Militantly FREE software support.
Militantly FREE software support.
NavigationUser loginSpam?See spam posts on this site? If so, please don't reply to the spam! Instead, just report the URL to the webmaster. |
USB external hard drive spin down problemOn my Etch system a new Western Digital USB external hard drive seems to be I don't see any other problems. Based on my web search, it seems to be an old Thanks for any theories or solutions. -- Bookmark/Search this post with: 
|
• Debian Weekly News - Essential reading for any Debian fan. • Documentation - Debian's own authoritative documentation, including installation docs. • FAQ - Got questions about Debian GNU/Linux? • From Windows to Debian - Tips for converting from Windows to Debian GNU/Linux • Package of the Day. • Security - Security information and alerts! • Bug System - Bug tracking and instructions on reporting bugs. • CD Images - Where/how to get Debian GNU/Linux CD images. • Mailing List Subscription - Dozens of Debian-specific support mailing lists! • Mailing List Archives - Searchable archives of Debian's mailing lists. • Free Software Guidelines - Learn Debian's idea of what "free" software really is. • Package Listings - A very valuable tool: searchable, integrated with bug reports. • Apt-Get Sources - Sources for *.debs which are not official Debian packages. • Backports - Unofficial new software packages that have been "back-ported" to work with the Debian stable/official release. • Developer's Corner - Info about the people behind Debian, policies, and how to package *.deb files.
USB external hard drive spin down problem
On Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 09:47:58PM -0400, Marty wrote:
> On my Etch system a new Western Digital USB external hard drive seems to be
> automatically spinning itself down after a period of inactivity, and
> causing the USB controller to become unresponsive to all USB devices until
> the system is rebooted.
>
> I don't see any other problems. Based on my web search, it seems to be an
> old issue in Debian and some spinoff distros, with no clear resolutions
> that I could find. The exact behavior has been reported several times, but
> rarely and few of the reports are recent. My current workaround is to keep
> the drive busy while I am using it. I am hoping that there is some
> configuration or tool that resolves or works around this problem, which I
> am not aware of.
Try hdparm to turn off the drive's auto-spindown.
Doug.
--
USB external hard drive spin down problem
Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
> On Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 09:47:58PM -0400, Marty wrote:
>> On my Etch system a new Western Digital USB external hard drive seems to be
>> automatically spinning itself down after a period of inactivity, and
>> causing the USB controller to become unresponsive to all USB devices until
>> the system is rebooted.
>>
>> I don't see any other problems. Based on my web search, it seems to be an
>> old issue in Debian and some spinoff distros, with no clear resolutions
>> that I could find. The exact behavior has been reported several times, but
>> rarely and few of the reports are recent. My current workaround is to keep
>> the drive busy while I am using it. I am hoping that there is some
>> configuration or tool that resolves or works around this problem, which I
>> am not aware of.
>
> Try hdparm to turn off the drive's auto-spindown.
>
> Doug.
>
>
# hdparm -S0 /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
setting standby to 0 (off)
HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(setidle1) failed: Invalid argument
I think you are on right track. I want the sdparm equivalent but I don't see
anything in the sdparm man or info page.
--
USB external hard drive spin down problem
On Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 01:15:44AM -0400, Marty wrote:
> Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
> >On Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 09:47:58PM -0400, Marty wrote:
> >>On my Etch system a new Western Digital USB external hard drive seems to
> >>be automatically spinning itself down after a period of inactivity, and
> >>causing the USB controller to become unresponsive to all USB devices
> >>until the system is rebooted.
> >>
> >>I don't see any other problems. Based on my web search, it seems to be
> >>an old issue in Debian and some spinoff distros, with no clear
> >>resolutions that I could find. The exact behavior has been reported
> >>several times, but rarely and few of the reports are recent. My current
> >>workaround is to keep the drive busy while I am using it. I am hoping
> >>that there is some configuration or tool that resolves or works around
> >>this problem, which I am not aware of.
> >
> >Try hdparm to turn off the drive's auto-spindown.
> >
>
> # hdparm -S0 /dev/sdb
I don't have it installed right now, but don't you have to tell hdparm
(with a param) that its a scsi or something (even though it should
figure that out with /dev/sdb)? Anyway, from what I remember, you're
missing a param.
