I have a new Bravia A84J. Attached to it is an external USB drive with all my films and TV shows. The USB drive is exFAT, because I need to be able to use it on both Windows and Mac. The drive has a volume identifier, let's say E4BF-4557. Seemingly at random, if I disconnect/reconnect the drive to my TV, Android will sometimes prepend an "x" and change the ID to xE4BF-4557, making my entire library inaccessible in apps like Kodi. After some time, it will change its mind and go back to the original ID.

How do I make it stop?

I've seen a post somewhere that said that this doesn't happen with NTFS-formatted drives, but that's not an option for me :(

If I can't prevent it from changing the volume ID, can I somehow assign a permanent or relative label that would let me access my libraries in Kodi even if Android decides it's time for another name change?

UPDATE: After dozens of rounds of vigorous shoving and pulling (of USB cables into my TV), I am growing convinced that Android changes the volume ID if the USB drive is disconnected while the TV is actually OFF. I don't have enough data or patience to verify this conclusively, but perhaps it helps someone in the future.

UPDATE 2: Perhaps this helps someone with the same issue. I have identified one of the conditions that reproducibly results in a change of the volume identifier.
If I turn my TV off, it enters sleep mode and will keep a USB drive powered even while the TV seems to be off. This idle state can last for hours or even days. Unplugging the USB during this time will NOT change the volume identifier.
However, eventually, the TV will exit sleep mode and really shut down, turning off power to the USB. If I then unplug the USB drive, turn on the TV and plug the drive back in, Android will always assign it a new volume ID, either prepending or removing an "x". To prevent this from happening, unplug your drives ONLY while your TV is on or in sleep mode (i.e. when your external drive's power indicator is on).