New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

I've just had my first V+ box installed and I'm pretty happy with it except for the hard disk noise.

The disk noise is quite noticable, but when watching the TV its not too obtrusive. However, when the unit is placed in Standby the disk never powers down.

This means the noise is noticable at night when not watching the TV and its a waste of electricity and will no doubt shorten the life of the hard disk.

I called the faults departments and was told that they all do this!

Surely that is not the case?

Can you all tell me if your hard drive ever powers down, in standby, and if so, after what time period?

It looks like mine has a Western Digital 160Gb drive- when I look throuh the holes in the case, if that makes any difference.

thanks

Blonks

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

AFAIK, the disk should shut down when the unit is Standby. It should shutdown at night, as the box goes into a "resting" mode unless it is recording or downloading an update.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

The disk does not power down in standby, only after a certain time will the unit go into a "resting" mode.

I do not know if the disk goes into "resting" mode while the box is on standby. I don't think so, because I have never seen the "please wait" startup message when exiting standby. if you see what I mean.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Ocassionally my V+ box hard disk doesn't sipn down when put into standby, pressing 'RESET' on the front of my box usually cures it (until it happens again)

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

That's normal. It still needs to use the disc from time to time even when in standby.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Yeah, mine's always busy. Mildly annoying but liveable with.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Thanks all, however I don't see why the disk cannot power down when in standby, then wake up if a firmware update is needed, or to do a recording It only takes a split second to power up a disk. Its annoying and a waste of electricity to have the disk spinning constantly.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Are you ex-NTL or ex-Telewest Blonkster?
I see that ShadowTD is ex-NTL and is having the same problem as you and i'm wondering if it just affects ex-NTL areas.

I am ex-Telewest and my hard disk spins down within 2 minutes of me putting the V+ box into standby and it also spins down if i leave the box on all night when it goes into resting, ocassionally the hard disk doesn't spin down and a quick press of the RESET button cures it.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

I am ex-NTL, and my box "rests" at night.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

I'm ex-NTL. I'll try a reset tonight.

---------- Post added at 15:38 ---------- Previous post was at 13:40 ----------

I was told by Virgin CS that it is the cooling mechanism that makes the noise! Strange, as there is no fan in the unit ;-)

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Hmmm, I must admit I've never heard a cooling fan making seek noises before.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

To be fair to them, it is not a seek noise, but a constant disk-spinning noise, which could be confused with fan noise.

However, I would expect somebody at VM to know what is inside thier boxes and give a real answer as to what is causing this and if they intend to stop it!

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

My V+ Box "rests" at night too, but I wish there was a dimmer on the display. It lights up the whole room!

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

The box is designed to be left switched on and the hard disk should power down overnight

The halo lightning up the whole room in standby can be a pain if its in a bedroom but if you put blu-tack over the halo to cover the bright light that's one way of solving it.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Just to report back. My V+ box HD never powers off. I put a power meter on it and these are my findings.

1. Normal active operation 28 watts, HD active
2. "Resting" 28 watts, HD does not spin up when the box is woken, I just hear it seeking.
3. "Standby" mode 27 watts, HD does not spin down/up.

To be honest the HD powerdown seems to be a myth.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Looks like the Government need to build a few more power stations, with all these V+ boxes which aren't powering down (mine included - it 'rests' now and then, but its never powered down).

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Hi All,

I have reset my box a number of times and pressed standby - the disk never shuts down.

I left it on overnight and in the mornign there wasa 'resting' message - but the disk was still spinning, so what was resting ? It had buffered abotu 80mins of programme.

So, if the disk never stop in standby then I think it must be broken, at the firmware level, and should be fixed.

It may only be using a few Watts of power to spin the disk, but when multiplied by ten of thousands it adds up.

My main complaint is the noise of the disk. If it shortens its life then NTL will replace it for free - but it is just WRONG, and nobody at NTL can give me a straight answer why it deos it and if they intend to fix the problem.

Does anybody know who I can contact to escalate this and save our planet ;-)

Blonkster

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

I agree it should shutdown overnight, although sometimes the HDD will wine a little at night, if this is the case then just leave the V+ box tuned on completely instead of standby, it does not make much of a difference apart from the power consumption. With regards to the LED over the buttons when in standby, if you have a 100gm paper for your printer just cut some paoper enough to cover the LED and fold it in two and it blocks out the glare from the glow completely. Rather handy if your V+ is in your bedroom like mine, it lights up the room completely...? :)

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Its light blackpool illuminations...and yes my disc is constantly spinning 24/7..

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Anyone who wants to save power can just switch the box off at the mains- unless you have overnight recordings planned. It's designed to be left on but it doesn't have to be.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

The whole point of a PVR is not having to remember what you've set to be recorded and when. And turning it off means waiting several minutes for the thing to boot up and load the EPG.

There's simply no need to keep the hard drive spinning 24/7/365. That would be like leaving your car engine on all the time in case you need to pop out for an hour or two a day.

According to the plausible figures in this thread, the V+ will burn about 0.035*24*365 = 307kWh per year. This is more than most family fridge-freezers!.

I, for one, don't feel comfortable that something the size of the V+ is consuming more electricity than my largest electrical appliance.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

That's a bit of an eye opener glad i don't have a family fridge-freezer but VM in there wisdom released the new software code drop yesterday and have decided to remove the overnight "Resting" mode where the hard disk would spindown but now you have to put it into blackpool illuminations mode (Standby) to get the hard disk to spindown and save a little bit of energy.
Brightly lit LEDS in standby mode don't exactly save energy do they? :(

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Interesting. Can you tell me what version the new firmware is and if your disk does actually spin down in standby -and if so, how long it takes ?

Thanks

Blonkster

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

I'm not at home at the moment Blonkster so I can't tell you what I have but its the latest firmware for ex-Telewest areas which is slightly different to ex-NTL areas, I have one of the silver TV Drive boxes and when i put it into standby it takes about 2 minutes for the hard disk to spindown.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

I agree, I was just suggesting a temporary solution for power and noise.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

I can hear my disk spinning too whether it's on or on standby, so I think I'll turn it off at night. Don't record anything at that time anyway. I also turned it off for two weeks when I was away recently and and when I plugged it back in, al the channels were there, so I'll do that in future too.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

No offence meant. Turning unneeded stuff off is always a smart move.

My gripe is that although I think it needs to be "powered" at all times (like an alarm clock or fridge), it certainly doesn't need to be decoding 10 millions bits of data and spinning a chunk of metal 100 times for each and every of the 32 million seconds in a year!

If my humble DVD player can get by on less than 1W in standby, why must the V+ use 3500% more power?

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

L.E.D.s use negligible amount of power (a fraction of a watt)

it's the other 20+ watts you need to worry about

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Been switching off at night for a while now, does this mean I could miss a code drop or will it pick up new info automatically?

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

It won't miss a code drop, but you could find that series recordings get missed. Leave it on at least one night a week.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Thanks for that- it has dropped some series recordings

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

I know I've asked this before, but in view of the hard drive never "resting" and as such using power, is it best to switch if off at the mains for a period of 12 days whilst I am on holiday. I know it won't record, but that doesn't matter to me.

Re: New V+ box - disk spinning constantly!
 

Yes