Disabling WD Green 4TB Standby/Sleep (External Enclosure USB3)

[izt_is]

Hey guys, I have 2 WD green 4TB drives in an external enclosure connected to my desktop through USB 3.0 (which is an add on PCI USB 3.0 Card in my desktop)

 

Is there a way to disable the drives from going into standby/sleep mode every so often, cause it takes forever to spin up again when I want to access it. 

 

My windows Power settings have always been set such that the HDDs are never turned off and USB Suspend is also always off. 

 

Seems like this must be a hardware feature in the firmware of the Greens? I never had this problem when one of the same drives was connected to my PC via eSATA before though.

 

Any thoughts on how I can solve my problem and turn off this stupid sleep/standby/??headpark mode of the Green?

 

Thanks!

[Firearm2112]

Power Options>Control Panel> Change Plan Settings>Change advanced power settings>Hard Disk and USB Settings

 

Where it says Turn Off Hard Disk set it to never

[MoonSpot]

Actually I think your issue is with the USB turning off, since its in an usb3 enclosure and cutting power to the device and the drive within it.

 

give it a go anyways, won't hurt anything,

[izt_is]

Power Options>Control Panel> Change Plan Settings>Change advanced power settings>Hard Disk and USB Settings

 

Where it says Turn Off Hard Disk set it to never

 

Actually I think your issue is with the USB turning off, since its in an usb3 enclosure and cutting power to the device and the drive within it.

 

give it a go anyways, won't hurt anything,

 

 

Thanks guys for your help but Like I said in my original post, I have already set those settings. 

 

I don't think it's a problem with the USB, I think it's those bloody green drives, I need someway to access the firmware. Any thoughts?

[Faa]

Thanks guys for your help but Like I said in my original post, I have already set those settings. 

 

I don't think it's a problem with the USB, I think it's those bloody green drives, I need someway to access the firmware. Any thoughts?

Do you really have to fix it? I don't see the problem that your hard drive turns off when its not needed.

[izt_is]

Do you really have to fix it? I don't see the problem that your hard drive turns off when its not needed.

 

Yeah I want to. everytime I want to load something off the drive, it has to spin up. I doubt that's good for life span, and it really detracts from the responsiveness of my whole PC experience. 

Regret getting these green drives. I was happy with the 5400rpm, didn't know they had this standby/sleep crap integrated into the hardware. 

[MoonSpot]

Ah, sorry misread that.

:edit:

-nvm-

[Faa]

Yeah I want to. everytime I want to load something off the drive, it has to spin up. I doubt that's good for life span, and it really detracts from the responsiveness of my whole PC experience. 

Regret getting these green drives. I was happy with the 5400rpm, didn't know they had this standby/sleep crap integrated into the hardware. 

There's a program that just writes a text file to a selected drive to keep it spinning.

http://nosleephd.codeplex.com/

Just do write file every minute, it's probably your best bet and I can't find any firmware to get rid of it.

[Speedbird]

What is the product number of the drive? I believe WD released some kind of utility.....

 

Wait, does it spin down or do the heads simply park? I have a WD10EZRX too and I want to be prepared.

[izt_is]

There's a program that just writes a text file to a selected drive to keep it spinning.

http://nosleephd.codeplex.com/

Just do write file every minute, it's probably your best bet and I can't find any firmware to get rid of it.

 

 

You're the man. Thanks!!

 

 

What is the product number of the drive? I believe WD released some kind of utility.....

 

Wait, does it spin down or do the heads simply park? I have a WD10EZRX too and I want to be prepared.

 

Hey I have the 4TB Green, one of the later models. Sorry I'm a little busy right now to search for the exact model number. I don't think it's the head parking that affects me, I don't really feel anything from that. It's the spinning down that bugs me (:

[Speedbird]

WDIdle3

 

This should do the trick. It's WD's own utility that lets you set the timer. Most people set it to 300 seconds, because the chance of no drive I/O happening in 5 minutes is very low. Detailed instructions are at http://forums.ncix.com/forums/?mode=showthread&msg_id=2278208&threadid=2278208&forum=103&product_id=49591&msgcount=39&overclockid=0#msg2278208

You also have to create a bootable DOS disc/drive.

 

Is the drive a WD40EZRX? That's what I found on their website.

[izt_is]

WDIdle3

 

This should do the trick. It's WD's own utility that lets you set the timer. Most people set it to 300 seconds, because the chance of no drive I/O happening in 5 minutes is very low. Detailed instructions are at http://forums.ncix.com/forums/?mode=showthread&msg_id=2278208&threadid=2278208&forum=103&product_id=49591&msgcount=39&overclockid=0#msg2278208

You also have to create a bootable DOS disc/drive.

 

Is the drive a WD40EZRX? That's what I found on their website.

 

That's the model. Thanks dude, I saw this but am hesitant to fiddle with firmware on a 4TB drive (you can imagine why). I went with the KeepAliveHD (No SleepHD alternative) route and it's been fantastic and fuss free =D

 

Thanks to everyone at LTT for the help, as always. 

[Speedbird]

That's the model. Thanks dude, I saw this but am hesitant to fiddle with firmware on a 4TB drive (you can imagine why). I went with the KeepAliveHD (No SleepHD alternative) route and it's been fantastic and fuss free =D

 

Thanks to everyone at LTT for the help, as always. 

Oh, okay. I will probably use that Green for a while and I'll keep you updated with my progress. I'll try the WDIdle way.

[saddadbadhad]

I had a WD Green. I fixed it but putting it on the driveway and gave it three hard hits with a ball peen hammer and put a Barracuda back in. WD and intelli park hasn't caused me any problems since.