iPhabio
Level 1 (2 points)

Q: Disk not ejected properly

Hi I'm having this issue since I upgraded to Mavericks where almost every time I put my computers to sleep I get the "Disk not ejected propoerly" message and every disk but the system one is not mounted and cannot be found by Disk Utility.

 

I have a Mac Mini late 2009 and a Macbook Pro 15 mid 2009 and I'm having this issue in both machines. Never had any issues before in any of my machines, not in Leopard, Snow Leopard or Lion.

 

On my Mini I have two external USB drives and on my MBP I have a SSD, where the system is installed, and a HD (I replaced my optical drive with a bay to install the extra disk).

 

I researched the issue and found a couple of threads where people sugested to buy a 3rd party app that would unmount the disks at sleep and remount them at wake, but I think this shouldn't be a issue, since it never happened with any version of OSX I had used before.

 

Is anybody else having this issue as well? Is there any word from Apple on this subject? Can I hope for a fix?

 

Thanks

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 28, 2013 9:55 AM

by Robster50,Solvedanswer
Robster50 Robster50
Level 1 (38 points)
Mac OS X
A:

Hi All

 

I am not sure if the fix I am about to relay will work for everyone here BUT it has certainly worked for me!

 

I have a new MBPr which I migrated from my old MBPr and immeadiatly started to get the problems described in this forum.

 

I have investigaed most of the solutions suggested here and elsewhere without any success, I did install Jettison but while this masked the problem it actually stopped most of my backups working!

 

So I called Apple support and pushed it very hard until I had a Teir 2 person on the line and she was incredibly helpful, supportive and instisted she woudl ge the problem fixed and she delivered.

 

She pinned the problem down to the migration from the older machine/prefs corruption.

 

I will try and record here exactly what we did.

 

Instructions

 

1. Pull out your ethernet cable and disable WiFi and any other network connectivity you have.

 

2. Open Finder, go to your computer and then select you Macintosh HD (or whatever you have renamed it).

 

3. Go to Macintosh HD - Library - Preferences

 

4. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the list and you ewill see a folder called SystemConfiguration

 

5. Pull this folder onto the desktop.

 

6. Go to System Preferences - Sharing and change the name of your computer, even just a litlle bit.

 

7. Reboot

 

8. Re-enable Wifi and Ethernet

 

9. If you have installed Jettison, remove it and remove it from your start up items.

 

You shoudl be good to go.

 

My machine was constantly ejecting my USB drive, even if left for onnly 10-15 minutes, since doing this I have not had one single ejection and I am into 48 plus hours of run time.

 

If you like what Jettison does but don't want to eject the disks everytime your computer sleeps and it will!, then try UnDock from the Mac App store.

 

Very similar functionality BUT it is a manual process.

 

In my case if I am going to be going out I will simply use the key combo I hae seletced Ctrl-Alt-Command plus U and all my external devices undock.

 

I really hope this helps one or more you you guys.

 

Robin

Posted on Jan 25, 2014 12:05 AM

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Q: Disk not ejected properly

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  • by c41,

    c41 c41 Nov 4, 2014 5:40 PM in response to mikeymark
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 4, 2014 5:40 PM in response to mikeymark

    mikeymark wrote:

     

    I had this same problem for a long time and did much research and tried many suggested solutions until I came upon the solution that totally worked for me.

     

    Is your whole system from hard drives -> cables -> hub -> iMac USB3?

     

    I was having ejecting issues with USB3, so replaced cables/hub with USB2 (and just put up with the slower speeds). I have not had a problem since. Interested if you've been able to retain USB3 with no probs...?

  • by alpshiker,

    alpshiker alpshiker Nov 4, 2014 9:10 PM in response to mikeymark
    Level 2 (445 points)
    Nov 4, 2014 9:10 PM in response to mikeymark

    mikeymark wrote:

     

    I discovered that the problem had nothing to do with the system software. It turns out the the problem resides in the USB cables. I replaced all my USB cables from hard drive to the USB hub and from the hub to my iMac with brand new quality cables. I have not had 1 ejection now for the last 4 months.

     

    In some instances, Apple requires cables compliant to a certain standard. For instance, I had to purchase 3 cables for my NEC monitor before I had one that was fully compatible with wake from sleep. I found in the Apple support pages that there is a grounding issue with the ones built to PC standards. Maybe there is such requirement with Apple USB3, and not all cables are Apple compliant? It could be also physical weaknesses in the way they are built like flimsy contacts or too much play.

