Power down hard drives?

jtwn · 23-12-2004, 12:33

Is there a program that can power down individual selected hard drives without me having to open the case and pull the plug?

I swear one of them is making this godawful humming noise, having had the case open, i notice all fans start immediately and only until something else starts 2 seconds later does the humming begin.

Help me, i want to keep my sanity

Graham M · 23-12-2004, 12:34

Why cant you open the case and unplug each device individually?

SOSAGES · 23-12-2004, 12:40

just unplug all ur case fans except the cpu and if u have it the one on the mobo chipset and then unplug all ur drives but 1 and see whats what

jtwn · 23-12-2004, 12:52

So there is no software way to do this?

Graham M · 23-12-2004, 12:56

no... because there's no need for it.

23-12-2004, 13:28

You could try Seagates Seatools online, it has the option to power down selected hard drives. Not sure if it works on other HDD's other than ones made by Seagate, but it's always worth a shot.

http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html

jtwn · 23-12-2004, 14:20

Thanks Scott!

Funnily enough zeph, that link has an 'Acoustical Spin Down Test' for exactly the purpose i need...

It doesn't work though, the spin-downs just fail, any other last ideas?

downquark1 · 23-12-2004, 14:22

Can't u set ur drives to spin down in the windows "power" control pannel?

23-12-2004, 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtwn

It doesn't work though, the spin-downs just fail, any other last ideas?

Must only work with Seagate drives then

jtwn · 23-12-2004, 15:25

I have a seagate

It worked just the same for the seagate, the western digital and excelstor that i have.

jtwn · 26-12-2004, 13:56

Ok, i removed the hard drives to see which one was making the noise and flaming nora, i never realised how much noise it was making. I removed the excelstor (iirc these are rebranded, refurbished ibm 'deskstar?' drives). The bass completely...disappeared, my system has halved in noise.

Now the what i'd like to know is whether ebuyer would honour this when returned, or could they claim 'thats just the noise it makes', or it isnt a reason to return (can't be double of my system noise..). Its under 3 year warranty still, but ebuyer don't stock anymore of the drive.

I really don't want to end up with having return carriage fees for an 'unfaulty' item in their eyes...anybody have any clues on ebuyer policy? Its also my boot drive with 50 out of 60gb with needed data...

Thanks

26-12-2004, 14:09

Well my Seagate Medalist has about half of my PC's noise, if that turns off then the PC is very quiet (doesn't bother me really). I don't think it would be a reason to return it unless the bearings in the motor are wearing out.

jtwn · 26-12-2004, 14:31

But when i say my better wd drive is silent, and my old old badass seagate is silent but this isn't...that makes it a problem when its the difference between humming and just the cpu fan whining?

26-12-2004, 15:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtwn

But when i say my better wd drive is silent, and my old old badass seagate is silent but this isn't...that makes it a problem when its the difference between humming and just the cpu fan whining?

Is it humming or whining?

If it's humming check the screws, I used to have 2 on mine and it hummed like hell, although putting another 2 in stopped it from humming.

Whining is another thing, if it has done it ever since you bought it but hasn't played up then it's most likely a "non-silent" hard drive. Although, if it was silent to start with then gradually started to whine then the bearings must be wearing out so then you should be able to take it back and get it replaced.