External Drive "Not Ejected Properly"

[Jimmysb]

I have a Seagate 1TB external drive I use for TM, and is always connected (physically), however sometimes in a morning I get the error message it was not ejected properly etc. I assume this is when the Mac sleeps, and is actually not an issue, I would hate to destry my back-up through a simple inaction

 

[IWT]

Jim B

This is how I get round that problem. System Settings > Energy Saver > with these settings:



See if that helps.

Ian

 

[Jimmysb]

Jim B

This is how I get round that problem. System Settings > Energy Saver > with these settings:

View attachment 38480

See if that helps.

Ian

Mine is slightly different for hard drives, but this is my current setting:

 

[IWT]

Apart from the Power Nap feature, which may be because I have an iMac??, your settings should prevent the EHD going to sleep, I should have thought.

Sorry, I'm not really helping you much.

I assume that your Time Machine EHD is connected directly to your Mac? Not via a Hub?

Ian

 

[Jimmysb]

Apart from the Power Nap feature, which may be because I have an iMac??, your settings should prevent the EHD going to sleep, I should have thought.

Ian

That was my thought, but the EHD light goes out, so I assume it sleeps when the Mac sleeps.

I assume that your Time Machine EHD is connected directly to your Mac? Not via a Hub?

Ian

Yes direct connection to a USB 3 Type A

 

[Rod]

Jimmysb, I take it this is an EHD you have been using for TM for a while and this problem has just started recently. Is that correct?
If so, what, if anything, has changed? eg macOS upgrade, connection change, worn cable, failing EHD, ect.

 

[MacInWin]

Some drives have a sleep function when they are not frequently accessed. That is partidularly true of rotating drives as the manufacturers wanted to be "economic" about power used. However, what happens is that the drive goes to sleep because when the Mac is sleeping there is no activity, but when the Mac wakes, it expects the drive to be there. So, when it pings the drive to make sure it's still there, the drive cannot respond in time because it has to wake up on its own, then get the disk rotating up to speed and the heads in place to be ready. By the time that has happened, the Mac has moved on and flashes up the error message about the drive being disconnected.

What I did when I had one of these drives was initally to use Amphetamine (search for it) to keep the drives awake. But what worked best was to not let the CPU sleep, just let the screen go dark. The CPU running takes very llittle power, albeit it is more than in true sleep, but it avoids the disconnect issue.

My Ventura system has this setting

And if you search for "Energy" you can find this under the Displays area of System Settings;

 

[Rod]

That's how I have my settings too Jake although I don't usually leave any EHD's connected long term but on the odd occasion where I leave a HDD (TM) or SSD (clone) connected I don't get the "Not Ejected Properly" notification, even if left over night.
As per post #6 what changed?

 

[Jimmysb]

Jimmysb, I take it this is an EHD you have been using for TM for a while and this problem has just started recently. Is that correct?
If so, what, if anything, has changed? eg macOS upgrade, connection change, worn cable, failing EHD, ect.

The EHD has been connected since not long after buying the Mac, has been connected directly to the Mac ever since.
The only change is using sleep mode, until a thread on here about it, I always switched my Mac off at night. Nothing else has changed, the monitor and EHD are all that are connected (mouse/keyboard BT), and no additional software, just Mac updates.

 

[Jimmysb]

Some drives have a sleep function when they are not frequently accessed. That is partidularly true of rotating drives as the manufacturers wanted to be "economic" about power used. However, what happens is that the drive goes to sleep because when the Mac is sleeping there is no activity, but when the Mac wakes, it expects the drive to be there. So, when it pings the drive to make sure it's still there, the drive cannot respond in time because it has to wake up on its own, then get the disk rotating up to speed and the heads in place to be ready. By the time that has happened, the Mac has moved on and flashes up the error message about the drive being disconnected.

What I did when I had one of these drives was initally to use Amphetamine (search for it) to keep the drives awake. But what worked best was to not let the CPU sleep, just let the screen go dark. The CPU running takes very llittle power, albeit it is more than in true sleep, but it avoids the disconnect issue.

