Mavericks and External Hard Drives

OS X update 10.9.3 was just released, has anyone tried this update yet and do the FW drives sleep properly now? I'm downloading it and will give it a try shortly.

Installed 10.9.3 update, but drives still don't seem to be sleeping as with Mountain Lion and earlier.😟

Yes, with 10.9.3 my FW800 drive now sleeps but it takes about 2.5 min after my Mac sleeps so there is a delay. It also shuts down when Mac shuts down however it does not appear to shut down do to inactivity with the box checked in the energy pane to shut down if no activity. I also checked my USB3 drive and it works. It takes about 3 min to sleep after Mac sleeps. USB3 drive also shuts down do to inactivity and when Mac shuts down after about 12 minutes. I guess Apple has a delay timer in the software.

10.9.3 and Apple still is unable to fix this problem.

External drives using Firewire and Thunderbolt will not spin down (Sleep).

USB still works normally.

Issue Unresolved !

I'm stunned that this issue still hangs on by a .3 update. I guess the only hope is to provide feedback again and hope for resolution in the next update. Firewire was a great step ahead for a long time until USB figured out it needed to do a lot more as it matured. I just can't believe FW is being ignored - it still has to be on the radar.

So, if you have the FW/sleep issue give Apple some feedback.

Yes, extremly frustrating. Appears, however, to be a strategic move rather than technical glitch.

You may be right, but I'd hate to believe that was their strategy for us on-going FW users. From what I see above this also affects Thunderbolt external drives as well? Hard to believe that campaign has run out of gas already...

The more voices, the more likely we'll be heard.

You do have FREE 90 day support on OS upgrades even if your warranty is expired.

Just call Apple Care at 1-800-277-5322 with your Mac Serial Number and ask to speak

with a senoir advisor about your issue with 10.9.3.

The more they here from us helps move this issue on the priority list of fixes.

CreativeSmith wrote:

The more voices, the more likely we'll be heard.

Just discovered something. Right after I thought my FW drive would sleep, etc. I shut down my PC. Then powered up and now my external FW drive will not sleep (left FW drive on all the time). I found it only works once if after I power up my Mac, then power up the FW drive it will sleep correctly but after Mac powers down and up again the drive will not sleep unless I power cycle the FW drive. Back to square #1!.

Apple Care at 1-800-277-5322

Could you enlighten me about that phone number please. Cannot find it anywhere in any listings (no data/number available in the US or Canada); the Apple support numbers are here:

http://www.apple.com/contact/

Thanks babowa!

That's the number I had used when I first started with this issue at the luanch of Mavericks, then I got a direct number to an Apple Engineer that was working with me. For some reason that number no longer works?

Thanks for providing the Apple Contact Link, we need people to let them know. Your link shows the number to be 1-800-275-2273. I hope that did not discourage people from calling.

I'm just got a new iMac up and running and finished hooking up all my FW drives only to find out about this issue. I am not a happy camper. Seriously, it won't sleep FW drives? Who invented FW and why is their no support? I don't want to listen to 6 or 10 drives all humming away any more than I want to connect, then eject, then toggle power switches on one or two of them as I need. This ***** Apple.

Hey Peter,

You have a Brand new Mac with full warranty, Definatly call them and voice your concern.

Just curious if you have a Thunderbolt drive, is it doing the same thing with that port?

Mine is but I am hearing mix issues with that.

Oizzies,

I decided to rewire my main four drives in USB 2.0, the ones that I need to access most every day. Most of my drives have multilple interfaces except for a couple that are only FW. I needed to get to some files on those, so I hooked them up to the FW convertor cable, figuring I'd just turn them off later. But guess what, they seem to work perfectly, in that they spin up when accessed, stay active for a while, then sleep. They even sleep soon as the computer is slept. Go figure.

I have no Thunderbolt drives yet.