WD external drives STILL dropping out even with OS and HUB upgrades

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WD external drives STILL dropping out even with OS and HUB upgrades

My two NEW WD 8T external drives are STILL dropping out regularly even with upgrades to current OS Ventura 13.3.1 plus newer, more "powerful", USB hub of good quality. Just like the older WD 4T ones and previous hub. Continually have to Restart to access files. Is there still software out to remount externals (as in the "good óle days")? Checked Energy Saver settings for putting hard drives to sleep, etc. iMac 2017 21.5, 3.4 GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4 memory... REALLY frustrating when working on projects. (1T internal HD so I keep software on the HD and most working files and archives on externals.) Any new ideas would be helpful. Besides getting a new computer which is NOT in the budget.

Posted on May 31, 2023 9:49 PM

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Answer 1

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BDAqua

Level 10

244,817 points

Jun 8, 2023 7:08 PM in response to ZArtista

Yes, you have the summarization correct, but beyond that I've seen troubles when one has so many so close to the limit, like perhaps just once in awhile the cycles coincide for a momentary lapse of sufficient power.

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Answer 2

ZArtista Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 8, 2023 7:08 PM in response to BDAqua

I'm afraid you are getting WAY beyond me at this level. In scanning through the System Report I get this: All 4 externals off the USB 3.1 Hub show 08 Required of the 900 Available. But 2T Time Machine; 896/900 (as your Sandisk) Facetime Camera; 500/500, Slimport Type C to Legacy Adaptor(?); 500/500. Then some sort of USB 2.1 Hub with a USB Video (?); 500/500. I don't know just what parts to add up or just what that means. I'm surmising you are implying that there is likely an overload of required mA vs available mA. And if so, what is the solution? Lost here. 4 WD Easydrives on the one Hub, 1 WD Time Machine, second monitor, and apparently some built in Apple items adding in to the count.

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Answer 3

ZArtista Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 8, 2023 7:08 PM in response to BDAqua

Vangree AC powered 90W, USB 3.0, charging ports 12.5V/7.5A (Amazon). Two 8T WD External Easystore USB 3.0. Same thing happened in High Sierra and WD Easystore 4T externals. So I made the big leap up to Ventura (for various reasons) and upgraded both the drives & hub. :| Same computer, however.

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Answer 4

ZArtista Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 8, 2023 7:08 PM in response to BDAqua

I'm also looking at a software called Jettison and may trial that... purports to mount/remount as well as "jettison" external drives. And trying Apple's Disk Utility? Once they drop out again. Probably by tomorroow sometime...

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Answer 5

ZArtista Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 8, 2023 7:08 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for your tip off. It lead me down what will probably be the best solution/fix. I found a pretty good (readable at my level) explanation at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hub

I'll eject/dismount the two 4T drives that are only for deep archive at this point and not used regularly. The USB hub has individual buttons to turn power on/off each port.

The Jettison app I found ( https://www.stclairsoft.com/Jettison/index.html ) seems like it can allow me to eject/dismount and also MOUNT externals at will without having to Restart to do that. Seems like a good product and not $ ($5) to be able to control whether your drives shut down/dismount if/when you want them to.

Didn't realize there were so many other "drags" on the hub power/mAs... built in stuff, the hub itself, etc. Quite a few unpredictable things as you just suggested.

It's all at the stretch of my peripherals knowledge. When I/we didn't have so many external gadgets it was not so complex.... Thanks again. :0

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