    I'd be interested in being suggested a brand of proven Apple compliant cables.

  • by alpshiker,

    alpshiker alpshiker Nov 4, 2014 9:51 PM in response to alpshiker
    Level 2 (445 points)
    Nov 4, 2014 9:51 PM in response to alpshiker

    Just want to point one related article that was suggested in the page:

    OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 Supplemental Update

    It says: Fixes an issue that may cause external drives to be ejected after the computer goes to sleep.

     

    more complex question it seems…

  • by Bruce Mcisaac,

    Bruce Mcisaac Bruce Mcisaac Nov 5, 2014 4:40 AM in response to mikeymark
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 4:40 AM in response to mikeymark

    Sadly this problem isn't limited to USB - I have USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt drives and both eject / show DNEP message.

    All are mains powered and connected direct. I've tried new cables etc and just about every suggestion offered on the many forums!!! 

    The only drive that doesn't eject is a self powered old USB 2.0 drive.

    I wonder if this is why Time capsule remains a USB 2.0 model? 

    I can "stimulate" the problem by dimming my iMac screen manually to it's lowest settings.

    I have Applecare but to carry all my gear to a store is a very long trek so I haven't managed this yet.

    I have had brief contact with David Pogue (Apple Dummies "Guru") but even this has had no obvious effect on uninterested Apple.

  • by LaraCroft_NYC,

    LaraCroft_NYC LaraCroft_NYC Nov 5, 2014 6:08 AM in response to Bruce Mcisaac
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 6:08 AM in response to Bruce Mcisaac

    Is anyone reading this stuff??  --->>>

     

    RE: New Mac Pro (late 2013) with LaCie externals: 2x3TB, 1x1TB (USB3), and 2x12TB LaCie 2BIG (each RAID 0 on Thunderbolt 2).

     

    The 12TB drives were behaving perfectly when brand new (about 3 weeks old now). Then, Final Cut Pro with a certain MOTIONVFX.com plug-in occasionally caused my system to crash and reboot automatically. As a result, finder prefs (minimally) got corrupted and I couldn't even dup or delete a file or folder. PLUS, eventually, the 12's would no longer sleep with the computer and then get ejected when the Mac slept for an extended period of time and when the Mac woke up, it produced the dreaded, "DISK NOT EJECTED PROPERLY" message for BOTH 12's.

     

    I tried everything: zapping PRAM, resetting SMC, rebooting, repairing permissions...Nothing worked. LaCie: No help, although they offered to send new Thunderbolt cables.

     

    I had the same drive-not-sleeping problem with my Mac Mini for a while, and that inexplicably went away recently.

     

    Sooooo... Here's how mine got fixed. Hope it works for you...

     

    Last night there was a car accident (somewhere) at 2:45AM and for 2-1/2 hours we had a power outage in the entire area. At 6AM I woke the computer and the drives were once again working perfectly (and not getting improperly ejected).


     

    The one thing I hadn't tried was shutting down the Mac PRO for an extended period (probably the same extended period of simple sleep that caused the ejection). The Mac Mini's drive-sleep problem probably also went away when it was powered down recently for lack of use.


     

    So try it: Power-down for at least 2 hours.

    ∆


  • by c41,

    c41 c41 Nov 5, 2014 2:17 PM in response to LaraCroft_NYC
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 2:17 PM in response to LaraCroft_NYC

    LaraCroft_NYC wrote:

     

    Is anyone reading this stuff??  --->>>

     

     

    So try it: Power-down for at least 2 hours.

     

    Yes, I power down for 8+ hours every night.

  • by Bruce Mcisaac,

    Bruce Mcisaac Bruce Mcisaac Nov 5, 2014 4:52 PM in response to LaraCroft_NYC
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 4:52 PM in response to LaraCroft_NYC

    Powered off for a week in the summer (and unplugged) : - no difference. Off each night for 5 -8 hours.

     

    I've been visiting this forum and many others for a long while now without success.

    A pity Apple don't !!

  • by Bruce Mcisaac,

    Bruce Mcisaac Bruce Mcisaac Nov 5, 2014 4:55 PM in response to alpshiker
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 4:55 PM in response to alpshiker

    Sadly won't load on Yosemite - shame.

