Safely Eject External Hard Drive Before Sleep

After returning from a state of sleep, my computer always gives me this error message:
This is referring to the "unsafe ejection" of my external hard drive which I have hooked up to Time Machine for backups. I would think that the Mac has some sort of shutdown script it would run before going to sleep to safely eject the hard drives connected to the machine, but apparently it does not.
Does anyone know how I can avoid this message? In other words, is there a way to have my computer safely eject all drives before going to sleep?

In case anyone remembers the "good old days" - a few years back (mostly during OS 10.4 - Tiger), there were multiple problems reported with either USB and/or Firewire externals on wake-up; this included hard drives and hubs mostly. I was experiencing problems myself continuously with one of my hubs. Apple finally came out with one of their articles stating that the problems arose because, upon wake-up command, the computer would get confused momentarily as to what to start with first - internal HD, external HD, hub, or whatever and suggesting that you simply unmount (before sleep) whatever was causing the problem. The second suggestion was to unplug/plug in the USB or firewire cable after wakeup, which is what I had to do to get my keyboard and mouse working which were plugged into the hub. That was when I started to unmount and unplug my externals unless I actually needed them and I'm actually still doing that (habits!). I haven't had a problem with my hubs for a while now, but I'm wondering if it could be the same type of problem.

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Safely eject external hard drive

Anyone know of a good way to safely eject external hard drives shared over a network with a Time Capsule? It seems to me like you'd need to unplug the Time Capsule, as that is the only way to power it off, before disconnecting an external hard drive. This interrupts the network connection at home, though, so if there's some way to do this in Finder on a connected Mac, I'd like to know!

Sorry but I am a bit unclear..
The drive is plugged into a Mac and the share is from this Mac to the network?? Or is the external drive plugged into the Time Capsule?
You should be able to eject the hard disk if mounted simply by clicking the arrow in the normal way. That will not stop it showing up in the client computer.. simply dismount it when mounted. As a network shared disk.. the share will still be active..
To dismount the disk from the computer it is shared on, will have to be done from that computer.
Unless you use Remote Access of some sort to take over the local computer you really cannot control shares that are offered from another computer.
I am not sure I have answered your question though.
What are you trying to achieve.

Is it safe to eject external hard drive while Macbook Pro is on sleep?

Hi guys. This is the external hard drive I use for Time Machine. When in sleep mode, the external hard drive is off, but wakes up periodically when Macbook Pro Retina does its Power Sleep features including periodic back up. So...is it ok to eject external hard drive while on sleep?
Thanks.

Oh. Normally I leave my external hard drive connected to Macbook Pro and rarely eject it. But once in a while, I need to get that hard drive to connect to other computer for file transfer. So the question was when I need to do this (eject hard drive) while Macbook is on sleep, do I need to wake it up and log in and eject? I thought you were saying that I should always eject before the machine goes to sleep. I think I misunderstood you.
So, I need to wake it up, log in and eject before disconnecting it?

External Hard Drive not sleeping or waking

Hi I have a mac mini with Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2. I recently purchased a iomega 2 TB external hard drive that came pre loaded with Mac OS Extended (Journaled) pre formatted on it. I use 800 FireWire for the connection. I had no problems with the drive mounting and transferring files until I put my computer to sleep. I took me some time to figure out that the sleep function was the cause of the problem I was having. The drive would still be listed in finder after my computer woke but when accessed finder would freeze up and I would get the spinning cursor. Also when I left it to sleep over night I would find the drive off and an error that it had been ejected wrong.
I watched the drive when I put my computer to sleep get the sleep command and flash for a second and start to sleep but then come on again as if there was an error in the sleep command from my mac. If I wake my computer again to see the action of the drive it then goes to sleep when my computer is waking. I am guessing the command is the same to the drive from my mac. Wake or sleep, it just depends on the drives current state as to whether it sleeps or wakes.
My fix so far is to not let my computer sleep at all. As well I have to choose in system preferences to not allow the drives to sleep. Did notice after some time the external hard drive will sleep anyway from idle time but now my mac is not sleeping obviously. Or I have to eject the disk manually and then turn off the external hard drive then put my computer to sleep.
Am I missing something here? It's either a hard drive error or a software bug in Lion.

Hi,
Please post the HP product number for your PC. How to Find the HP Model Number and the HP Product Number or let HP automatically find your PC model number and HP network attached printers. This will allow others to review your issue, make suggestions and review your responses. This is usually the best way to get assistance.
HP DV9700, t9300, Nvidia 8600, 4GB, Crucial C300 128GB SSD
HP Photosmart Premium C309G, HP Photosmart 6520
HP Touchpad, HP Chromebook 11
Custom i7-4770k,Z-87, 8GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650,GTX 760
Custom i7-4790k,Z-97, 16GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Plextor M.2 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650, GTX 660TI
Windows 7/8 UEFI/Legacy mode, MBR/GPT

I have seen so much response about the Mountain Lion update slowing down computers. I am updating from Mac OS x 10.6.8. What can I do to ensure the upgrade will go fine? Do I unplug my external hard drive before installing, or keep it plugged in?

