USB external hard drive - Does not stop spinning or eject...even when computer off

ser_renely

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So I have a slightly odd problem....or hopefully not. :) This hard drive is trying to destroy itself with heat, by not ever shutting off.

The hard drive in question is a Seagate go-flex 3tb external hard drive. This is a certified repair from Seagate.

I can never eject it. I tried making sure no processes or anything like that are accessing it. I may be missing a process but I tried a lot different things: Sharing, explorer, Avast. tuneUp

-I tried Unlocker, no luck
-I tried changing it to quick removal, no luck.
-Indexing has been turned off. no luck.

When I turn my computer off, the har drive is still spinning. It is the only one of my 3 external hard drives. I have a 4tb Seagate that I cannot eject, but it does stop spinning.

When I turn the power toggle on the PSU off, it finally stops spinning. I turned all of my power management in the USB controller to off.

Any ideas. Let me know if I missed any information.

Thank you,
Ser
 
Solution
In my experience, it is completely normal for an external hard drive to remain spinning as long as power is being supplied to it. I've built a few external hard drives by buying external enclosures for 3.5" drives and putting bare drives into the enclosures. Desktop HDDs like the 3.5" need a good deal of power so the enclosures always come with either a power brick or a cord, and they have an on/off switch on the back. Whenever the on/off switch is turned ON, the drive spins, regardless of whether it is connected to anything or not.

The general rule is, if power is being applied to a drive, it will spin. That's how they're built, whether the drive is in an external enclosure or a desktop case. You can verify this by disconnecting...

mbreslin1954

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In my experience, it is completely normal for an external hard drive to remain spinning as long as power is being supplied to it. I've built a few external hard drives by buying external enclosures for 3.5" drives and putting bare drives into the enclosures. Desktop HDDs like the 3.5" need a good deal of power so the enclosures always come with either a power brick or a cord, and they have an on/off switch on the back. Whenever the on/off switch is turned ON, the drive spins, regardless of whether it is connected to anything or not.

The general rule is, if power is being applied to a drive, it will spin. That's how they're built, whether the drive is in an external enclosure or a desktop case. You can verify this by disconnecting the SATA data cable from a desktop drive in the case and leave the power cable connected. The drive will continue to spin. It doesn't matter if the data cable is connected.

If your drive was completely powered only by USB power, then when you removed the USB cable, power would also be removed, and it would stop spinning. But in your case the drive has its own power, separate from the USB cable, so it continues to spin when the USB cable is removed or disconnected.
 
Solution

ser_renely

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Thanks for the info.

So whether my computer is on or off, I can expect my external hard drives to spin?

So if ts spinning and getting EXTREMELY hot, what would that mean? To me something isn't right, I am also comparing it to my other external hard drives, they don't seem to operate in the same manner.
 
Download and install the FreeAgent GoFlex software. It may have options to eject or turn off the drive.
http://www.seagate.com/support/external-hard-drives/desktop-hard-drives/goflex-desk/

This link takes you to the "Getting Started" tab. Click on the "Downloads" tab for the software.
 

mbreslin1954

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Yeah, the drive is powered regardless of what your computer is doing, whether it is on or off. But it shouldn't be getting that hot. If the GoFlex software isn't able to turn off the drive via software, then I would advise you to turn it off physically, either from a switch on the drive if there is one, or unplugging it when not in use.
 

ser_renely

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I have that and tried it. I am going to download the newest version, but it looks the same.

Thanks.
 

ser_renely

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Looks like I am going to have to start unplugging it until I figure out why this one drive is a bit different.

 

toarranre

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While not ideal, you could power it via usb y connector to sata cable if you have 2 ports that are always free. Less than ideal I know, but at least it ensures the drive will be off when the computer is off (unless of course your ports stay live after shutdown, check first).
 

ser_renely

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What is really annoying is that this is on my HTPC and I when I fall asleep it still spins until I get up in the morning.

I am not great with computers but I know a good amount of stuff, and this has me totally stumped.
 

ser_renely

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I figured out the problem. I was finally able to remove all the data off of it - was down 2 hard drives for a short time. I formatted it and its fine now. I wonder if it was bc it was in MBR format?