  • by LaraCroft_NYC,

    LaraCroft_NYC LaraCroft_NYC Nov 5, 2014 4:58 PM in response to Bruce Mcisaac
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 4:58 PM in response to Bruce Mcisaac

    Actually, since my Mac Mini AND the Mac Pro (2X) got fixed from power outage, it turns out that you have to shut down the power source to the Mac and everything connected to it. Try that for >2 hours.

  • by KenV54,

    KenV54 KenV54 Nov 5, 2014 6:16 PM in response to LaraCroft_NYC
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 6:16 PM in response to LaraCroft_NYC

    None of this stuff works for everybody. I've tried several different USB 3 cables, tried putting it through a hub and also directly into my MacBook Pro, and nothing works. I've tried the software tweaking as well. There's no way to remove power from a MacBook Pro Retina mid 2012 other than disconnecting the battery internally, but I did that, too, when I upgraded my SSD with a third party SSD. Nothing has changed from Mavericks to Yosemite.

     

    i think in my case the problem may be in my WD MyBook Drive, since none of the other external drives I've had, firewire, USB2, USB2 and Thunderbolt, have done this. I'm thinking of selling the drive (1.5 gb)--anyone who thinks it's a problem with the Mac or the OS want to buy my WD MyBook? Best offer... (If you're a nice person I wouldn't sell it to you, but I may call my brother-in-law to see if he's interested.)

  • by mikeymark,

    mikeymark mikeymark Nov 5, 2014 7:59 PM in response to c41
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 7:59 PM in response to c41

    C41...

    Yes, my system is all USB3 and has been working without problems for a few months. I originally tried changing many cables I had on hand but only had success after buying 2 brand new certified USB3 cables on Amazon. By the way, all my drives are Western Digital drives.

  • by KenV54,

    KenV54 KenV54 Nov 5, 2014 8:22 PM in response to mikeymark
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 5, 2014 8:22 PM in response to mikeymark

    I had bought some Amazon Basic USB3 cables. Are there better ones? More expensive, I assume. And maybe the Amazon Basic cables aren't certified. I also use an Amazon Basic USB3 Hub. I wonder if that could be the culprit, too? I hate to throw good money after bad, but if it will solve the problem I'm willing to try it.

  • by LaraCroft_NYC,

    LaraCroft_NYC LaraCroft_NYC Nov 6, 2014 1:17 AM in response to KenV54
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Nov 6, 2014 1:17 AM in response to KenV54

    Last night I had a different problem: My new Mac Pro (Late 2013) crashed and would not reboot...no startup chime, no Apple Logo...dead. I tried the same solution: NO POWER SOURCE for the Mac and everything connected for at least 2 hours.

     

    BUT... Here's the thing: IF you're dealing with a Mac Book Pro (or any MacBook), shutting down is not enough. To TRY this method, you must REMOVE THE BATTERY as well as removing ALL POWER from everything connected. (Disconnecting all peripherals wouldn't hurt either.)

     

    (Interestingly enough, the other night all the HDMI inputs to my Samsung TV suddenly failed and the solution was similar: disconnect all HDMI cables AND unplug the TV for at least 10 minutes. It worked!)


    Lara, BSEE/Comp Sci, M.S. Comp Sci

  • by s_w_i_t_t_e_r_s,

    s_w_i_t_t_e_r_s s_w_i_t_t_e_r_s Nov 6, 2014 7:47 AM in response to iPhabio
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 6, 2014 7:47 AM in response to iPhabio

    Can someone please summarize the fixes that have the greatest chance of working? This thread is now 16 pages long and it's difficult to find the solutions. I realize that there isn't a reliable solution that works for everyone, but I'd like to try something.

     

    I experienced this issue a lot for a while, then it stopped, and now it's back with a vengeance. In fact, when I woke up this morning I found that not only had my external USB Mercury Elite Pro enclosure been ejected 6-8 times throughout the night, it will no longer mount at all.

     

    Thanks.

  • by LaraCroft_NYC,

    LaraCroft_NYC LaraCroft_NYC Nov 6, 2014 7:55 AM in response to s_w_i_t_t_e_r_s
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Nov 6, 2014 7:55 AM in response to s_w_i_t_t_e_r_s

    Completely remove ALL power (AC and/or battery) from Mac and all peripherals for >2 hours.

    (Don't just shut down / turn off.)


    How is that? Good luck!

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