>
> /dev/sdb:
> setting standby to 0 (off)
> HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(setidle1) failed: Invalid argument
>
> I think you are on right track. I want the sdparm equivalent but I don't
> see anything in the sdparm man or info page.
--
USB external hard drive spin down problem
Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 01:15:44AM -0400, Marty wrote:
>> Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
>> >On Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 09:47:58PM -0400, Marty wrote:
>> >>On my Etch system a new Western Digital USB external hard drive seems to
>> >>be automatically spinning itself down after a period of inactivity, and
>> >>causing the USB controller to become unresponsive to all USB devices
>> >>until the system is rebooted.
>> >>
>> >>I don't see any other problems. Based on my web search, it seems to be
>> >>an old issue in Debian and some spinoff distros, with no clear
>> >>resolutions that I could find. The exact behavior has been reported
>> >>several times, but rarely and few of the reports are recent. My current
>> >>workaround is to keep the drive busy while I am using it. I am hoping
>> >>that there is some configuration or tool that resolves or works around
>> >>this problem, which I am not aware of.
>> >
>> >Try hdparm to turn off the drive's auto-spindown.
>> >
>>
>> # hdparm -S0 /dev/sdb
>
> I don't have it installed right now, but don't you have to tell hdparm
> (with a param) that its a scsi or something (even though it should
> figure that out with /dev/sdb)? Anyway, from what I remember, you're
> missing a param.
I've been experimenting for a few days now and still can't get hdparm or sdparm
to work on the drive. Additional research suggests there is currently no way to
change a USB drive standby timer using Debian/Linux. (See the USB section at
http://sg.torque.net/sg/sdparm.html).
In the meantime I've discovered I can start or stop the drive using sg-start,
athough it doesn't wake up the drive if it spins down as a result of the standby
timeout, so a reboot is still required. I suspect that this is a kernel bug.
--
USB external hard drive spin down problem
Marty wrote:
> Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
>> On Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 01:15:44AM -0400, Marty wrote:
>>> Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
>>> >On Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 09:47:58PM -0400, Marty wrote:
>>> >>On my Etch system a new Western Digital USB external hard drive
>>> seems to >>be automatically spinning itself down after a period of
>>> inactivity, and >>causing the USB controller to become unresponsive
>>> to all USB devices >>until the system is rebooted.
>>> >>
>>> >>I don't see any other problems. Based on my web search, it seems
>>> to be >>an old issue in Debian and some spinoff distros, with no
>>> clear >>resolutions that I could find. The exact behavior has been
>>> reported >>several times, but rarely and few of the reports are
>>> recent. My current >>workaround is to keep the drive busy while I
>>> am using it. I am hoping >>that there is some configuration or tool
>>> that resolves or works around >>this problem, which I am not aware of.
>>> >
>>> >Try hdparm to turn off the drive's auto-spindown. >
>>>
>>> # hdparm -S0 /dev/sdb
>>
>> I don't have it installed right now, but don't you have to tell hdparm
>> (with a param) that its a scsi or something (even though it should
>> figure that out with /dev/sdb)? Anyway, from what I remember, you're
>> missing a param.
>
> I've been experimenting for a few days now and still can't get hdparm
> or sdparm to work on the drive. Additional research suggests there is
> currently no way to change a USB drive standby timer using
> Debian/Linux. (See the USB section at
> http://sg.torque.net/sg/sdparm.html).
>
> In the meantime I've discovered I can start or stop the drive using
> sg-start, athough it doesn't wake up the drive if it spins down as a
> result of the standby timeout, so a reboot is still required. I
> suspect that this is a kernel bug.
I suspect it a result of the spindown timer being hardcoded into the
firmware. have you tried running the drive off a hub?
It probably won't stop the drive irreversibly spinning down but it may
stop the USB bus from freezing.
A hackey solution would be to find out what the spin down time is and
have a script touch a file on the usb drive at some interval less than that.
Good luck
--
Re: USB external hard drive spin down problem
Hi, new noob here and until recently I didn't know how to hack together a script to do what you suggested. Now that I do (and since the top result for my searches for how to fix my problem was an essentially unresolved forum post) I present it here for general consumption:
#!/bin/bash
while [ true ]
do
touch /media/YOUR_HD_NAME/.keephdactive
sleep 4m
done
for those who don't know what to do with that, there are (overly) detailed instructions at my blog.