My external solid state drive is showing as media only.

Hello, My name is Jesse. I'm an Independent Advisor and a member of the Microsoft community and I'd love to assist you today.

I'll suggest you post this as a feedback in the official Xbox Insider's subreddit. Getting up votes on your ticket will mean the issue will be looked at sooner than later.

You can drop the feedback here feedback.xbox.com

In some instances, you may see improved load times - but only if the external hard drive is better performing. This would be if you have either a higher RPM drive, hybrid drive or solid state drive. No real disadvantage to using external. All the items are
moved vis the USB bus.

Hello, first it's a pleasure to be able to help you today.

My name is welcome to the community.

Hello LonelyLoser, what type of external HD did you buy, is it a well-known brand or is it a white label?

Have you tried to format the external HD through the console?

Tried all. It fixed the internal drive, but did not fix the removable drive. Recovered profile is the only thing showing up on the external; otherwise, the external is in the same state. No access to saved game data or downloads.

Got to correct one thing, your use of the term Solid State. It is a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) that is not removable. Not a Solid State Hard Drive. There are Solid State Drives (SSD). That are meant as alternative to Hard Drives. They are much more expensive
and much faster (I have one in my laptop, love it). Solid State doesn't mean removable, it means it is a type of integrated circuit. Like vacuum tube amplifiers versus solid state ones for audio/music for example.