M2 Macbook air does not recognise USB 3 drive attached to thunderbolt port

A: Macbook -> USB C to USB A cable -> Sabrent enclosure with 750 GB SSD drive

B: Mac Pro with 3rd party card with USB C ports.-> same cable and drive

C: Macbook -> USB C to USB 3 Micro B cable -> western digital 1 TB spinning rust drive

B and C work. A does not. In the case of A, when I do a hardware info report shows thunderbolt ports and USB ports not in use.

B working tells me that there is nothing wrong with either the drive or the cable.

C working says there is nothing wrong with the macbook’s port.

Macbook is running Ventura 13.6.4

What am I missing?