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Level 2

183 points

Second External Drive Keeps Dropping Off

I have two external G-Drives daisy chained together via firewire 800 and each have their own power plug. They show up on finder as Drive A and Drive B.

They normally spin down when not accessed and spin up as needed. It appears that when I wake up the Mac from sleep mode, Drive B

is dropped off and Drive A is still on finder.

The only way to get drive B to show up again is to power it off then back on. Is there anyway to correct this?

iMac 27, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2.8Ghz Intel Quad Core i7 / 8GB / 1TB

Posted on Jul 18, 2012 2:03 PM

Best reply

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Posted on Jul 18, 2012 2:25 PM

I never sleep my iMac or its HDs, just the display. Give that a shot and see if the problem goes away.

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25 replies

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

Jul 20, 2012 3:02 PM in response to OzziesMAC

I wouldn't want to see 50C for the drive constantly. If you want to follow Baltwo's advice to never let the computer sleep, you'd get a better idea by leaving the computer alone, display sleeping, and come back after, say, after a few hours and see what they look like then before doing anything else.

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Jul 20, 2012 3:14 PM in response to OzziesMAC

That's my assessment. Note on my machine, the HD's running at 40°C.

OzziesMAC Author

Level 2

183 points

Jul 20, 2012 5:33 PM in response to WZZZ

I was actually encoding video at the time I took that screen shot.

This is what it looks like after 1 hour at rest display off;

OzziesMAC Author

Level 2

183 points

Jul 24, 2012 7:15 AM in response to OzziesMAC

In trying to determine what gets wear and tear when iMac is left in "Never Sleep Mode" I went ahead and took the temprature in three seperate settings. Cold Start, Cold Start from Sleep Mode, and Cold start from Never Sleep Mode. All times the iMac was at rest for at least 12 hours for each reading.

Below are my results.

Temp Readings;

Cold Start (iMac completly Off)

Cold Start From Sleep Mode

Cold Start From Never Sleep Mode (Set for Never Sleep however HD was set for Sleep When Possible)

It appears that the HD, GPU Diode, and Power supply is what runs the warmest. Is that accepatable operating temprature for long term use or is that one of the items that will evntually fail for running it in Never Sleep Mode?

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Jul 24, 2012 12:07 PM in response to OzziesMAC

http://pondini.org/OSX/Sleep.html

OzziesMAC Author

Level 2

183 points

Jul 24, 2012 12:33 PM in response to baltwo

I have read several similar articles that all agree on sleep vs power down, however my question is the "Never Sleep Mode".

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Jul 24, 2012 12:56 PM in response to OzziesMAC

I've never slept my machines. The G4 is over twelve years old.

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

Jul 24, 2012 1:28 PM in response to baltwo

I know someone who's run a server 24/7 on a G4 Sawtooth for ~ ten years. I also know someone who's shut down his G4 every night for ~ten years. Both no problems. So what does that prove, except the one running the server has had a higher electric bill.

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Jul 24, 2012 1:42 PM in response to WZZZ

WZZZ wrote:

…except the one running the server has had a higher electric bill.

2-5¢ a week is lost in the billing.

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

Jul 24, 2012 1:44 PM in response to baltwo

😉

Second External Drive Keeps Dropping Off