I have seen so much response about the Mountain Lion update slowing down computers. I am updating from Mac OS x 10.6.8. What can I do to ensure the upgrade will go fine? Do I unplug my external hard drive before installing, or keep it plugged in?
Also, I have the 08 version of iWork. Will this cause problems for the update? Can I update this AFTER I update the processor?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
There's no reason to think that Mountain Lion will slow down your Mac. Just make a backup of your data before upgrading with Time Machine > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
Also, check that your apps are compatible > http://www.roaringapps.com Upgrade them to a compatible version or delete them before upgrading.
The external drive won't make the OS X Mountain Lion installer fail, but it's better to unplug it during the upgrade.
iWork '08 is compatible with Mountain Lion. iWork '09 includes OS X Mountain Lion features and can be purchased at the Mac App Store.
To upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion, I recommend at least 4 GB of RAM. You can check how much memory you have in Apple menu > About this Mac

Time achine. Each time I wake up my Mac. it says that I did not eject the disk properly. Do I have to eject the external hard drive before putting the Mac. to sleep?

Time Machine. Each time I wake up my Mac. it says that I did not eject the disk properly. Do I have to eject the external hard drive each time I put the Mac. to sleep?

If you do eject or disconnect that external drive before sleep, do you ever get that message?
Some Drives & chipsets will not work right with sleep, what brand/model is it?

Forgot to eject external hard drive-won't mount, doesn't show

Hello,
I just bought a great running G-Technology (500GB) firewire/usb portable hard drive to replace an older much less stable drive. I wanted to copy the files from one to another when the imac disc just stated spinning forever. Having experienced this before I tried shutting off the old drive, but to no avail. So I panicked and shut everything down. Obviously, I didn't eject the new hard drive. After restarting I was able to get the old drive to appear on the desktop but not the new one. It doesn't show in Disk Utility and I've tried going to Go/Go To Folder/type:/volumes and where the icon of the new drive doesn't show up. I've unplugged it, restarted the computer with and without the new drive plugged in. The new drive light is on and power seems to be going to it when plugged in. What to do? I hope I didn't ruin the drive. It's less than a week old. Thanks for any help! Kris

If you are trying yo use the drive's USB connectivity, "portable" could be the key word. Some drives that must get their power from the computer's USB port ("bus-powered drives") may not get enough power under some circumstances. Their counterpart is the desktop or "self-powered" external drive that comes with its own power brick.
There are workabouts for your existing drive if it lacks its own power supply:
1) Try a different USB port. Not all USB ports provide the same level of power. Ports on the keyboard should be avoided--they can seldom power even a thumb drive
2) Get a self-powered USB hub. It adds to the power feed for the drive and usually fixes the issue
3) Get a USB "Y" cable like this:
1 Meter USB 2.0 A to 5 Pin Mini B Cable - Auxiliary USB "Y" Power Design for external hard drives.
It uses two of the comptuer's ports for extra power.
If you are connecting with FireWire, then the drive is likely faulty.

Improperly ejected external hard drive is not displaying on computer...not even in Disk Utility

My external hard drive has been repeatedly ejected improperly and now it is not displaying on my computer, not even in disk utility. How do I re-mount this external hard drive? In the past when this has happened, all I had to do was go to Disk Utility or use DiskWarrior to fix the issue but now it won't even show up in either of these apps.
Any help would be appreciated
2008 MacBook Pro 10.9.3, WD My Studio 1 TB External HD

From the menu bar, select
 ▹ System Preferences ▹ Energy Saver ▹ Power Adapter
and uncheck the box labeled Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible, if it's checked.
If the drive has more than one interface (USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, eSATA), try one of the other interfaces.
Check that the data cable is securely inserted at both ends.
Try a different cable.
If you're connecting the drive through a hub, connect it directly to a built-in port on the Mac.
If you're connecting it directly, try a different port.
Disconnect all other devices on the bus, or as many as possible.
Test the drive with another Mac. Test another drive with this Mac.
If the drive is bus-powered, but has an AC adapter, connect the adapter.
Start up in Recovery mode and launch Disk Utility. Is the drive recognized?
Start up in Safe Mode and test.
Reset the NVRAM.
Reset the System Management Controller.
If the drive doesn't work under any of the above conditions, and if another drive does work with the same Mac, then the drive has failed. You may be able to salvage the mechanism by removing it from the enclosure and installing it in another one, or in a drive dock.

Error message when trying to eject external hard drive

I'm trying to eject an external hard drive (I've tried all of the prompts multiple times) and continue to get the error message, "The volume can’t be ejected because it’s currently in use.". Has anybody run into this?

Well... I did it the "wrong" way and turned off the hard drive before ejecting it. Of course my Mac "yelled" at me. When I tested to make sure the HD was working properly it seemed to and then ejected easily. Who knows???

How do I delete photos from an external hard drive before downloading to my new Mac?

I have a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex external hard drive that has all my photos from my old computer on it Because there are thousands, I want to delete a bunch of them before downloading onto my new Mac. However, when I click on the photos, they say "locked." Once I have the photos trimmed down, how do I get the to download to my Mac?

