Today I got an email from the developer Niels Mouthaan, who gave me his app Ejectify has presented. The function of the app is quickly explained:
Ejectify automatically unmounts external hard drives when your Mac hibernates and mounts them again when you wake up.
So far so good. Unfortunately, I had no idea what this would be helpful for, because the hard drives usually just stay mounted when the Mac goes to sleep and are still there when I wake up. So why the circumstance with this app?
Chapter in this post:
Use case: monitors with built-in Thunderbolt hub
After I wrote to Niels that I would like to introduce his app, but I just couldn't think of a scenario where this software would be of practical use, I promptly got his answer:
In most cases it indeed doesn't matter. The scenario that bothered me causing me to develop Ejectify is this: my Time Machine is connected via a USB hub that's embedded in my external screen. When my Mac instructs its screens to start sleeping the hub is getting powered off and the disk is getting ejected forcefully. When my Mac wakes up, I get this annoying "Disk not ejected properly" notification and I have to unplug my external screen and plug it in again to make the disk appear.
Users are also using it to safely disconnect their external drive when their Mac is sleeping without opening it first to eject it properly. This is the most common scenario.
Translation from my buddy DeepL:
In most cases, it actually doesn't matter. The scenario that bothered me and led me to develop Ejectify is this: My Time Machine is connected through a USB hub that is built into my external screen. When my Mac hibernates its screens, the hub turns off and the disk is forcibly ejected. When my Mac wakes up, I get this annoying “Not ejected correctly” message and I have to unplug and plug in my external display for the disc to appear.
Users also use it to safely disconnect their external drive when their Mac is asleep without first opening the drive to properly eject it. This is the most common scenario.
Monitor manufacturers accept the destruction of data
And I have to say: I had exactly this problem with my LG monitor, which has a built-in hub. Immediately after setting it up, I hung my external hard drives on the monitor in order to have as few cables as possible on my MacBook Pro.
Unfortunately, the hard drives just turned off when the Mac went to sleep. It was completely incomprehensible to me why the monitor manufacturer had built in such an automatic power-saving system, since it can turn a hard drive into a mess of data if you cut off the power in the middle of writing.
My conclusion about the built-in Thunderbolt hub in the monitor was that I just stopped using it. Every time I found these messages just too annoying. And somehow the risk was too great for me that at some point a hard drive or at least the data on it would bless the time.
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My conclusion on Ejectify
If you want to use a monitor with a built-in Thunderbolt Hub on your Mac, you should buy the 3 Euro app. It makes the operation of external data carriers on the monitor hub safer and also saves your nerves because it prevents many warning messages.
Ejectify: Mandatory App For Owners of Thunderbolt Monitors
For me, Ejectify makes the hub function in my LG monitor a useful thing again - although I have not used it for years in order to protect my data on the hard drives.
If you're interested in Ejectify, you'll find the software here on the app's own website.
Mountain.App - same function, unfortunately neglected
Surely there are people who say “Yes, that already exists. The app is called Mountain! ”… That's true, because Mountain from the appgineers fulfills almost the same functionality, but on the one hand the developers want 5,99 euros for it and on the other hand the last revision of the app is from 2012. I'm not sure whether the software still runs on macOS Big Sur at all.
So my tip: Take the solution from Niels, because it is very fresh and the developer takes care of the tool. The source code is even on Guthub available.
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Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He acts as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with technical problems. In his spare time he rides electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with the iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions to current bugs.
Moin,
have for these purposes "jettison“On the MBP - their settings are much more extensive. You specify whether or which hard disks are remounted. The settings in "Ejectify" are a bit spartan. But a nobrainer for $ 3. Thanks for the tip.
Hello OnSmash! Cool, thanks for the tip. I didn't know "Jettison" either. But it also seems like a good app. It costs twice as much as Ejectify, but it might be better for those who need more options. You can look at the demo and then you can see if it suits you.
It's a shame, I was hoping that this program might solve my problem with my MacBook. I operate my Macbook on a docking station to which an external hard drive is connected. My hope now was that this program might also work in such a way that if I fold the MacBook, then the MacBook could simply be separated. Unfortunately, this program does not work reliably and I keep getting the message that the external hard drive has not been removed correctly. Too bad…
Hello Eric! Yes, you will not be able to do that in terms of software, because the software cannot know when you close the MacBook. The software only notices when it is closed and then it can be too late to deregister the disks.
Alternatively, you could put the disks in a NAS, because you can separate it at any time without causing problems. The connection is network-based anyway. Would that be an idea?
Hi Jens and thanks for your answer.
Doesn't the MacBook go to sleep when you close it, or something like that? This, at least I thought so, should be recognized by the software and trigger this reaction by ejecting the external hard drives. Well, unfortunately it doesn't work.
I already do your idea with the NAS with my data. To do this, I use DEVONthink very intensively, so that my data is always up-to-date with me when I'm on the move. Only when editing images do I prefer to have the data on a faster SSD disk, which is connected directly or, as in my case, to the docking station.
Yes I understand. And yes, actually you are right. The tool should recognize the idle state. I'll ask the developer what the problem might be. In any case, it cannot unmount hard drives with files open on them.
@Eric
“Jettison” can do that; automatically ejects the hard disks when they are closed or shut down, or they can also be mounted again. My highlight: ejecting the external media via shortcut. Just give it a try.
Hello OnSmash! Jettison seems like a real pearl. What this thing can do. : D I think that will also get a contribution.
I've had the app on my MBPs for years and I'm still excited about the functionality. I'm still Catalina (due to job) and therefore don't know whether she is M1-compatible - so it's definitely worth a test by you.
Greets
hmm, I actually tried the “Jettison” and sometimes it worked, sometimes not. Maybe it was too hectic.
In the meantime I've installed it again and tried it around. Unfortunately, the separation is not reliable. The strange thing is that when I close the MacBook and then open it again, the hard drive was ejected. But it is then no longer automatically remouted, only after it is unplugged and plugged in is it recognized again. After several attempts, the automatic disconnection usually works if you wait about 5-6 seconds to unplug after you have folded the MacBook. But it doesn't have to work for sure, every now and then the message that the hard drive has not been removed correctly appears. Too bad, it would be nice if it had worked.
I had seen the one with the key combination and set it that way. I think this path is the safe one and it already helps.
Hi Eric,
I can only say: Things are really reliable for me. Check times in all the settings - especially regarding the remounting (extras). Otherwise, Jettison also offers the function via the menu. Check it out at your leisure.
(The action "Close and open again quickly" is unfortunately extremely rare in my everyday life.)
I'll keep trying, maybe it's because of my dock.
I only did the closing and opening action when I tried it because I wanted to see if the external hard drive was ejected. Oddly enough, it was ejected immediately. Only when I closed and unplugged the dock, then opened it again, did the unpleasant message appear that the external hard drive was not ejected. Jettison himself tells me “The volume “images” would not unmount. Try ejecting it into the Finder.”