My Ventura system has this setting View attachment 38484

And if you search for "Energy" you can find this under the Displays area of System Settings;

View attachment 38485

It would seem my system is different, also running Ventura:

 

[Rod]

So potentially two changes; macOS updates and not switching off at night.
My money is on an update/upgrade of your macOS.
Did this behavior begin immediately after you stopped turning off at night? Or more recently i.e. after an update?

 

[MacInWin]

It would seem my system is different, also running Ventura:

View attachment 38487

Click "Advanced." Had you searched as I suggested, it would have taken you directly there.

 

[Jimmysb]

So potentially two changes; macOS updates and not switching off at night.
My money is on an update/upgrade of your macOS.
Did this behavior begin immediately after you stopped turning off at night? Or more recently i.e. after an update?

Not sure, though, I have been out all day, and on awakening, this time no message.

 

[Jimmysb]

Click "Advanced." Had you searched as I suggested, it would have taken you directly there.

My Advanced is still different.

 

[MacInWin]

Yes, your Mini doesn't have a battery like my MBP does. But the button to shift is the bottom one in your screenshot, "Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off." And unless you are using the feature, I would turn off the top three. But that's not important to this issue, just a general comment because I don't leave features turned on that I don't use.

 

[Jimmysb]

Yes, your Mini doesn't have a battery like my MBP does. But the button to shift is the bottom one in your screenshot, "Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off." And unless you are using the feature, I would turn off the top three. But that's not important to this issue, just a general comment because I don't leave features turned on that I don't use.

I have adjusted my settings as suggested.

 

[Rod]

I, and I'm sure others would be interested to see if that works for you.

 

[pm-r]

I, and I'm sure others would be interested to see if that works for you.

Definitely, and if it doesn't I think we will have to just blame the cat.



- Patrick
=======

 

[Jimmysb]

I, and I'm sure others would be interested to see if that works for you.

Well my screen has gone "static" less than an hour after the last use, but the disk ejection message has not appeared.


I assume, this is to prevents the Mac from sleeping if the monitor is switched off, if so, if I put my Mac to sleep at night, switch off my monitor, then the Mac wakes, it does not go to sleep, and a bit confusing. I know this is not windows, but it would have:

Monitors to sleep XX mins (often 30 mins)
Hard Drives sleep XX mins (often 60 mins)
CPU sleep XX mins (often 120 mins)

These set to personal preferences, and all under the same setting heading, I find the sleep (energy saving) functions in different areas, and seem (in my understanding) to almost contradict each other.

 

[MacInWin]

Well my screen has gone "static" less than an hour after the last use, but the disk ejection message has not appeared.

View attachment 38492
I assume, this is to prevents the Mac from sleeping if the monitor is switched off, if so, if I put my Mac to sleep at night, switch off my monitor, then the Mac wakes, it does not go to sleep, and a bit confusing. I know this is not windows, but it would have:

Monitors to sleep XX mins (often 30 mins)
Hard Drives sleep XX mins (often 60 mins)
CPU sleep XX mins (often 120 mins)

These set to personal preferences, and all under the same setting heading, I find the sleep (energy saving) functions in different areas, and seem (in my understanding) to almost contradict each other.

macOS is not Windows, not even close.

The setting in your screenshot has nothing to do with the power on the monitor. It does have to do with what the GPU is doing in the Mac. So, if the display is set in Settings, Lock Screen to "Turn display off when inactive" is set, for example to 5 minutes, then after five minutes of no activity, the screen will go dark. The monitor is still powered on, just the display is off. That saves most of the power consumed by the monitor. If you don't turn on the setting in your screenshot, when that timer expires and the screen goes dark, the CPU will then sleep, which leads to the drive disconnect issue as I described earlier. So, it's connected, logical and controllable. My settings are that the "Prevent automatic sleeping..." is ON, the "Turn display off..." is set for 5 minutes. I don't use any screensaver as those were originally developed to prevent "burn in" on CRT displays, a problem that doesn't exist with good quality flat screens.