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External drives randomly start up
- Thread starter skidded
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So the consensus is that drives are supposed to spin up when the Mac is either started or waken from sleep mode, right? And I can either turn drive switch off or unplug from the Mac. Or I can eject via Finder.
I would like the have the drives off when not in use, to reduce noise, since they are sometimes not used for days, weeks or months and was hoping there was a setting in the Mac.
I would like the have the drives off when not in use, to reduce noise, since they are sometimes not used for days, weeks or months and was hoping there was a setting in the Mac.
Perhaps it would stop this if you set the computer not to sleep and just have the display sleep instead? That's what I do, but I'm using a Mini and not a laptop.
OP:
"I would like the have the drives off when not in use, to reduce noise, since they are sometimes not used for days, weeks or months and was hoping there was a setting in the Mac."
The simple (and correct) answer:
DISCONNECT THEM if you won't be needing to use them for days, weeks, or months.
(nothing follows...)
"I would like the have the drives off when not in use, to reduce noise, since they are sometimes not used for days, weeks or months and was hoping there was a setting in the Mac."
The simple (and correct) answer:
DISCONNECT THEM if you won't be needing to use them for days, weeks, or months.
(nothing follows...)
In response to DeltaMac's re: "random" startup, both drives attached to the Mac (1 Thunderbay4 & 1 Gdrive) start periodically and then shut down after a brief period even in sleep mode.
Thanks for the added info.
There are some kinds of events that will attempt to read from any connected/powered drives.
So, I think that the easiest way around this is to unmount, then turn off/disconnect drives that are rarely used.
I have two drives that just sit on my desk. It only takes a few moments to either plug in, or turn on either drive, get at the files that I need (or store some other archives (which I keep in a dedicated folder for those occasional transfers), otherwise, those drives just take up space near my Mac. One is used a couple of times per week. The other, used this morning for the first time this month. One does get intermittent use as a paperweight, so it does serve another purpose
I am sure that I have seen a particular terminal command (?) that will prevent the normal mounting of specific drives, but I don't know how well that works, in the long term. Maybe someone with that knowledge will respond to this thread.
There are some kinds of events that will attempt to read from any connected/powered drives.
So, I think that the easiest way around this is to unmount, then turn off/disconnect drives that are rarely used.
I have two drives that just sit on my desk. It only takes a few moments to either plug in, or turn on either drive, get at the files that I need (or store some other archives (which I keep in a dedicated folder for those occasional transfers), otherwise, those drives just take up space near my Mac. One is used a couple of times per week. The other, used this morning for the first time this month. One does get intermittent use as a paperweight, so it does serve another purpose
I am sure that I have seen a particular terminal command (?) that will prevent the normal mounting of specific drives, but I don't know how well that works, in the long term. Maybe someone with that knowledge will respond to this thread.