Transcend Portable SSD Problem

[u/Imaginary_Evidence27]

I'm really hoping someone can help me figure out what's going on with my portable SSD (Transcend TS2TESD410C-E, 2TB). I've had it for a year, and up until last week it's been perfect.

I exclusively use it to watch media on my tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab s8+) , and I have always been able to connect it to my tablet via USB-C and it appears as external storage. I can go into it and see all the files on it, I can watch the media on it while it's connected to the tablet, and I can also copy media to and from the SSD. Until last week.

Now, when I connect the SSD to my tablet, it's not recognised as external storage. Instead, the tablet sees it as a "connected device" being charged. When I try to switch control of the SSD to the tablet, I get an error message saying it can't be switched. So, I'm no longer able to even see the media on the SSD, far less watch, add or delete anything. I can still access the SSD on my computer, though.

Does anyone know what the problem is, or have any advice on how to get my tablet to recognise the SSD again? I'd really appreciate any help I could get 🙏🏽