None of the games from external are starting on xbox one x (from saturday)

Sorry to hear about the issues your are having. I agree that you may have a corrupted file, but before completely wiping that external hdd, try unplugging the external hdd from your console and then doing a full power cycle of your xbox. Holding down the
power button for 8-10 seconds to shut it off. Unplug the power cord for at least 10 seconds (longer the better). Plug everything back in, including your external hdd, and start it up. Worth a try. I've had some issues with my Xbox reading my external hdd,
and so far this has worked.

Best wishes,

Cowgirl

It sounds like you have a corrupted file on the external. You may have to wipe it entirely and download the games again.

On the Series S or Series X, games which are "Optimised for X/S" or games specifically designed for those consoles have to be run either from the SSD in the console or the Official Storage Card. They can't be run from any other external drives. Other games (Xbox One games etc) can be run from an external drive.

Get a PS5, problem solved. you can play games on external sdd no problems attached

You cannot store or play PS5 games from an external drive. At least with the Series X/S consoles, you can store the Series X/S games to external drives. You just have to move them to internal storage to play them. You can play PS4 games from an external drive hooked up to a PS5 though, just like you can play Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games from an external drive connected to a Series X/S.

Hi,

If your game is now a Series X optimised title, it can no longer be played off an external hard drive. It must be moved to either the internal storage or an optional expansion card.

External USB hard drives are too slow to play Series X optimised games. None Series X games will still run from your external drive. The internal storage in the Series X is a fast NVME SSD. These drives are several times faster than mechanical hard drives.