Don't touch that one !
I was hoping that in addition to that there should be another device listed, namely the USB External HD you've got plugged into the USB port. It should show up something like this:

WD Elements External Hard Drive: No Sleep Issue

Hello,
I know this probably isn't the best place for this as it's not directly related to an iMac. But it works.
I have two WD Elements (http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=304&lang=en) external hard drives that I use for a Time Machine and for a Media drive. I've got them plugged into a Belkin Powered USB Hub (http://store.apple.com/us/product/TW306LL/A) which is then of course attatched to my iMac. My issue is that the two hard drives seem to continue to work at full power once I've shut my computer off.
Is there anyway I can have them go into sleep mode?
I was considering splicing a switch onto the power cord of the USB Hub so that I could easily turn it off once the computer is off. However that seems a bit silly?
Thank you for your time, and opinions,
Robin

Thanks for the suggestion. I can't believe I didn't think about that as I knew about it.
It seems to have helped when the computer is on. I can see that at some points they are working a lot less, which is great. So thank you.
Unfortunately they seem to be still working at full power them the computer is off. I figure this is because they are not directly attatched to the computer itself so nothing is telling them to "sleep."

Switching on external audio ejects external hard drives

Hi folks. Weird problem here.
I have an iMac (27-inch, Late 2012, 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5, 32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3) with a regular 3.5mm line-out jack going from the audio out port to an external speaker/subwoofer system.
Whenever my mac is on and I have forgotten to power up the external speakers, once I flick the switch on the system all the external Hard Drives attached to my mac eject (750GB WD USB2, 4TB Seagate USB3, 5TB Seagate USB3).
Normally they reappear after a minute or so but sometimes they don't and I have to restart in order to have them show up.
I am beginning to think that it is related to an issue I have had ongoing for a number of months (since upgrading to Yosemite actually) 27" iMac randomly reboots whereby I would have messages appearing throughout the day saying "external Disks have not been ejected properly", and then having 2 HD's terminally fail on me.
I have seen other threads talking about glitches with their audio when using audio in/out devices but I have seen nothing about hard- drives being ejected.
I suspect that the Headphone/optical digital audio output (minijack) is susceptible to power surges, such as a connected device being switched on and this somehow causes the ejection.
Anyone else have similar problems or know of a possible cause?

Hi folks. Weird problem here.
I have an iMac (27-inch, Late 2012, 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5, 32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3) with a regular 3.5mm line-out jack going from the audio out port to an external speaker/subwoofer system.
Whenever my mac is on and I have forgotten to power up the external speakers, once I flick the switch on the system all the external Hard Drives attached to my mac eject (750GB WD USB2, 4TB Seagate USB3, 5TB Seagate USB3).
Normally they reappear after a minute or so but sometimes they don't and I have to restart in order to have them show up.
I am beginning to think that it is related to an issue I have had ongoing for a number of months (since upgrading to Yosemite actually) 27" iMac randomly reboots whereby I would have messages appearing throughout the day saying "external Disks have not been ejected properly", and then having 2 HD's terminally fail on me.
I have seen other threads talking about glitches with their audio when using audio in/out devices but I have seen nothing about hard- drives being ejected.
I suspect that the Headphone/optical digital audio output (minijack) is susceptible to power surges, such as a connected device being switched on and this somehow causes the ejection.
Anyone else have similar problems or know of a possible cause?

MacBook Pro running Lion constantly spins up external hard drives while sleeping

My MacBook Pro 8,2 running Lion 10.7.2 constantly spins up its external hard drives (one Firewire 800 and two USB) while sleeping. Is there any way to prevent this? The drives will spin down for a minute or so and then spin back up, which is incredibly annoying. Have to shut the computer down to prevent this.
Thanks. I’m happy to provide more details if needed.

Might be Spotlight indexing... you can turn that off.
Turning Off Spotlight | Mac Tricks And Tips

New 27" iMac ejecting external hard drive and not detecting it consistently

I purchased my iMac from Best Buy two days ago and am wondering if I have a lemon. During the process of transferring files via an external hard drive I have noticed a number of issues. My old 2007 iMac had no problem reading the drive but my new iMac keeps ejecting the disk every couple of minutes. I will get a message in the corner of my computer stating that it was not ejected properly.
At one point, the new iMac would not read the drive at all. I plugged in my iPhone and it detected it at first but eventually ejected it and would not detect it again either, not even to charge it. I restarted the computer and it started detecting the iPhone and the external the drive, but now I am back to getting the same error message. I have tried to repair the disk using disk utility and it does not detect any problems. I also tried using every single usb port.
I would appreciate any suggestions and will be taking it back if it keeps having issues.
New 27" iMac
3.2 GHz Intel Core i5
8 gb 1600 MHz DDR3
Mavericks 10.9.4

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IMac ejects external hard drives unexpectedly

I am working along and all of a sudden my external hard drives are ejected for no apparent reason.
How do I fix that?

Could be a faulty cable. Try another cable and try the drives one at a time.
Reset the SMC
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord.
Wait fifteen seconds.
Attach the computer's power cord.
Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.

Safely Eject External Hard Drive Before Sleep

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