"Disk Not Ejected Properly" on bootup M1 Monterey

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nottooloud Author

Level 1

24 points

"Disk Not Ejected Properly" on bootup M1 Monterey

M1 mac Mini Monterey. I have software licenses on a standard USB2 stick.

Frequently, on boot up, I get a "Disk Not Ejected Properly" error.

Preferences|Energy Saver are set to not Put hard disks to sleep.

I have tried different USB sticks, directly connected or through a thunderbolt hub.

It's an M1, so reset PRAM and SMC are not a thing.

I am concerned that this error will corrupt the drive and destroy a couple thousand worth of software licenses.

Mac mini, macOS 12.6

Posted on Dec 21, 2022 8:02 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

nottooloud Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 29, 2022 9:21 AM in response to Stevi_S

They got me there with a 10 second press of the power button to turn the Mac off. This is a forced shutdown. I've restarted without disconnect a half dozen times now. Hoping it stays fixed. Thanks everybody.

GD it, nope, just disconnected again.

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Answer 2

bryanr14

Community Specialist

Dec 23, 2022 3:39 PM in response to nottooloud

Hi nottooloud,

Thanks for providing us those details. To help isolate this error message further, we recommend to update your Mac to macOS 13.1 Ventura. Updating the software on your Mac provides software improvements that may help resolve this behavior. If needed, here's how to update the software on your Mac:

Use Software Update

Before installing new software, it's a good idea to back up your Mac.

1. From the Apple menu  in the corner of your screen:

∙Choose System Settings. Then click General in the sidebar, and Software Update on the right.

∙Or choose System Preferences. Then click Software Update.

2. If Software Update finds new software, click the Update Now or Upgrade Now button to install it.

3. Enter your administrator password, if asked. During installation, your Mac might restart, and you might see a progress bar or blank screen several times.

If Software Update says that your Mac is up to date, then no new software is currently available for your Mac model. Software Update shows only updates and upgrades that are compatible with your Mac.

These steps are outlined in this helpful article: Update macOS on Mac

We look forward to hearing back from you with an update.

Kind regards.

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Answer 3

Bryan_K1

Community Specialist

Dec 22, 2022 12:54 PM in response to nottooloud

Hello nottooloud,

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

Based on what you've already checked, if the drives are still sleeping, you'll want to reach out to Apple Support to look in to this further and see what's going on.

You can reach out to them here: Get Support

Take care!

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Answer 4

AnnieL2

Community Specialist

Dec 23, 2022 12:01 PM in response to nottooloud

nottooloud,

Is your Mac sleeping or are you going through a shutdown and restart each time? We ask this because you mentioned sleep was not involved, though you also mentioned having checked on some sleep settings specific to the disk.

We ask this because we want to determine, if your Mac is sleeping, and the error is showing upon waking your Mac, even if you've asked the software not to put your disks to sleep.

Thanks.

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Answer 5

nottooloud Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 23, 2022 12:07 PM in response to AnnieL2

I never sleep any computer. I always shut down. This happens on a cold bootup from off.

Most of the discussions with this error seem to be related to sleeping, and there's the same litany of "cures", always including disable disk sleep, try a different stick, try a different port, replace the cables, and zap PRAM and SMC. I thought I'd save us all some time and list them as completed without effect.

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Answer 6

nottooloud Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 28, 2022 8:16 AM in response to Stevi_S

The DRM issue is Waves Audio's, not Apple's. Their licensing software completely doesn't see USB sticks under Ventura that are formatted FAT32 or EXFAT. I won't know for a few days whether the stick disconnect issue remains. If it does, I will go to Apple Support.

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Answer 7

nottooloud Author

Level 1

24 points

Jan 2, 2023 7:34 AM in response to nottooloud

One more followup. The disconnect happened after doing a boot from the startup screen, where you select the drive to boot from. After that I did the long press forced shutdown again, and my USB stick has stayed mounted every bootup since. So best answer is odd, but it works. Long press forced shutdown fixes the issue of diconnect on cold boot.

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Answer 8

Stevi_S

Community Specialist

Dec 28, 2022 8:07 AM in response to nottooloud

Hi nottooloud,,

Thanks for following up. We want to help get this resolved. Please reach out for further support here: Contact Apple Support

Thanks.

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Answer 9

nottooloud Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 23, 2022 9:41 AM in response to Bryan_K1

The drives aren't sleeping. Sleep is not involved. The drives are disconnecting on bootup.

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Answer 10

nottooloud Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 23, 2022 9:46 AM in response to Bryan_K1

Support search appears to be broken. Any keywords I enter result in "Unable to power on".

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Answer 11

nottooloud Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 28, 2022 7:28 AM in response to bryanr14

Upgrading to Ventura completely broke the DRM software that was using the USB sticks, so I had to find another workaround. Remains to be seen if the sticks keep disconnecting.

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