

USB External Physical Volume • Mac OS Extended (Journa.....)

588.73 GB (133.6 MB purgeable)

Disk First Aid shows:

Running First Aid on “My Passport” (disk2s10)

Checking file system and repairing if necessary and if possible.

Volume could not be unmounted.

Restoring the original state found as mounted.

Unable to unmount volume for repair. : (-69673)

Operation failed…

Any suggestions would be most helpful.

Thank you.

Posted on Feb 4, 2026 6:47 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

D.I. Johnson

Level 7

34,151 points

Feb 4, 2026 8:06 AM in response to Memoire

We see this very often and the typical culprits would be the cable or the connection point. Sometimes it's the drive hardware actually having a problem.

You can check if it's a cable problem by using a different, good quality cable. If you are using any sort of plug adapter, then I suggest you consider buying a cable that has the correct plug at each end for your device and your Mac. That would be USB-C at the Mac end and could be one of several at the ext drive end - USB-A, USB-C or maybe USB-microB. Check the user guide for your particular drive.

A connection point issue can be troubleshot by connecting the drive to a different port on the Mac. If you are connecting the drive via a hub or dock, then bypass that and connect directly to the Mac. If using a hub or dock, that dock should be self-powered via its own ac power adapter and not bus-powered by the computer.

The drive itself may get power from its own ac adapter, which should provide whatever it needs regardless of the connection point.

If the drive is a small notebook-class drive, the check the power required and power available for the device by visiting the System Information app. Press the Option key and click the Apple menu  > System Information.

Under the heading Hardware, click the USB line to see the particulars. If there is little or no headroom between 'Current Available' and 'Current Required' then you may have issue with the drive remaining connected under load.

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