Problem with M1 MacBook Air new out of box not recognizing some external drives

OWC Thunderbay 4 with Thunderbolt 1 connector attached to Apple thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2/1 connector won’t mount on new M1 MacBook Air. Systems Report recognizes it’s a ThunderBay 4, but it does’t mount or appear in Finder. Suggestions? This ThunderBay 4 works perfect on my 2013 MacBook Air.

Posted on Feb 17, 2021 6:27 AM

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2 replies

UserSS Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 24, 2021 7:16 AM in response to woodmeister50

I called OWC. They say the problem arose between Big Sur 11.1 and 11.2.1 upgrade. They were unable to step the M-1 Apple MBA back to 11.1. They recommended calling Apple support. Apple was unable to step the MBA back to 11.1. No one can resolve the issue of 11.2.1 not mounting the OWC ThunderBay 4 drives. Internet suggests the problem is a conflict/bug in how the SoftRaid software on the ThunderBay 4 interacts with Big Sur 11.2.1. I have no idea. Big Sur 11.2.1 works fine with my 2013 intel MBA, but not with my new M-1 MBA.

Feb 17, 2021 11:29 AM in response to UserSS

Give OWC a call. They will be more than glad to assist you.

There may be a compatibility issue or a Thunderbay firmware issue.

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Problem with M1 MacBook Air new out of box not recognizing some external drives

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