USB3 External SSD disconnects

[Raz0rEdge]

I have a late-2013 15" rMBP running OS X 10.9.4 with which I want to use a external SSD. It's a Samsung SSD with a USB 3.0 enclosure. I keep all of my VMs on the external SSD and I'm finding that routinely the external SSD gets ejected when the VM is running.

I get the "External device ejected improperly" message from OS X. When I look at the desktop, I find that the icon for this external SSD is indeed missing. I have to unplug and re-plug it back into the USB port to be visible again and available for use.

Having this disconnection happen while the VM is running means the VM state/info is lost and I have to restart.

I've gone into Energy Saver and ensured that the "Put disks to sleep" is unchecked for both the Battery and Power Adapter cases.

I've search for this, and others who've had issues with this have found firmware upgrades for their external HDD's that has fixed this problem. I don't believe I have that option since my enclosure it just a USB 3.0 -> mSATA interface..

Any other things I should explore and look into?

 

[cheenursn]

Its the same for me with a Macbook Air - Mid 2013

Hi,

I have the same problem, I doubted my Samsung SSD and replaced a different one. I replaced a different controller/casing. Still the same happens.

Im getting to believe that its a fault with the OS.

Did you get any inputs or solutions for this ?

 

[harryb2448]

I just hate Samsung gear, SSDs, cameras, TVs etc. Trouble with all of them.

 

[cheenursn]

I doubted Samsung, and tried a different casing and different SSD on USB3, but still the same behavior.

I moved the Samsung SSD to my Macbook Pro as an internal SSD, and its performing great!!

The Problem I expect is something to do with MAC or its OS.

I find a lot of people facing such issues as well.

 

[GregR]

I can't explain why it happened in your case but what I can say is that the same things happens with PCs running Windows.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I just hate Samsung gear, SSDs, cameras, TVs etc. Trouble with all of them.

Harry, I've had a couple of Samsung TVs and numerous LCDs and they've all worked flawlessly. The issue here isn't with the Samsung SSD in anyway..

So I've finally noticed a particular link, in my useless, that causes the external SSD to eject itself only to be re-found by OS X. I have two VMs sitting on the SSD (Windows 8 and Linux) and I run them simultaneously for work. I've found that if only one of the VMs is doing any intensive SSD access, things are fine. If both the VMs start accessing the SSD heavily, more often than not I end up with he ejected SSD.

I've since moved one of the VMs to the internal SSD and that seems to be working much better.

Since the enclosure I have just uses the USB cable for power and no additional power-plug, a heavy access of the SSD must cause a power spike above what the rMBP USB port can deliver and thus the device ejects. The moment it ejects, the access stops, power drops down and its suddenly found again.

I expect that this wouldn't happen if I used an external enclosure with its own power-plug but that's one more cable that I don't want to deal with, so I'll go with my split solution for now..