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external hdd usb 2.0 always powered

C

Cuse313

n00b
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Messages
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So as the title says my external hdd (western digital passport) is always powered. Even when my computer is shut off the little blue light stays on, and when i unplug it i can hear it spin down. Is my psu at fault or the mobo?

Thanks,

Jordan
 
Cuse313 said:
So as the title says my external hdd (western digital passport) is always powered. Even when my computer is shut off the little blue light stays on, and when i unplug it i can hear it spin down. Is my psu at fault or the mobo?

Thanks,

Jordan
Click to expand...


I'm confused. When you unplug what, can you hear it spin? Unplug the USB cable from the computer or unplug the external hdd power cable from the wall?
 
Cuse313 said:
So as the title says my external hdd (western digital passport) is always powered. Even when my computer is shut off the little blue light stays on, and when i unplug it i can hear it spin down. Is my psu at fault or the mobo?

Thanks,

Jordan
Click to expand...

USB drives don't spin down... Not the cheap ones any way.

Either set up a relay type circuit to control it's power, or switch it off.
 
The passport is powered by the USB bus, there is no external plug. I don't think they even have a switch, at least mine doesn't. The USB is still sending power after you shut off your computer, something I've noticed myself in a number of recent builds, from AMD 939 and AM2, to my recent 775 build. I've never been able to find out why this is either, so I'm interested to see if there is an answer to this.
 
Ahhh, well, in THAT case....

There's either a jumper on your board (usually the case) or a setting n the BIOS, that allows for +5vsb to send power when the system is off.

It's usually a jumper :/
 
Yup, since 5VSB is the only line that's powered when the rest of the machine is powered down, then the jumper that connects USB for power down events (like power on from kbd/mse/etc.) must be enabled. And if you disconnect it, all USB effects during power down will go away as well. But there should be a way to have the hard drive power itself down after a suitable time w/ lack of activity (inactivity timeout) - under power saving features. Hitachi has software that can adjust such settings for many of its drives - scrounge the WD site for similar.

.bh.
 
Yup. Used to be that +5V would power the USB unless the user specified otherwise.

Unfortunately, most current boards use the +5VSB which is typically only capable of 2A to 3A and is always on, even when the PC is off. :(
 
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