VOGONS


First post, by user33331

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Hello
1.) Do slave HDDs spin and wear all the time when connected to PC even when "not used" in Windows File Manager\Explorer or similar ?
2.) Should I spin my disconnected vintage HDDs from time to time so they won't seize like old cars and mopeds ?

Basically should I store HDDs disconnected or keep them powered up to reach max. reliability ?

Reply 1 of 8, by Zup

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1.) Yes (except if your HDD have some kind of power save feature). Every HDD must spin up while initializing, so they will do in any channel (primary/secondary), or ID (master/slave/any ID on SCSI systems). Note that HDDs with power save features will spin down if not used so they won't be running all time... taking another load/unload cycle every time they wake up. I don't know what's worse.

2.) They say that some HDDs can lose lubrication on their bearings. I don't know if that's a problem for all mechanical disks or only for some kinds of disks. I guess SDDs don't have that problem, but they have their own.

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Reply 2 of 8, by Disruptor

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Zup wrote:

Every HDD must spin up while initializing, ...

On many SCSI HDDs you may find a jumper that prevents the discs from spinning up when power is connected. Instead they get the start unit command from the controller/HBA. It may be called like "delayed spinup" "staggered spinup".

Reply 3 of 8, by chinny22

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Disruptor wrote:
Zup wrote:

Every HDD must spin up while initializing, ...

On many SCSI HDDs you may find a jumper that prevents the discs from spinning up when power is connected. Instead they get the start unit command from the controller/HBA. It may be called like "delayed spinup" "staggered spinup".

This is true but only delays the spin for a few seconds, The controller has to wait for an extra moment for the drive to spin up so it can then initialize it.
It was so the PSU wasn't overloaded with multiple disks all drawing power at the exact same time, not as a power saving feature.

user33331 wrote:

Hello
2.) Should I spin my disconnected vintage HDDs from time to time so they won't seize like old cars and mopeds ?

Basically should I store HDDs disconnected or keep them powered up to reach max. reliability ?

You should also read/write to every sector as HDD's can loose their magnetism over time if not used. Spinrite offers this in its "refresh" scan, or plenty of others if you google spinrite alternative.

This also means more wear and tear on the drive. I think in the end its 6 of 1 and 1/2 dozen of the other. Personally I don't do anything on stored drives. I like to run a defrag on systems from time to time which I figure is close enough to a "refresh"

Reply 4 of 8, by canthearu

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chinny22 wrote:

You should also read/write to every sector as HDD's can loose their magnetism over time if not used. Spinrite offers this in its "refresh" scan, or plenty of others if you google spinrite alternative.

No point doing this. If the magnetism is going to fade, then the servo data will fade and the drive will be useless. The drive itself cannot write the servo data, so the drive's life is ultimately determined (among other things of course) by how long the data for the servo information will last from manufacture before fading.

Thankfully, most magnetic material using in hard drives is actually really good, and suffers very little fade over the years.

It may be worthwhile powering old drives up every now and then to stop the bearings from seizing though.

Reply 5 of 8, by Errius

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chinny22 wrote:

It was so the PSU wasn't overloaded with multiple disks all drawing power at the exact same time, not as a power saving feature.

That makes sense. It takes more energy to start something moving than to keep it moving.

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 6 of 8, by Disruptor

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chinny22 wrote:

This is true but only delays the spin for a few seconds, The controller has to wait for an extra moment for the drive to spin up so it can then initialize it.
It was so the PSU wasn't overloaded with multiple disks all drawing power at the exact same time, not as a power saving feature.

But if there is no controller connected, the drive will not spin up at all.
The controller sends the command to start the motor.
However, a full function test may only be performed with a controller.

Reply 7 of 8, by chinny22

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Disruptor wrote:
But if there is no controller connected, the drive will not spin up at all. The controller sends the command to start the motor. […]
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chinny22 wrote:

This is true but only delays the spin for a few seconds, The controller has to wait for an extra moment for the drive to spin up so it can then initialize it.
It was so the PSU wasn't overloaded with multiple disks all drawing power at the exact same time, not as a power saving feature.

But if there is no controller connected, the drive will not spin up at all.
The controller sends the command to start the motor.
However, a full function test may only be performed with a controller.

...true
but no controller also means you cant access the drive at all, which makes having it connected to power a bit pointless anyway.

Reply 8 of 8, by Disruptor

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When you get a bundle of hard discs and do a kind of triage by connecting the drive only to a PSU you may draw the wrong conclusion (false-negative).