External HD sleeps, can't wake up

gabevanlelyveld · 10-29-2009, 01:59 PM

Hi,

I have a 2.5" external HD that doesn't have a power source. It works great except when I don't use it for a bit it goes to sleep and sometimes takes a very long time to wake back up. what I end up doing most of the time is just unplugging it, which I know is bad. Either that or restarting the computer.

My computer is a Macbook Pro. Is there a setting somewhere I can change so the external HD won't go to sleep?

Thanks in advance, Gabe

sinclair_tm · 10-30-2009, 12:06 AM

Open the system preferences and goto the energy settings. In there somewhere, there will be a setting to put the hard disks to sleep when possible, just make sure that it is unchecked. If that doesn't work, then you'll need to contact the drive makers for software to control the drive's sleeping patterns.

gabevanlelyveld · 11-20-2009, 02:36 PM

Thanks for the info. I tried using system prefs but no luck. I did learn some interesting info about this particular HD and this issue at Hitachi's support website.

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/suppor...storag_faq.htm
Click on "My drive seems to run fine while it is working. When the drive is no longer being used by a program it disconnects from the system and cannot be accessed until it re-connects on its own or is turned off and then on again?"

Here's their Mac specific page http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/macfaqs.htm#a6

I'm still under warranty so I think I'm going to try getting a replacement but Hitachi says the new one may do the same thing, in which case I'll probably just live with it and try to be careful to always eject the disk before the computer has time to go to sleep.

Thanks again, Gabe

10-29-2009, 01:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
gabevanlelyveld Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 17 OS: Win XP	External HD sleeps, can't wake up Hi, I have a 2.5" external HD that doesn't have a power source. It works great except when I don't use it for a bit it goes to sleep and sometimes takes a very long time to wake back up. what I end up doing most of the time is just unplugging it, which I know is bad. Either that or restarting the computer. My computer is a Macbook Pro. Is there a setting somewhere I can change so the external HD won't go to sleep? Thanks in advance, Gabe

11-20-2009, 02:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
gabevanlelyveld Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 17 OS: Win XP	Re: External HD sleeps, can't wake up Thanks for the info. I tried using system prefs but no luck. I did learn some interesting info about this particular HD and this issue at Hitachi's support website. http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/suppor...storag_faq.htm Click on "My drive seems to run fine while it is working. When the drive is no longer being used by a program it disconnects from the system and cannot be accessed until it re-connects on its own or is turned off and then on again?" Here's their Mac specific page http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/macfaqs.htm#a6 I'm still under warranty so I think I'm going to try getting a replacement but Hitachi says the new one may do the same thing, in which case I'll probably just live with it and try to be careful to always eject the disk before the computer has time to go to sleep. Thanks again, Gabe