Ext USB2 400 GB Seagate Keeps Spinning Down

propper_geek · 06-05-2007, 12:31 AM

Hi... I wonder if anyone could help with this.

I've got a Seagate external USB2 hard drive (400 gigs) that keeps spinning or powering down. If the drive is not accessed for 5 minues or so it seems to go into some sort of power saving mode.

The next time you try and use it the computer freezes for about 5 seconds while the drive spins-up. It's really annoying.

There is a property in the device manager under the policies tab where you can turn write caching on and off, but part from that I cant find any settings for it.

There is no power saving settings in the device manager.
Power saving is disabled in the device manager for the USB ports.
Power saving is disabled in Windows XP and the bios.

Any suggestions would be great.

Houndog777 · 06-05-2007, 07:00 AM

Hi,
Check Control Panel Power Options.
Configure Power Management in the BIOS/CMOS setup.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...02march25.mspx

Check power supply cable connections.
Check data cable connections.
Check for software that is enabling power management.

Try installing drive in another system. This will verify the problem is with the drive, not the system.

propper_geek · 06-06-2007, 10:44 PM

Thanks for your reply.

Power managent has been completely disabled in the BIOS and in Windows for everything includig hard drives and USB ports.

No additional 3rd party power management is running. No power management software was supplied with the drive.

All power and data cables and connections are sound.

Replacing the drive or the PC does not cure the problem.

The drive has powered / spun down in the time it has taken to post this reply.

Houndog777 · 06-07-2007, 06:29 AM

Hi,
Bad news! From what I can glean online, it's automatic and a "feature" of the drive. Apparently, the idle spin down time is 5-10 minutes and can't be altered.
Sorry I have'nt been much help.
You could ask them directly from here....
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/about/contact_us/

propper_geek · 06-08-2007, 01:31 PM

Cheers, dude.

I suppose it is an external after all and designed with portability in mind. It's not as if i'm running an operating system on it or anything. Looks like i'll have to shut up and put up.

nice1, anyway,

06-05-2007, 12:31 AM	#1 (permalink)
propper_geek Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 9 OS: Windows XP+SP2	Ext USB2 400 GB Seagate Keeps Spinning Down Hi... I wonder if anyone could help with this. I've got a Seagate external USB2 hard drive (400 gigs) that keeps spinning or powering down. If the drive is not accessed for 5 minues or so it seems to go into some sort of power saving mode. The next time you try and use it the computer freezes for about 5 seconds while the drive spins-up. It's really annoying. There is a property in the device manager under the policies tab where you can turn write caching on and off, but part from that I cant find any settings for it. There is no power saving settings in the device manager. Power saving is disabled in the device manager for the USB ports. Power saving is disabled in Windows XP and the bios. Any suggestions would be great.

06-05-2007, 07:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
Houndog777 Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Scotland, UK Posts: 2,683 OS: XPpro sp3 My System	Re: Ext USB2 400 GB Seagate Keeps Spinning Down Hi, Check Control Panel Power Options. Configure Power Management in the BIOS/CMOS setup. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...02march25.mspx Check power supply cable connections. Check data cable connections. Check for software that is enabling power management. Try installing drive in another system. This will verify the problem is with the drive, not the system.

06-06-2007, 10:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
propper_geek Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 9 OS: Windows XP+SP2	Re: Ext USB2 400 GB Seagate Keeps Spinning Down Thanks for your reply. Power managent has been completely disabled in the BIOS and in Windows for everything includig hard drives and USB ports. No additional 3rd party power management is running. No power management software was supplied with the drive. All power and data cables and connections are sound. Replacing the drive or the PC does not cure the problem. The drive has powered / spun down in the time it has taken to post this reply.

06-07-2007, 06:29 AM	#4 (permalink)
Houndog777 Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Scotland, UK Posts: 2,683 OS: XPpro sp3 My System	Re: Ext USB2 400 GB Seagate Keeps Spinning Down Hi, Bad news! From what I can glean online, it's automatic and a "feature" of the drive. Apparently, the idle spin down time is 5-10 minutes and can't be altered. Sorry I have'nt been much help. You could ask them directly from here.... http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/about/contact_us/

06-08-2007, 01:31 PM	#5 (permalink)
propper_geek Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 9 OS: Windows XP+SP2	Re: Ext USB2 400 GB Seagate Keeps Spinning Down Cheers, dude. I suppose it is an external after all and designed with portability in mind. It's not as if i'm running an operating system on it or anything. Looks like i'll have to shut up and put up. nice1, anyway,