Q: external drive ejects at sleep

Hi,

I've contacted support. They didn't do much other than have me repair permissions and verify the external disk.

I have a case number though to contact them again if/when it happens again.

Hoperfully the more support calls they get, the faster they'll fix it...

Found a similar, but more elegant, temporary solution to this issue in another thread, as posted by Eric Root.

http://jon.stovell.info/personal/Software.html -- "Keep Drive Spinning"

This program sets a script run by the OS which will "touch" your drives at a pre-determined interval (default is 60 seconds) to prevent any power-saving settings from going into effect.

Since I've set up the script, I'm now able to enable my monitor to sleep without all my drives going AWOL.  This at least returns me to a fully functional state while we await a permanent resolution from Apple.

Exactly the same problem! After the last update to 10.8.5 I get the message that my LaCie 1TB Thunderbolt has not been properly ejected; the drive is greyed out in the Finder, yet normally accessible through the icon on my desktop. It can be removed and reconnected as if nothing had happened. It takes place after a long period of inactivity. Because this drive can also be connected by means of USB 3, I tried that option and nothing happened! I guess Apple will have to address this issue, but I am waiting for Maverick which will I hope solve the problem.

My external drives is connected via USB 3.0 and it also disconnect without any warnings what so ever.

Never did on earlier OS. Started right after installing 10.8.5 and i even always use the combo updater.

I don't have any strange startup programs etc. And sleep mode is turned of completely.

My external SmartStor DS4600 still disconnect after a long inactivity

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Feedback

Or you can use your Apple ID to register with this site and go the Apple BugReporter. Supposedly you will get an answer if you submit feedback.

Feedback via Apple Developer

FYI to all, I've been contacted by Apple Engineering regarding the issue and they've sent me an app to capture some diagnostic data. I recommend everyone put in a bug report if you haven't already: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

done...but there is no 10.8.5 in the form...

I received a similar call from an AppleCare senior advisor with the same request for diagnostic data.  At least someone is addressing the issue.  I second Velgor's suggestion...submit that bug report!

LB

Had the same problem with an external 4-bay usb 3.0 enclosure after updating to 10.8.5.  Random drives would eject improperly even though the energy prefs were set not to put drives or the computer to sleep.  I had a bigger problem of this issue corrupting the file systems on the ejected disks.  Only tool that could repair this was DiskWarrior.  Rolled back to 10.8.4 and don't have the issue any more.  Hopefully Apple gets a bug fix out soon.

Hi,

Running:

sudo pmset -a standby 0

from the terminal seems to have fixed the "Drive improperly ejected" message on my iMac.

According to the pmset manual, Safe Sleep (where the OS writes memory to disk and powers down) is only supposed to be used when "hibermode" is 3 or 25. On the iMac, it default to 0, which is supposed to be disabled:

"SAFE SLEEP ARGUMENTS

hibernatemode takes a bitfield argument defining SafeSleep behavior. Passing 0 disables SafeSleep alto-
     gether, forcing the computer into a regular sleep."

However, it seems that 10.8.5 has changed the behaviour and OS X is entering Safe Sleep.

Later, the manual reads:

"standby causes kernel power management to automatically hibernate a machine after it has slept for a specified time period. This saves power while asleep. This setting defaults to ON for supported hard- ware. The setting standby will be visible in pmset -g if the feature is supported on this machine.

standby only works if hibernation is turned on to hibernatemode 3 or 25."

So, setting standby to 0 seems to actually disable Safe Sleep and prevent drives from getting ejected forcebly.

Please be sure to submit your findings to http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html as Apple Support/Engineers don't frequent these user forums.

Until a fix or Mavericks is released, I've implemented an app called 'Mountain' to mount and unmount my external drive automatically on sleep and wake. It's probably scriptable using the command line, but I'm lazy. If you're like me and sleep your machine, this works well as a stop-gap.

Actual this should not cause an affect on an desktop because of this:

"...standby only works if hibernation is turned on to hibernatemode 3 or 25..."

and

"...hibernatemode = 0 (binary 0000) by default on supported desktops..."

but i'll try this this weekend...

You're right, it shouldn't have any effect because on a desktop with hibernate mode set to zero, it shouldn't enter safe sleep anyway. But, I think that the bug they introduced in 10.8.5 is causing it to ignore the hibernate mode value and enter safe sleep anyway.

Add me to the list too.

I'm having the EXACT same problem. Ever since I upgraded to 10.8.5 I've been getting the "disk not ejected properly" message. I have a 3TB LaCie Thunderbolt external disk. I have since disconnected it and am hoping that Mavericks fixes the issue.

If you find any solution, please post it, and I will do the same. (Very frustrating.)

I'll also be making a bug report. Reverting back to 10.8.4 seems like the way to go.

Best of luck.