user98287: I tried setting the datadir=/Volumes/BLOCKCHAIN (which is the path to my external drive). Then I ran bitcoind and this is the end of the output, right before it kicks my drive out and gives me a Bus error: 10.
...
2019-10-22T16:30:26Z init message: Loading block index...    
2019-10-22T16:30:26Z Opening LevelDB in /Volumes/BLOCKCHAIN/blocks/index
2019-10-22T16:30:26Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2019-10-22T16:30:26Z Using obfuscation key for /Volumes/BLOCKCHAIN/blocks/index: 0000000000000000
Bus error: 10

Is there another way I can achieve this?

user99686: You definitely should use an SSD for storing the Bitcoin blockchain. A spinning hard disk gets too much stress over time and becomes quite warm, because there is a constant reading and writing going on. If you don't have any other disk, then don't store other data on it, I wouldn't trust that disk over time. 
Also make sure that you have write permissions on the disk. 
To see if the error comes from a faulty connector or adapter, you can run an I/O test. Depending on the operating system you're using, there's many good ones out there. For Linux, I love Bonnie++.

user100185: If you're using USB 2.0, your problem is going to be the read/write speeds. 
Minimum requirements state that you need at least a read/write speed of 100 MB/s. 
Typical high-speed USB 2.0 connected drives only do about 40-50 MB/s.

98287: <p>I tried setting the datadir=/Volumes/BLOCKCHAIN (which is the path to my external drive). Then I ran bitcoind and this is the end of the output, right before it kicks my drive out and gives me a Bus error: 10.</p>

<pre><code>...
2019-10-22T16:30:26Z init message: Loading block index...    
2019-10-22T16:30:26Z Opening LevelDB in /Volumes/BLOCKCHAIN/blocks/index
2019-10-22T16:30:26Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2019-10-22T16:30:26Z Using obfuscation key for /Volumes/BLOCKCHAIN/blocks/index: 0000000000000000
Bus error: 10
</code></pre>

<p>Is there another way I can achieve this?</p>
 99686: <p>You definitely should use an SSD for storing the Bitcoin blockchain. A spinning hard disk gets too much stress over time and becomes quite warm, because there is a constant reading and writing going on. If you don't have any other disk, then don't store other data on it, I wouldn't trust that disk over time. </p>

<p>Also make sure that you have write permissions on the disk. </p>

<p>To see if the error comes from a faulty connector or adapter, you can run an I/O test. Depending on the operating system you're using, there's many good ones out there. For Linux, I love <a href="https://www.coker.com.au/bonnie++/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bonnie++</a>.</p>
 100185: <p>If you're using USB 2.0, your problem is going to be the read/write speeds. </p>

<p><a href="https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#minimum-requirements" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Minimum requirements state that you need at least a read/write speed of 100 MB/s</a>. </p>

<p>Typical high-speed USB 2.0 connected drives only do about 40-50 MB/s.</p>
