User profile for user: gorgurgon
gorgurgon Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Unable to mount JetDrive Lite on MacBook Pro M1

Due to an oversight, I missed the moment when my MBP M1 ran out of battery while copying files from the JetDrive Lite to an external hard drive. After plugging the MBP to the power supply I found that the JetDrive had disappeared from the Finder. Pulling it out and reinserting to the slot didn't help. Neither did the rebooting of the system.

The disk utility sees the JetDrive but it shows up as unmounted. Pressing the button "mount" does nothing. "First aid" doesn't change anything.

I tried inserting it in my older MBP and it didn't see the card either (while it sees another JetDrive that I have, and my actual MBP still sees this another JetDrive).

I'd appreciate any help because there were lots of important things stored on the JetDrive. It's close to catastrophe to me loosing this files. So trying formatting the card is not an option without trying all other possible options.

It seems obvious to me that the problem is with the JetDrive, not the MBP as it can see another JetDrive without problem. I just refuse to believe that the JetDrive can be damaged and loose all the information irrevocably just being once interrupted by mistake due to an oversight. I think this thing should be more reliable, shouldn't it? Because if it's not how can I use it? Should I duplicate everything stored on the JetDrive somewhere else? Then what's the point?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 15.4

Posted on Apr 19, 2025 1:51 PM

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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
28,607 points

Apr 20, 2025 12:28 PM in response to gorgurgon

gorgurgon wrote:
[...]
It seems obvious to me that the problem is with the JetDrive, not the MBP as it can see another JetDrive without problem. I just refuse to believe that the JetDrive can be damaged and loose all the information irrevocably just being once interrupted by mistake due to an oversight. I think this thing should be more reliable, shouldn't it? Because if it's not how can I use it? Should I duplicate everything stored on the JetDrive somewhere else? Then what's the point?


The JetDrive is nothing more than an SD card repackaged in a unique case for aesthetics. The underlying tech is nothing special and SD cards and flash drives are notoriously fragile as storage devices go. I would never use one for critical file storage, let alone as a backup drive as the manufacturer suggests in marketing.


I absolutely would duplicate whatever you can salvage from it onto another more robust device like a portable hdd or ssd.


If Disk Utility and other Macs can see the device, but First Aid doesn't resurrect the volume, then the problem is likely the directory structure has been damaged by that graceless shutdown. There are other disk utilities that may be able to repair the damage. Alsoft's Disk Warrior is one that comes to mind.

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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
28,607 points

Apr 20, 2025 5:58 PM in response to gorgurgon

BTW, Transcend markets the JetDrive Lite with a Five-year limited warranty. You probably want to take advantage of that.


And, of course there's this typical boilerplate from their website (their CAPS, not mine):


❝WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU REGULARLY BACK UP ALL DATA FROM THE TRANSCEND PRODUCT. TRANSCEND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO OR LOSS OF ANY PROGRAM OR DATA STORED ON THE FAILED TRANSCEND PRODUCT AND SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DATA RECOVERY, BACKUP, OR ANY CHARGE(S) ARISING THEREFROM.❞

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User profile for user: gorgurgon
gorgurgon Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Apr 22, 2025 2:40 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

Well yes, I understand that the content which is very precious to you should be double-stored anyway. I've been using another JetDrive Lite (256 gb) for maybe 10 years or so and it works perfectly without any problem. And of course it suffered from incorrect interruption more than once, too. But always without any bad consequences. That's why I trusted this thing and now I am pretty disappointed with it.

Thank you for your reply though. I will try some restoring software like DiskWarrior as you suggest.

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Unable to mount JetDrive Lite on MacBook Pro M1

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