circuitpython: CIRCUITPY doesn't mount properly when there are multiples of a device type on USB macOS 13.1

CircuitPython version

CircuitPython version doesn't seem to matter.

Mostly I've tested with 8.0.0-beta.6 and 7.3.3, 
but I've added devices with versions all the way back to 5.3.1.

Code/REPL

No code needed.

Behavior

I’ve tested Pico W, QT Py ESP32-S2, Feather M4, and RP2040. In each case, the first one or two will mount, then subsequent similar devices won’t mount at all or won’t mount properly: They don’t show up in Finder. They may not show up in ls -l /Volumes, and if they do, they may not show up properly.

Here’s a case where (4) Pico W were connected to USB after flash-nuking them and installing 8.0.0-beta.6:

drwx------   1 a     staff  16384 Dec 31  1969 CP198PCOW
d--x--x--x   2 root  wheel     64 Jan  2 14:11 CP201PICOW

(the 1st is good, the 2nd is bad, the other two are missing - but that’s the general pattern: when a device doesn’t mount correctly, it’s either not in the listing or has the “bad” file characteristics)

This seems to be largely a macOS 13.1 issue, but I’ve “fixed” it in two different ways that change the flash image:

1. I had 4 new QT Py ESP32S2 with 8.0.0-beta.6 installed. Thinking it might be a beta issue, I reverted them to 7.3.3 and they mounted, and continued to mount after re-updating to 8.0.0-beta.6. And they continued to mount after a storage.erase_filesystem(). In one case so far, this method didn’t work, but the next method did:

2. In two cases (QT Py ESP32-S2), I extended the filesystem using storage.erase_filesystem(extended=True), and these two devices have mounted every time since, regardless of other similar devices already mounted or connected on USB. Block size changes in this case from 512 to 1024 according to os.statvfs("/"), but there doesn’t seem to be a correlation to block size, or to FAT12 vs. FAT16.

I’m at a loss with Raspberry Pi Pico W, since they only run 8.0.0-beta.x and have no capacity to extend filesystem. I’ve successfully mounted the same (4) Pico W on a Raspberry Pi 4 simultaneously (though couldn’t rename the drives).

Before macOS 13.1, this wasn’t an issue. Sometimes devices would unmount and stay unmounted after a hardfault or software reset, but a hard reset or power cycle almost always brought them back.

I’ve been testing on two different Macs, both Ventura 13.1, one was a relatively recent clean install. I’ve tried USB-A ports, USB-C ports, and various hubs, that doesn’t seem to make much difference. I can’t really correlate this to much other 13.1 + multiple similar devices (same CircuitPython port and usually same board).

Code on all of these boards runs, and serial console works. I tried a boot.py that turned off HID and MIDI, but it made no difference.

This may seem to be a “doctor it hurts when I do this” issue (Dr.: “don’t do that”), but being able to have multiple devices active lets me run long-term tests to track down intermittent issues, and compare behavior on a number of fronts across ports and espressif board variants (e.g., S2 vs. S3). Almost from the start of CircuitPython, I’ve had multiple devices connected simultaneously (usually a dozen or more), often many of the same type.

Description

Data on degree of mounting success using the following tools: Finder # bottom line of whether a device is useful ls -al /Volumes # sometimes devices will show up here (sometimes incorrectly) but not in Finder system_profiler -json SPUSBDataType # useful to show if there’s a mount point diskutil list # devices seem to always show up correctly here discotool # device.volume doesn’t always correlate to either Finder or /Volumes dmesg # unfortunately cryptic and variable results

Additional information

Some previous discussion on Discord: https://discord.com/channels/327254708534116352/537365702651150357/1059572042552311949