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External ide hdd active when not connected to PC

Tags:
  • Storage
  • Hard Drives
  • Cable
  • USB
Last response: in Storage
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August 2, 2014 12:54:37 AM

I've got an ide hard drive connected to my PC through one of those pata/sata to USB adaptors. Normally, the USB cable is disconnected when I'm not using it. However, the power cable is usually plugged in since I'm using a molex line from my PC's power supply, and that's a bit harder to reach without climbing under my desk (the power adaptor that came with the usb adaptor died a while back).

The drive still makes noise and produces a good amount of heat even when the usb cable is disconnected. The only time it's truly quiet is when I unplug the power from it. So, what the heck is the controller doing all on it's own?

If it matters, this is a Seagate 400 GB drive (so it's a few years old).

More about : external ide hdd active connected

August 2, 2014 2:03:03 AM

hard drives powers on when there's power. just like how the computer boots. the power turns it on. even if you unplug the sata cable of an internal hard drive it will still spin.
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August 6, 2014 11:10:31 AM

Intel Celeron said:
hard drives powers on when there's power. just like how the computer boots. the power turns it on. even if you unplug the sata cable of an internal hard drive it will still spin.


I understand that, and I can even understand why the disks will continue to spin without a data connection (no command to spin down or change to a lower power state).

I know what a drive sounds like in a ready state (after access has completed, but the drive hasn't yet switched to a lower power state), and this is more than that sound

The noise I'm referring to is normally only heard when a hard drive is actively being accessed (I think it's the stepper motors moving the heads to various positions).
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August 7, 2014 4:25:51 AM

like ramp-ups and rapid slow downs or clicks?
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August 7, 2014 10:39:54 AM

Intel Celeron said:
like ramp-ups and rapid slow downs or clicks?


Yes! That's it exactly.
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August 8, 2014 3:48:11 AM

which one?

For ramp-ups and rapid slow downs, It's because the hdd is not given any instructions on where to point it's heads. So it will just scan over and over through the entire platter/s and going at all possible speeds it can go.

For clicks, Pretty much the same but instead of scanning gradually it slams the head to the end and to the start.

For both, well... Sounds like a failing hard drive or pretty much the same reason.
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August 8, 2014 2:43:35 PM

Intel Celeron said:
which one?

For ramp-ups and rapid slow downs, It's because the hdd is not given any instructions on where to point it's heads. So it will just scan over and over through the entire platter/s and going at all possible speeds it can go.

For clicks, Pretty much the same but instead of scanning gradually it slams the head to the end and to the start.

For both, well... Sounds like a failing hard drive or pretty much the same reason.


Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. In other words, because nobody's telling the drive what to do it's just running around in circles. It does seem to stay quieter when I leave the USB cable connected.



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