External SSD No Longer Recognized by RB

The first partition is the only one rekordbox will address; is yours set to the first or second partition of the drive?

I never specified a "first" or "second" partition for the drive. When I got it a year ago, I partitioned the drive... labeled one side RB and the other Time Machine. I don't remember there being a "first" or "second". I backed up my entire library onto the RB side and have been using it for over a year for continual backups, all with no problems - the latest being last week. Rekordbox has always been associated with the RB side and has always recognized the RB side of the drive under "devices". Time Machine never appeared there... only RB. So for the past year, Rekordbox has been acknowledging, reading and backing up all of my data onto this side of the device with no problems... except not anymore. 

Just to confirm... does the drive appear under EXPLORER but not DEVICES?

Is it connected via USB?

What is the format of the rekordbox partition?

The drive appears under FINDER but not DEVICES. The desktop on my Mac shows both partitions of the drive, and I can open up the RB side and see all of my previous backups. 

Upon further exploration, the drive does appear in Rekordbox under File -> Library -> Backup Library. The partition is still an option for backing up the drive. However, my attempts have stalled out. Last night at 41% for several hours before I cancelled the backup... And again it stalled out overnight at 43% - I had to cancel the backup again this morning. Seemingly, Rekordbox no longer works with this drive... 

I've run disk utility on the drive with no issue. Rekordbox still does not function using the drive. 

It is connected via USB and is formatted in FAT32, as it has always been.

This is a major problem... my computer is running out of space and I'm going to have to move my entire library off onto an external. And this is not the only time I've had problems with Rekordbox using external drives. Several different drives have been ejected by rekordbox mid-sync (while still remaining on the desktop)... all My Tags deleted in the process... or rekordbox just stops recognizing the drive even though they appear on the desktop. It's happened for drives that have an exported "sync'd" library, as well as those used for backup. I don't trust Rekordbox' capability to read external drives reliably anymore and now that I'm forced to use one... the implications it has on managing my livelihood are significant. I need to develop a way to use Rekordbox reliably on an external hard drive without these types of issues all the time. I realize previous issues are separate from this one and we'll need to address this problem first. But I'm losing faith in this program of yours... I've had problems with it for years - this is one among many. I can't tell you how many times I've had to run disk utility on my drives after using them with Rekordbox. It's a nightmare. 

Here's an added update: I cancel the backup and then run disk utility on the RB partition. First Aid fails. So I restart my computer and run disk utility in recovery mode. It works. I restart my computer and attempt to back up my library again. It stalls at 43%. I cancel the backup, open disk utility and run first aid. It fails. I then have to start it back up in recovery mode to repair the disk. Round and round she goes. How many hard drives must I go through before ending my relationship with rekordbox?

And another update: After latest attempt to backup, stalling at 43%, cancelling the backup, disk utility and then first aid... first aid worked! So I completely quit out of Rekordbox and attempt to eject the disk from the desktop. It will not eject because Rekordbox is using it. Rekordbox is closed. But it won't eject the disk. So I force eject the disk. Re-insert the drive and run first aid in disk utility. It fails. I have to restart the computer and run first aid in recovery mode. 
It's either one problem or another. I can't trust rekordbox with any of my external drives. How am I supposed to entrust my entire library onto an external with Rekordbox acting like this? I have a graveyard of rekordbox drives now.

If rekordbox was truly closed and not accidentally left open in the background (and the rekordbox cloud agent was closed), then it would have been free to eject.

It's possible that a failing drive is the problem. Have you run any drive diagnostics from the manufacturer?

Rekordbox was truly closed. I understand how to fully close the program; I've been doing this 10 years. And yet it was not free to eject. 

How do you suppose I run drive diagnostics "from the manufacturer"? All of my computer based diagnostics show up green and clear. Should I mail the drive back to WD and ask them why Rekordbox has such an issue?

It's funny how every time I post something concerning a drive no longer functioning with Rekordbox, yet fully functioning with everything else, the response I get is that it's the drive. Well, it's the drive only with rekordbox. The drive has no problem operating without Rekordbox. So Rekordbox must be seeing the drive as failed, even when it's not. I love reading these forums to find Rekordbox not taking responsibility for any of these problems... thousands of dollars worth of drives later. 

Looks like the only way I can move forward as a DJ is to upgrade my internal hard drive to something massive enough so I'll never run out of space. 'Cause what I've been hearing from you guys in all my interactions on this forum, is that every external drive is destined to be corrupted by Rekordbox and that it'll always be someone else's responsibility to deal with. And that confirms for me that I should be buying cheap drives Rekordbox can shit into rather than the expensive reliable ones since they'll eventually be destroyed by your program anyway. 

Unless you can give me another answer than simply it being some other company's fault.

Trever > And I've been dealing with rekordbox since before the public ever saw the official release, and I can tell you that while rekordbox has its share of problems, damaging drives is not one of its tricks.

Western Digital drives have been a problem since their first Passport drive and I have never recommended them. Since you asked, this is how you perform diagnostics "from the manufacturer" -- using their tools.

I use nothing but external drives for my music and database and have since they introduced that function, as it allows me to move my library between computers with ease (and as you say, the internal drive isn't big enough). I have had exactly zero drives corrupted or damaged by rekordbox, and I guarantee I put rekordbox through more hell than anyone else here.

Are you using a PC?

The tools link you included here is specific to PC, and the Mac option it takes you to is Disk Utility on Mac, which I've run in both regular and recovery mode, multiple times. So, according to the diagnostics, my drive is 100% A-OK. That is, until I try to use it with Rekordbox, then problems arise, diagnostics fail and I'm back to recovery mode disk utility to repair the disk before it's ok again.

Perhaps WD isn't the best, and that's fine if that's the case. But it doesn't explain the other drives I've had similar issues with (so far various WD drives, Samsung EVO, Lacie rugged, and a ton of various flash drives from Sandisk, PNY, etc..etc...). If you've not had any issues over the years, EVER, and I have a history of nothing but issues on every drive I've ever plugged into this program, and you're on a PC, perhaps it has something to do with Rekordbox' relationship with Apple. I've had similar issues on other computers as well so it's not just my machine... (although I've never used Rekordbox on PC).

It's a tough situation, knowing that I now MUST be using external drives to move forward, and that after 10 years of trial and error I still have no reliable, trustworthy way to protect my drives from failure after use with this program. 

I can continue to try out drive after drive. And I'm willing to spend the $400+ I'd need for a solidly good drive, but if after a year it goes the way of every single drive that came before it, then it's no better than WD or any other cheap crap I might find.

So my question then would be, what is the most solid, reliable drive that has been proven to work with Rekordbox on a Mac that I can entrust my entire livelihood onto? 'Cause so far, every other product on the market fails after prolonged use with this program. And diagnostics through Disk Utility (the only manufacturer diagnostic tool through Apple, it seems) tell me that problems arise only after having issues in Rekordbox. I'm totally and completely stuck here... Unless Rekordbox' reliability is only on PC. Thoughts?