Re: Hard Drive Spin Down

[Ron Johnson <ron.l.johnson@cox.net>]

On 10/15/08 19:16, Sam Leon wrote:
> Ron Johnson wrote:
> > On 10/14/08 12:12, Sam Leon wrote:
> > > I have added a large drive to my desktop for back up purposes.  I am 
> > > using rsnapshot to backup just a couple of times a week.  Since the 
> > > drive will be rarely accessed I added:
> > >
> > > /dev/sdb {
> > > spindown_time = 180
> > > }
> > >
> > > To hdparm.conf to spin down the disk after 15 minutes of inactivity 
> > > to save power (yea goin' green!)
> > >
> > > Everything is working right except when I go to restart or shut down 
> > > the pc.  When I do that, right before init runs halt the hard drive 
> > > spins up and then the pc shuts off.  Does the hard drive have to spin 
> > > up in order to flush a buffer or something before shut down?  Any way 
> > > to get around this?  The sudden spin up and then shut off doesn't 
> > > seem like it would be good for the disk, makes alot of noise when it 
> > > does it too.
> > >
> > > Is this just "normal" or what?
> >
> > Yes.  The drive must spin up before being dismounted.
> >
> > I suggest that you only mount the drive when needed.  Besides the 
> > safety of preventing you from accidentally deleting needed files, it 
> > boosts the likelihood that the kernel won't need to spin it up during 
> > shutdown.
>
> Hmm, sounded like a good idea but with the drive unmounted and spun 
> down, it still spins up right before a shut down or a reboot. :(

Hmmm, very puzzling.  I'd ask lkml.

Anyway, does this *actually* hurt anything, or just make a moment of 
noise and kinda make you a bit worried?

--
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA  USA

Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when
he is in trouble again.