Snapmaker usb key

when i plug my sm usb key into my mac mini or m1 mackbook pro neither show the usb as attached until i remove it and get the message to properly remove it next time…

@Cwf46

How about this issue when you use another USB flash drive?

Edwin

I’ll have to try but i don’t think i have any short ones to use inside my enclosure… i guess i’m the only one having this issue? my mac can see other usbs just not the one provided by snap maker…

If it doesn’t recognize it the first time it’s either A: a corrupt/damaged usb drive, or B: a setting somewhere on your computer isn’t working properly as it should recognize it immediately.

In my experience it will be option A. Especially since every time you disconnect it from the Snapmaker it forces you to reformat as the Snapmaker usb stick does not seem to be a Hot Plug meaning you can connect and disconnect it at any time safely without having to select “Eject Media Safely” first.

Check it with Disk Utility.
Erase and format as Fat32.

-S

The problem @Cwf46 is having is it’s not even showing up in the device list when they plug in the usb drive, then unplugs it at which point it will then say that the stick was not properly taken out but never showed in device list. Disk Checker can’t detect problems if it won’t show in device list or the actual usb itself is damaged, most of the time if it actually does detect it it will either say nothing is wrong, cannot be repaired or it gets hung up and freezes when the drive itself gets too corrupted causing the usb stick permanent damage, I have had this happen too often from windows installation USB’s (this is only an example) because when windows installation media is put to a usb drive it turns it into a usb stick that is no longer hot pluggable but it doesn’t state this so if you disconnect it from the computer without first selecting “eject” in the device list it will damage it beyond repair. The OS is supposed to automatically detect file corruption and tell you to run Disk Checker anyway, Disk Checker is great for file corruption but is useless for a usb that is actually damaged from it happening too many times. It also doesn’t help that the casing for the Snapmaker usb stick is metal, while it’s nice for quality it makes it a prime target for static shock. They still haven’t stated if this happens with other usb sticks or not so it’s also possible the usb interface driver is having a problem causing it to not show up in the device list, that’s an easy fix but rare occurrence. Could also be a bios setting but doubtful as it triggers the message to unplug it correctly and it’s happening on multiple machines which makes the bios possibility as well as the driver possibly extremely unlikely.

The mac is obviously detecting it. It’s just not showing up as being mounted.
So the first thing to try is to see if it shows up in disk utility and then try re-formatting it there.
If it doesn’t show up or is un-able to be formatted then it’s probably a problem with the drive itself.
-S

Yeah you’re right it’s detecting it, I guess it would be better to say it’s detecting that something is there but it is not recognizing it. I plug a usb cable into my computer with the other end of the cable not plugged into anything and it still gives me the audible notification that something has been connected to a port, I unplug the unoccupied cable and it gives another audible notification that something has been removed. It’s a brand new build with the newest USB generation and features and so is apples m1. It could be that it’s detecting something but not recognizing what it is and senses it’s also been removed and defaults to the message of making sure to remove it properly next time. If the device list still can’t see it though I don’t think the disk utility will be able to either. Best option would be to connect it to a Windows OS can recognize it, if it can then run disk checker and format it on the windows system to fat32 then select eject in devices and plug it into the m1 and see if it will work then. I don’t recall how large Snapmaker’s usb drive is. If it’s bigger than 32gb then you won’t be able to select fat32 in the format options. You’d have to actually have something imaged to it in order to force it to fat32. exFAT is the remedy to that but not everything can recognize exFAT and I’m pretty sure the Snapmaker requires it be FAT32 in order for it to work with the machine, so I’m pretty much certain it’s a 32gb or less drive.

Edit: Confirmed it is a 15gb

thanks everyone for trying to help… yeah its something with this usb as every other usb and external device shows up but not the SM usb… any chance they will send me another?

Probably not, but there’s nothing special about the USB key itself. Just buy any cheap USB 2.0 key as a replacement (here’s one from a semi-decent brand, but you can get even cheaper ones, often in bulk, if you prefer).

Thanks but for the price of a SN2 i kinda hoped Snapmaker would have offered to replace my bogus one… Im just silly like that…

@Cwf46 i don’t see why they wouldn’t.

i requested a replacement tonight by email so i guess we will see…

its been a year and no replacement usb key! Its the little things that make you lose faith in a brand… if they won’t help with the little things how can you trust them with the big things