Iomega 1 TB External Hard Drive Spins Down For No Reason?

Greeting from a noobie to the forum!

I have two of these drives connected to my 2.66gHz Quad Core Intel Xeon via the FW ports. (OSX 10.6.8)

The issue is that they function normally for quite a few hours and then inexplicably spin down leaving the icon on the desktop but any attempt to write to them or open a folder is futile. I can place my hand on the unit and verify by feel that, indeed, the drive is not spinning.

They were daisy chained together for a while, but to test I've disconnected the second one and the current one is plugged in solely by itself to a rear FW IN.

I do NOT have "Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible" checked within the Energy Saver prefs.

I've Googled and searched a few forums (including this fine one, of course!) and the only thing that has been hinted at is that it may be related to Snow Leopard. or maybe a need for a SMC and/or a PRAM reset.

This is an image of the window I get when trying to software eject...behind that window is the volume contents that appear empty, but the remaining disc space is correct.



My workaround is to power down the Mac, turn the drive off and then back on, and restart the Mac where the disk reappears and functions normally (for a while, at least).

I hope that's enough info for a suggestion or two!

Thanks...

Buzzy

Hmm, not sure whats up.
They do not have a built-in "Sleep Mode" as my externals HD's do. So it should keep running and running and… unless it gets too hot and then powers off. Is it hot when it spins down?

The "Put HD's to sleep when possible is only for the Mac's internal HD, so it has nothing to do with that.

Thanks. No, it does not feel hot, at all.

Strange indeed, Do both HD's act the same?

It sounds like a firmware thing. Check with iOmega and see if there is a firmware update for that model. It's likely spinning down after a certain amount of time of inactivity in order to protect the drive integrity.

Thanks, McYukon and chscag.

I'll try the other drive today to see if it, too, spins down. I was isolating one at a time.

I don't see a current firmware update at iOmega. Seems the most current one is dated 2008 which precedes by 2-3 years my purchase.

Buzzy

So far (about 6 hours) the 2nd iOmega is still functioning correctly with the same FW I/O that the other one had. Still testing one at a time.

Kinda leading me to think that there might be a problem with Drive 1...more later.

Buzzy

I agree. If it's only the one drive which has the spin down problem, then the firmware has nothing to do with it. Check your purchase receipts to see when you bought the drive. I believe iOmega has a two year warranty on most of their drives. You may be able to RMA it for a new one.

I left the Mac on overnight with what I'll call Drive 2 connected. This morning it, too, has spun down and is inactive.

Can't eject although I could browse through the folders. However selecting an item to preview with the space bar gives the beach ball in the Finder.

No unusual heat coming off the drive, BTW.

Time to try to contact iOmega, I'm presuming.

Buzzy

Is it very likely that the FW bus itself might be the culprit?

However, I do have a Western Digital drive for Time Machine connected via FW and it does not display these issues.

Iomega tech support suggested the obvious...

1. Try USB
2. Try the drive(s) on a different computer which makes sense.

No reported issues re: Snow Leopard and I forgot to ask him about the 2 possible resets...SMC and PRAM.

Just an update.

Buzzy

I left the Mac on overnight with what I'll call Drive 2 connected. This morning it, too, has spun down and is inactive.

Click to expand...

Looks like we're back to a firmware issue. iOmega is never going to admit that particular drive has a problem. I've dealt with them before on other devices of theirs that prematurely failed or weren't working right, and they have always made it good. (although they have never admitted there was a problem) I would ask them to RMA both drives. See what they say....

chscag said:

Looks like we're back to a firmware issue. iOmega is never going to admit that particular drive has a problem. I've dealt with them before on other devices of theirs that prematurely failed or weren't working right, and they have always made it good. (although they have never admitted there was a problem) I would ask them to RMA both drives. See what they say....

Click to expand...

Thanks, again.

The chat tech couldn't help so he gave me a Reference ID # so that I wouldn't be charged the $25.00 for the tech help phone call.

The phone tech even said that if it was the one drive, they'd do a swap-no question. I think that's still an option, but since there are 2 drives that are both exhibiting this behavior, he suggested trying the USB 2.0 and on another computer.

I'll do the other computer tomorrow...pretty sure I tried the USB, but I'll do that, too.

There is no charge to follow up with Iomega so the dual swap is probably still on the agenda. Just wondering if the 2 new drives would have the same issue!

Buzzy

There is no charge to follow up with Iomega so the dual swap is probably still on the agenda. Just wondering if the 2 new drives would have the same issue!

Click to expand...

If it's an inherent (firmware) problem with that model, then it's likely the new drives will do the same thing. However, I would go for the swap anyway. You never know if that model has been updated since you originally purchased it. Keep your fingers crossed.

Well, Drive 1 has been running for 24 hours just fine on my wife's 2005-ish iMac OSX 10.5.8.
Same power supply but, of course, with a different cable (800 to 400) as the older iMac only has the 400 FW port.

Does this offer any new insight?!

Buzzy

Does this offer any new insight?!

Click to expand...

It just gets more interesting doesn't it? Who knows, maybe it is a cabling problem after all? It could be related to the transfer speed; 400 versus 800, the 800 being significantly faster. It still doesn't make sense though..

I think if iOmega is willing to RMA both drives for new ones, that's something you should consider even though the replacements may have the same problem.

Thanks yet once again!

Next test is Drive 2 on the iMac, and put Drive 1 back online with a different cable (think I've tried this) and a different port and I may pull the FW WD Time Machine drive offline as well...it's been just fine, but I want to clear the FW bus just to see.

And, of course, I will try USB 2.0 (again), too, just out of curiosity.

I really want to know what's happening before I re-contact iOmega so I can be as clear as possible.

I can't seem to find hardly anything on the net and I've tried every search phrase I can think of regarding Snow Leopard, iOmega issues with a Quad Core.

I run a pretty lean system, as well, when I'm doing audio so I don't know what could be signaling these drives to spin down (unless, as you say, it could be a firmware issue).

Buzzy

Drive 2 passed the iMac test.

I did find this...

Download Keep Drive Spinning for Mac - Makes sure that a connected drive never goes to sleep. MacUpdate.com

Buzzy

Since it's free, give it a try and let us know if it works for you.

chscag said:

Since it's free, give it a try and let us know if it works for you.

Click to expand...

Running now with Drive 1 connected and so far so good. (Been about 3 hours) I set the script for every three minutes...actually it's a dialog box...no terminal entry required. Very easy to use.

I'll hook up Drive 2 later and select it, as well, and get the Time Machine drive back online, too. The WD TM drive seems to not have this issue.

Buzzy

2 days now...AOK.

"Keep Drive Spinning" seems to be doing just that.

Buzzy