"The disk was not ejected properly. If possible, always eject a disk before unplugging it or turning it off."
I continue to get the "disc was not ejected properly message" when I have not ejected it at all. I'm using LaCie Rugged's, G-Force 4,6, and 8TBs and some older WDs (USB, eSata and Firewire 800 and 400) a Mac Pro Tower and a MacBook Pro laptop, both running 10.6.8 and both started giving the same messages a few months ago. In both cases it's sudden and random - I'm not moving the HDs or the cables, etc, sometimes I can work for hours with no issues or sometimes I can waste an hour just getting the drives to read without the error. It happens with multiple ports (USB, eSata and Firewire), using different connectors - across all the hard drives.
It warns the disc can be damaged by doing this and I believe that is now happening. Often now they need to be restarted several times as it says they are unreadbale after the Mac ejects them. I'm not using Time Machine on the laptop but I am on the tower.
Any resolution? I'm anxious to buy a new Mac (waiting on the new desktop) but it's scary since it will depend so much on external drives. This problem destroys the render files in FCP. It's a major disruption.
I plug the connectors in as tightly as they can be. That can't be the issue.