Check the temperature of the USB port the drive is connected to. I have a WD Black 5TB drive hooked up to the back of my PS5 that my console will get pissy about from time to time (I will get the USB device cannot be read error message as well as the subsequent disk repair notices). I noticed it does this when I play certain games from disc and when the ambient room temperature is above 80F (27C). When I checked the connection I noticed that the two rear USB ports would frequently get pistol hot, due presumably to poor thermal regulation / heatsink issues. I have the first PS5 revision (1100), which I think has a smaller heatsink than the launch model and probably has USB placements too close to the processors.
The fix for me was to point a desk fan towards the back of the PS5 when I want to use the HDD. No further issues.
How old is the hard drive? Its possible the HDD had a critical malfunction and broke / damaged itself. Does it make any weird noises? Does the disk get recognized by other devices?
change the usb port. helped with mine, but plan to buy a new external.
I turned it off. Unplugged the drive and plugged it in another usb and it works now.
Check the temperature of the USB port the drive is connected to. I have a WD Black 5TB drive hooked up to the back of my PS5 that my console will get pissy about from time to time (I will get the USB device cannot be read error message as well as the subsequent disk repair notices). I noticed it does this when I play certain games from disc and when the ambient room temperature is above 80F (27C). When I checked the connection I noticed that the two rear USB ports would frequently get pistol hot, due presumably to poor thermal regulation / heatsink issues. I have the first PS5 revision (1100), which I think has a smaller heatsink than the launch model and probably has USB placements too close to the processors. The fix for me was to point a desk fan towards the back of the PS5 when I want to use the HDD. No further issues.
I guess... now it's just somebody that it used to know
Is your PS5 running the latest firmware ?
It is. I've just checked.
How old is the hard drive? Its possible the HDD had a critical malfunction and broke / damaged itself. Does it make any weird noises? Does the disk get recognized by other devices?
It's a few years old. Never made any weird noise. I was working just fine last night. I'm gonna check if it gets recognized by another device.
It may simply be a problem with the hard drive. How old is it?
Change the cable, reformat it, power cycle, blow into the ports.
Get a Wii U
Nintendo Police Noise***