Can't mount external USB SSD drive after shutdown

Community,

Loner T you out there!?? ;-) I have a MBP running Bootcamp/W10 and sometimes boot off of an external USB SSD drive. The other day the laptop powered off (I forgot the power cord wasn't plugged in) and now the drive shows in Disk Utility but is greyed out and I don't see it in finder when I powered back up. I did a First Aid on the drive and it checks out fine and did try to unmount it and mount it through the command line. Thoughts? Thank you!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 4, 2016 4:23 AM

84 replies

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 8, 2016 7:35 PM in response to Dick Richards

1. What is the SSD brand?

2. What brand/model is the enclosure?

Jan 16, 2016 4:47 PM in response to Loner T

Hey Loner T.. So sorry for the late reply... I have been smashing my head against the wall trying to get my Late 2012 Mac Mini to work with my new Asus 4K monitor via my TB and finally gave up and just got an Apple monitor...

I checked on the brand and it is an OCZ Agility 3 SSD drive and the enclosure it is in is Sabrent enclosure... Is that what you needed?

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 16, 2016 5:08 PM in response to Dick Richards

Dick Richards wrote:

Hey Loner T.. So sorry for the late reply... I have been smashing my head against the wall trying to get my Late 2012 Mac Mini to work with my new Asus 4K monitor via my TB and finally gave up and just got an Apple monitor...

The monitor has a DP 1.2 and an HDMI port. Both should work.

I checked on the brand and it is an OCZ Agility 3 SSD drive and the enclosure it is in is Sabrent enclosure... Is that what you needed?

What are the available output ports on the Sabrent enclosure?

Jan 16, 2016 5:37 PM in response to Loner T

When I hook up the monitor via the mini's HDMI I only can get 1920x1080 and I didn't try a TB to DP adapter. I didn't see many of them out there. I did hook up the MiniDisplay Port Dual DVI Link adapter and MiniDisplay Port to DVI adapter and both don't work. The MDP to DVI just gave me 1920x1080 and the Dual Link adapter gave me 2600x1600 or something but the screen is really blurry....

The Sabrent enclosure is just one USB 3.0 port... https://www.sabrent.com/category/hard-drive-enclosures/EC-UK30/

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 16, 2016 6:43 PM in response to Dick Richards

Dick Richards wrote:

When I hook up the monitor via the mini's HDMI I only can get 1920x1080 and I didn't try a TB to DP adapter. I didn't see many of them out there. I did hook up the MiniDisplay Port Dual DVI Link adapter and MiniDisplay Port to DVI adapter and both don't work. The MDP to DVI just gave me 1920x1080 and the Dual Link adapter gave me 2600x1600 or something but the screen is really blurry....

Your 2012 Mini on HDMI does not support 4K. DP is your best bet for the highest resolution.

The Sabrent enclosure is just one USB 3.0 port... https://www.sabrent.com/category/hard-drive-enclosures/EC-UK30/

It seems to support only SATA 1 and 2. Can you check if the OCZ is a SATA3? If it does not down negotiate, you will have problems.

Jan 17, 2016 2:30 PM in response to Loner T

ok.. i will check that out. ok so when you say DP is my best bet I am not sure what that means? How do I do that? I tried connecting my MiniDisplay Port with Dual Link using a Dual Link DVI cable and HDMI adapter and the 2560x1440 still looked like crud. The Apple Monitor looks absolutely flawless. I am confused? I guess what I am asking is how to I upscale my monitor without buying a new mini, etc?

Jan 17, 2016 2:37 PM in response to Loner T

BTW I forgot to mention I tried the normal Apple MDP to DVI as well... I am clueless... Which is obvious...

Jan 17, 2016 4:51 PM in response to Loner T

Update.. Just tried a late 2012 Macbook Air with both DVI adapters and no go... Not sure.. Going to try a 2013 MBP tomorrow...

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 17, 2016 5:36 PM in response to Dick Richards

Before you try Macs, a simple miniDP-to-DP cable will let you get the maximum resolution supported by the Mini on the Asus. The Asus does not support dual-link DVI well.

Jan 17, 2016 6:05 PM in response to Dick Richards

So you are saying something like the below:

Cable Matters Gold Plated Mini DisplayPort (Thunderbolt Port Compatible) to DisplayPort Cable, Black, 6 Feet (101007)

Jan 17, 2016 6:09 PM in response to Loner T

I am a bit unclear why this one is so much more money?

Belkin Mini DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort Cable (1.5 meters)

Jan 17, 2016 6:16 PM in response to Loner T

Wanted to confirm Loner T.. This Mini would work via HDMI fine on a 4K monitor, yes? I wouldn't need to use one of my TB ports...?

http://www.microcenter.com/product/440799/Mac_mini_MGEN2LL-A_Desktop_Computer

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 17, 2016 6:57 PM in response to Dick Richards

Is your goal to get 4K from a Mini? If yes, please see http://www.apple.com/mac-mini/specs/ - 2014 models. If you need to connect your Mini to the ASUS, please see http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13372 .

Jan 18, 2016 5:56 AM in response to Loner T

Thanks Loner T...!! So do you think I should return the Cable Matters and go with Monoprice instead? Also do you know if the new Mini's are upgradeable (swapping out memory and hard drives) like the old ones? I assume the newer mini's can do 4K over HDMI yes? Honestly the Mac's run so smooth I am thinking the lowest model of Mini but I do like putting in SSD drives (even though I could launch the OS from SSD over USB 3.0)... My goal is to run both mini's PiP or split...

Jan 18, 2016 6:32 AM in response to Loner T

Wanted to ask as well.. Is there a way to do something similar to "Terminal Server" in Mac? Ex if I don't like the user experience via PiP using the Asus I could connect to a "session" or something? Right now I am using Teamviewer and Screen Sharing but there is always a slight lag...

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Can't mount external USB SSD drive after shutdown