Arch Linux

Bednar

Member

Registered: 2015-09-19

Posts: 73

External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

Hi guys,

I have an external hdd connected via USB and when I shutdown arch, the harddrive continues working: it emits voices indicating activity and the led is on as well. Is there a way to power it down/suspend on shutdown?

Thanks,

B

nstgc

Member

Registered: 2014-03-17

Posts: 393

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

I've used the Gnome Disk Utility to do this, but with mixed results. it won't turn it off at shutdown, but it will spin it down, and power it off. You can then unplug it. However, in my experience, if you wait to long it will power back on and spin up.

Bednar

Member

Registered: 2015-09-19

Posts: 73

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

Thanks I wanted to stay away from this tool as it pulls lots of dependencies and as you said the results are mixed. Maybe there's another way? A script run at shutdown perhaps?

R00KIE

Forum Fellow

From: Between a computer and a chair

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 4,734

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

You might want to try 'udisks-ctl power-off -b /dev/sdX' and see if it works.

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R00KIE
Tm90aGluZyB0byBzZWUgaGVyZSwgbW92ZSBhbG9uZy4K

KingOfFreeMen

Member

Registered: 2013-02-10

Posts: 15

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

Let me guess, your external HD is connected to a USB 3 port ? I'm asking this because my USB 3 ports never shutdown and I've come across a few issues because of that.

Bednar

Member

Registered: 2015-09-19

Posts: 73

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

You might want to try 'udisks-ctl power-off -b /dev/sdX' and see if it works.

I will try that. Thanks!

Let me guess, your external HD is connected to a USB 3 port ? I'm asking this because my USB 3 ports never shutdown and I've come across a few issues because of that..

Correct It's connected to a USB 3  port.

B

KingOfFreeMen

Member

Registered: 2013-02-10

Posts: 15

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

Correct It's connected to a USB 3  port.

And what happens when you shutdown your computer while it is plugged in a USB 2 port ?

Bednar

Member

Registered: 2015-09-19

Posts: 73

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

Correct It's connected to a USB 3  port.

And what happens when you shutdown your computer while it is plugged in a USB 2 port ?

I just tested and the drive powers down normally...

So it's  a USB 3 thing... I wonder if there's a fix.

B

R00KIE

Forum Fellow

From: Between a computer and a chair

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 4,734

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

There is one "trick" you can try. Before disconnecting the disk or powering down the machine, unmount the disk, sync (not absolutely needed I suppose but better safe than sorry), then as root (or using sudo) do 'hdparm -y /dev/sdX'.

This should at least make the disk park its heads and stop spinning, so it is safer to remove than if the heads are not parked and the disk is spinning.

After the hdparm command you could also try udisks-ctl and see if the enclosure powers off (as in led turns off) but don't have high hopes for this second step.

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R00KIE
Tm90aGluZyB0byBzZWUgaGVyZSwgbW92ZSBhbG9uZy4K

KingOfFreeMen

Member

Registered: 2013-02-10

Posts: 15

Re: External harddrive not powering off on shutdown

Correct It's connected to a USB 3  port.

And what happens when you shutdown your computer while it is plugged in a USB 2 port ?

I just tested and the drive powers down normally...

So it's  a USB 3 thing... I wonder if there's a fix.

B

Told you I had the same problem a few days ago with my keyboard. The leds just wouldn't shutdown. I didn't really find a fix, I plug it in USB 2 now. But for your hard drive I realise it's a problem.