pasi Keinänen

Q: Enable disk sleep for a specific optical drive (not global sleep)?

I recently updated my Mac Pro 3.1 P-ATA optical drives to S-ATA. They are all working fine, now that disk sleep is DISABLED in Energy Saver Preferences (same as sudo pmset disksleep 0, in terminal).

 

Hower, with this GLOBAL disk sleep disabled, none of my spinning HDs go to sleep. This is both pulling extra 4x7.5W of energy and causing a lot more noise to come out from my computer.

 

So, my question:

 

Is there a way to DISABLE disksleep for a SPECIFIC SATA device?

That is, not to enable global disk sleep, but select which drives to go sleep (and at which interval)?


pmset does not have this option. Only global sleep.

 

Is there another way to put specific disks to sleep? Perhaps with a 3rd party utility?

 

Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), MacPro 3,1 - ODD @ SATA 5 & 6

Posted on May 7, 2016 1:05 AM

Close

Q: Enable disk sleep for a specific optical drive (not global sleep)?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex May 7, 2016 1:28 AM in response to pasi Keinänen
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 7, 2016 1:28 AM in response to pasi Keinänen

    the optical drive does not rotate when there is no DC/DVD in it, why putting it to sleep, take the disc out.

    Settings in energy saver are for harddrives.

    last Q: i don't think there are...

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 7, 2016 8:17 AM in response to pasi Keinänen
    Level 9 (60,667 points)
    Desktops
    May 7, 2016 8:17 AM in response to pasi Keinänen

    You can eject a hard drive using the Finder. It may ask for Admin authorization to do so.

     

    The drive will re-mount on Restart, or you can manually re-mount using Disk Utility.

     

    This may be far more convenient with an External enclosure for the drive you use infrequently. Then you can literally turn it off after Ejecting the drive. An external drive should be re-mounted when it is powered on and spins up again.

  • by pasi Keinänen,

    pasi Keinänen pasi Keinänen May 8, 2016 6:08 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    May 8, 2016 6:08 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Thanks for the suggestsions.

     

    I'm afraid it's not quite that simple as you suggest.

     

    MacPro knows how to keep internal P-ATA drives alive, not allowing them to go to (fully deep) sleep. They stay active, don't disappear - regardless of whether you use them or not, whether there is disc inside or not.

     

    I have another internal SATA optical drive, from LG, and that does not disappear from the MacPro. Another maker, Pioneer drive, disappears (this also connected to the internal SATA connector no. 5). I've checked the cables - both power and SATA data connection. That is not the issue.

     

    So, it appears the  Pioneer drive is going to sleep by itself, in a way that OS X does not recognize.

     

    When this happens, the drive disappears from EVERYWHERE (System Profiler, Disk Utility, Desktop, burning software). Shutting down the Mac and restarting does not help. Only by unplugging and replugging the drive, will the drive re-appear.

     

    There is no way to "Eject the drive" , when it is nowhere visible in Disk Utility / in software / in System Profiler or any of the system tools.

     

    Further, I am not sure that the disksleep only applies to HD/SSD, as setting disksleep to 0 actually made LG not to go to sleep/disappear from the system. The culpritt is now the Pioneer drive, that goes to sleep anyway and keeps disappeared.

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex May 8, 2016 6:18 AM in response to pasi Keinänen
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 8, 2016 6:18 AM in response to pasi Keinänen

    I don't know why the Pioneer does it: obviously the power is switched off when going asleep... (I hope that my body does never does that when I go to sleep)..

    So the Pioneer is rellay dead when asleep.

    I interpreted your original post such: that you wanted the optical disc drive to go asleep when not used. But the question now seems to be "how to keep the Pioneer awake".

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 8, 2016 9:19 AM in response to pasi Keinänen
    Level 9 (60,667 points)
    Desktops
    May 8, 2016 9:19 AM in response to pasi Keinänen

    There are many third-party devices that do not survive SYSTEM sleep, regardless of the status of Disk Sleep. It is extremely difficult to know which ones will work properly across SYSTEM sleep, and the Mac seems to be reducing power available to devices during SYSTEM sleep with each iteration of Mac OS X.

     

    Perhaps the Drive Vendor can add some insight to determine whether this particular sample is defective, or this is expected behavior from this model drive.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 8, 2016 10:05 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 9 (60,667 points)
    Desktops
    May 8, 2016 10:05 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Although it is not common today, you CAN place your Desktop-class DVD Reader in external enclosure. I have done this to support the small flock of computers my family has acquired, and just drag it over to whatever system when it is needed. DVD reader/Writers contain buffers for Writing, are remarkably slow, and you are likely to be able to get by with an inexpensive USB-2 enclosure.

     

    This will allow you to cycle the power on the DVD enclosure, and get it to re-initalize whenever you need to.