unmounting hd

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unmounting hd

I set up 2 SSD's - one running Mountain Lion and the other running Snow Leopard, just incase I couldn't run some of my older apps under Mountain Lion. I currently run Mountain Lion specifically.

Everything has been going smoothly since I set up this configuration in June 2012. However my Snow Leopard SSD has started unmounting by itself and I get a warning window telling me I have disconnected a HD without safely unmounting.

The first time it happened I carried out a re-start and the SSD mounted succesfully on my desktop. I checked to contents to see if the disk was corupted but everything was fine.

Four hour later the SnowLeopard SSD unmounted in front of my eyes.

Seems to be happening after installing the last Mountain Lion uopdate.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Mark

Mac Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)

Posted on Sep 15, 2012 5:00 AM

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Answer 1

markcymru Author

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Sep 15, 2012 5:07 AM in response to markcymru

I had had a thought about this and at the end of the day it doesn't really matter if the Snow Leopard SSD is mounted whilst I'm in Mountain Lion.

The only problem that arisses iswhen the SSD unmounts by itself. Could the drive be damaged in not unmounted correctly?

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Answer 2

dwb

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Sep 15, 2012 5:25 AM in response to markcymru

Your Snow Leopard drive is in an external case or dock and my first suspicion is that the SSD is fine but there's a problem with the external case or maybe even the cable. It might be the power supply (assuming the external case isn't self powered) it might be the circuitry, or a bad cable.

Of course the other possibility is that it is the computer. Do you have any other external drives and if so do they sometimes dismount? Have you tried doing an SMC reset? Have you kept current withfirmware updates?

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Answer 3

markcymru Author

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Sep 16, 2012 1:36 AM in response to dwb

Hey dwb

Thanks for you suggestions. The SSD is in a case which slides into the internal dock space of the Mac Pro.

I think my first step should be to remove the susspect disk and re-connect. All other HD's are fine.

If that doesn't work it looks like there amy be a fault on the case. That worries me because my Mountain Lion SSD is in an identical case.

I'll also search for firmware updates as that was something I didn't even think about.

Thanks aagain for your help.

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Answer 4

dwb

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Sep 16, 2012 4:51 AM in response to markcymru

Did you have this setup with lion too? I've heard of several instances involving macBookPro computers where the owners have replaced the DVD drive with an SSD which worked with Lion but now have issues with Mt Lion. Maybe there's a clue there too. Good luck.

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Answer 5

markcymru Author

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Sep 16, 2012 8:33 AM in response to dwb

Thanks dwb

So I shut down and removed the the two SSD's and slid them back in.

Started her up and five hours later all seems fine.

The two SSD's are crucial m4 2.5 inch SSD's, however the Snow Leopard SSD firmware revision is 9, whilst the Mountain Lion SSD firmware revision is 000F.

000F is the latest, however there are plenty of negative reports available on forums.

Apparantly the previous firmware version is far more stable - 0309.

Reading the instructions on running the firmware update is scary. So I'm hoping my Snow Leopard SSD will settle down for now.

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Answer 6

dwb

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Sep 16, 2012 9:42 AM in response to markcymru

I updated the firmware on my Samsung drive with my heart in my throat <grin> and I had a PC to do it with so it was a no brainier but not fun.

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Answer 7

markcymru Author

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Sep 16, 2012 1:59 PM in response to dwb

Well it unmounted again, so I have no option but to update the firmware.

I'm currently trying to clone Snow Leopard but guess what. My first attempt ended when the SSD unmounted.

What a nighmare...

I really can't afford it to unmount when I run the firmware or I'm done for...

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Answer 8

markcymru Author

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Sep 17, 2012 5:51 AM in response to markcymru

Finally got the firmware burnt to CD and re-booted from the disk.

The fimware found the correct SSD and I was asked to type yes or no, but my wireless keyboard was disconnected due to mac OS not running.

So now I need to search for my old USB keyboard.

I'll give it another go tonight. What a faff, hope it all work after all this...

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Answer 9

markcymru Author

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Sep 18, 2012 1:11 PM in response to markcymru

Finally got the firmware installed onto the problematic SSD to version 0309 because there were too many wrnings about 000F.

It's been two days and all is well.

Thanks dwb, you are a star...

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Answer 10

dwb

Level 7

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Sep 18, 2012 1:20 PM in response to markcymru

markcymru wrote:

Finally got the firmware installed onto the problematic SSD to version 0309 because there were too many wrnings about 000F.

It's been two days and all is well.

Glad to hear you got it solved. The frequent firmware updates to 3rd party SSDs are the one thing that worries me about recommending them to others.

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