Hi,
I have an Apple MacBook Pro 2016 model with USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 connection to a pair of LG Ultrafine 5K displays. These displays have integrated USB-C hubs to which I am connecting my G-Tech 2TB hard drive. Note my hard drive is not the native USB-C type as it was not available when I bought this drive from Apple.
The problem is that, if I unmount the drive from Mac OS and disconnect the cable between the MBP and display and then later reconnect it, the G-Tech drive does not remount and is not shown in the USB devices in ‘About this Mac → system report’ either. I have two other hard drives including a Western Digital MyBook 3TB external drive and both of these other drives work perfectly with the same setup and same USB-C to USB-A dongle. Note that the display maintains power to attached peripherals even when the MBP is not connected. This may be a factor.
I have used both a Belkin USB-C to USB 3 micro-b cable and the original cable supplied with the hard drive with a USB-C to USB-A dongle and have the same problem with each. The G-Tech drive works fine if connected directly to the MBP but not when connected via the LG display. Initially I was blaming the display but the fact that it works fine with two other USB hard drives tends to suggest it’s a problem with the G-Tech drive and I would appreciate any thoughts. I tried using the firmware update tool for the G-Tech drive but it didn’t work and looks like maybe it’s not compatible with macOS Sierra.
Any suggestions would be appreciated - I realise this is a slightly complex use-case but as things stand the drive isn’t usable for me and I’m wondering if I should just sell it on and buy another type of drive or if this is a known problem that might be fixed in a firmware update.
Unless you’ve attempted with no success, you might try remounting the G-Drive (at least, once) using macOS Disk Utility (DU) after the drive has been physically connected (and presumably, not auto mounting). DU provides a more accurate view of mountable, external hard drives. If you can select and mount the G-Drive using DU, macOS may subsequently remember and auto mount next time. (I can’t speak to the comparison with your Western Digital external drives, except to say, I would expect the G-Drive to act the same.) …Just a thought.
Thanks for your suggestion. I’m not at my desk just now so will try this later but to be honest I don’t think it will work because what I did check was whether the G-Drive was appearing in the About this Mac → System Report screen where it shows all the devices attached via the various buses and ports. I understand that a hard drive can be attached but not mounted which is what I think you are meaning but I would still expect it to show up in the hardware tree on the above screen. Still, it’s worth a try and I’ll do so later.
The issue is due to the drive requiring to be attached directly to a computer. When our drives are tested the use case scenarios are always for direct connection, no hubs, no adapters and no monitors.
If it won’t mount in your situation it could be do to a power draw requirement that the WD drives are able to run off of either due to them being externally powered or requiring less.
Hi,
Actually the monitor provides more than enough power according to the specs, and as I mentioned in my post, it powers up just fine and mounts successfully when first connected.
The problem only comes when the connection from MBP to display is disconnected and reconnected even though all the other hard drives I own will handle this situation perfectly, even my USB bus powered drive.
Also, with respect, I think it’s a poor excuse to say the G-Tech drive can’t be used via a USB hub. Even the native ports on the MacBook Pro are technically attached to a hub within the computer. I’m pretty sure that being able to connect via a USB hub is part of USB compliance so I’m very disappointed to hear that this is not part of your product testing.
Sounds like I should return the G-Tech drive to Apple and get one which is fully USB compliant. Apple actually sold me this drive with my LG 5K displays so presumably they will be interested to learn they are not compatible.
