Can't stop hard drive going to sleep.

As above, I used to be able to stop it sleeping if I was doing something that took a while. I now get the screen below with the option to stop hard drive sleeping unticked, but this makes no difference, It still sleeps, so I can't leave it doing something. I there anything I can do about this ?
I'm using a macbook air with Sierra 10.12.4.

That particular option has no effect on the hard drive to stop if from sleeping. It's really only there to put the drive to sleep when your Mac sleeps. Certain hard drives will sleep regardless because of their built in firmware. You can try contacting the manufacturer and ask if there is a firmware update or if they have a utility which can set the sleep option on or off.

@hoody

There are apps that will achieve what you want by apparently overriding the Mac's internal settings.

I must stress that I have no personal experience of these, however.

Caffeine used to be much liked, but is a bit long in the tooth with equivocal support: http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/

A better and more recent app is Amphetamine: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12

Here also, is a review of "caffeine alternatives": http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/02/17/amphetamine-keepingyouawake-for-mac/

NB my caveat of zero personal experience with these, but you may care to explore them.

Ian

Thanks both of you. I downloaded Amphetamine and had a look through. Haven't used it yet, but will try it later today.
Sorry. I couldn't up your rep's. I have to 'spread some more around' first.

Be advised that the apps recommended above will keep your entire machine awake, (including the display) not just the hard drive. If that's what you want, then any one of them should work for you.

Did you try an SMC or NVRAM reset?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

Thanks chscag and ferrarr. Everything else is working OK, but on my imac I get the full set of options and am able to stop it sleeping as in the picture I've put on. I'm happy to use Amphetamine though because it saves me from messing about with the macbook.

An update: I used Amphetamine yesterday and it worked perfectly. The screen went to sleep after a few minutes, but the computer kept working. Pleased with the result, thanks.

Good to hear it worked for you, Pete.

Ian

Sorry for the late reply, no email to let me know a post had been put up.
Thanks for the help.

hoody said:

As above, I used to be able to stop it sleeping if I was doing something that took a while. I now get the screen below with the option to stop hard drive sleeping unticked, but this makes no difference, It still sleeps, so I can't leave it doing something. I there anything I can do about this ?
I'm using a macbook air with Sierra 10.12.4.
View attachment 26415

Click to expand...

For crying out loud, the spin-down is an HD feature that can always be turned off permanently using either SMART tools or a small utility from the manufacturer. Don't cover the symptoms with band-aids, just treat the root cause!