Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 14:18 Post subject: USB hard drive no longer sleeps on newer versions
Hi,
I have a WRT1200AC. I've been using v38142 for about a year and everything has been great, but I felt it was time to try a newer version to take advantage of any improvements to DD-WRT.
I have a Seagate 8TB (STGY8000400) external hard drive connected to the USB and set up as a NAS. I have set its power settings (via Seagate's Dashboard app) to go to sleep after 1 hour of inactivity, because I rarely use the NAS and would rather not have the drive spinning for days without use. This works absolutely fine on v38142.
Unfortunately, after updating to v40559, I noticed the drive no longer sleeps when it's inactive. I tried v41954 as well, and it doesn't sleep with that version either. I've returned to v38142 and it again sleeps after an hour of inactivity like normal.
I can only assume a change at some point since v38142 is causing continual/periodic activity on the hard drive that is preventing it from sleeping, or some lower level driver issue.
It would be great if this could be investigated and hopefully fixed! I will have to stick with v38142 indefinitely otherwise.
Thanks, I've already tried the newer builds on the forum:
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I tried v41954 as well, and it doesn't sleep with that version either.
I will try r41986, but I'm doubting it will have made any difference since r41954.
Do the developers read these threads? Or is there somewhere else to report this as a bug apart the forums?
Edit: I could reply to the release thread if that's the appropriate place for bug reporting?
If you think it's really a problem with the firmware and not a missing command or manufacturer hard drive utility setting etc then you can open a ticket on the SVN. Scroll up and click the Bugtracker link.
Thanks for the advice. My concern actually isn't energy usage, but lifespan of the drive. I rarely use the drive (once or twice a week at most) so it's pointless to keep it spinning when it's not being used for 95% of the time. It also isn't a NAS drive, so it's not rated for 24/7 use.
Also, if I'm being really picky, I can hear the drive spinning when the room's quiet (it's in an open cabinet beneath the TV, and it bugs me!).
I'd rather just have it correctly spin-down when not in use. If I can't get a solution to this, I might look into a proper NAS or even making a basic one with a Raspberry Pi (that has USB 3.0, providing its speed will match that the router can provide). Or just never update DD-WRT! But I'd rather be able to update.
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I've tried registering on the bugtracker, but clicking 'Create account' isn't working. It loads for a good 5 minutes (on Chrome, Firefox and IE. On Opera I get 'ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE'), then gives me an empty error message box with a CAPTCHA request. Completing the CAPTCHA request just puts me in an endless loop
I tried keeping the 'optional' fields empty in case it's the same deal as registering here on the forum, but still no luck.
Is it a 7200RPM drive? If so it's the wrong drive for the task. I agree with d0ug about everything including spin up/down and thermal changes; these do much more physical wear than leaving it up and running.
It's an unpleasant situation when you want to try a more advanced product, but the equipment refuses to function properly. Something similar happened to a good friend of mine. After installing the v41954 update, the drive stopped hibernating. But the non-stop mode nearly caused the loss of all data from the disk during a power surge. My friend even had to contact SalvageData for https://www.salvagedata.com/. Now he also went back to version 38142 to not risk any more personal data from the hard drive. But I know that he is looking for a way out of this situation, but so far, to no avail.
