external usb 3 disk goes to sleep too soon

[arturop]

Hi,

I am running an ASUS RT-87AC-U with an external usb 3 disk attached to the usb3 port. I am sharing the disk with my network using SAMBA. The problem I'm seeing is what I infer is the drive going to power saving mode really quickly. That is really infuriating as sometimes I'm watching a movie (via an Android box which connects to the share) and if I have to pause it because e.g. the kids are killing each other upstairs or someone asks something the drive goes into power mode and loses the connection. Then I know that by accessing repeatedly the shared directory it will come back again but it takes a couple of minutes.

So, is it SAMBA, the drive, I don't know, but is there a way of diagnosing / fixing this? i.e. something like 15 mins would be fab. It also affects torrent downloads when the file goes through starts and fits...

Many thanks, and please do not hesitate to ask me any question.

Arturo

 

[RMerlin]

This depends on your hard disk itself. The firmware doesn't do any automated sleep management, therefore it's done by your hard disk's own firmware. Some manufacturers offer tools to disable that (like WD for their Caviar Green), but it's not very common.

 

[arturop]

Thanks a lot for the answer @RMerlin. It is a bit rubbish then I don't seem to have much choice or do I? Would be interested on creative solutions to the problem - preferably without having to buy another drive but having said that, is there one people would recommend?

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks a lot for the answer @RMerlin. It is a bit rubbish then I don't seem to have much choice or do I? Would be interested on creative solutions to the problem - preferably without having to buy another drive but having said that, is there one people would recommend?

If this is using a WD Caviar Green, do a Google search for their tool that allows to disable its overly aggressive power management (assuming that tool still works today, I last used it 4 or 5 years ago).

Otherwise, you would have to setup some way of regularly accessing the disk to generate some activity. Either a cron job (if you run a custom firmware) or a scheduled task on a Windows PC.

I would also try replacing the USB cable in case your issue is with a bad cable rather than power management. And make sure the hard disk has its own power supply and does not rely on the USB port to provide power.