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External hard drive going to sleep

I've noticed that since the latest OS, my external hard drive continuously goes to sleep after 60 seconds. Each time I have to get it to spool up and it takes about 30 seconds to do this. Meaning it is constantly interrupting my work flow whilst video editing.


I thought it might be my hard drive which was a Lacie external that was unpowered. I purchased a WD Elements 20TB and that is a powered type but it is still doing it. Different brand, and different type so it appears we can eliminate brand type or powered versus unpowered.


It's only something I have noticed since I upgraded to the latest version of the Mac OS.


Done all the usual stuff, rebooting, etc. It's been like this for a month at least now.


Have also set 'Put hard disks to sleep when possible' to 'Never', made no difference at all.


Apple M1 Max Macbook Pro

64gb Ram

Ventura 13.4.1 (c) (which is the latest at time of posting)


I've notised a bunch of posts but I was unable to reply to any of them.


MacBook Pro (M1, 2020)

Posted on Aug 8, 2023 5:58 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 11, 2023 9:41 PM

Actually macOS 13.5 is the current version.


Make sure to disconnect all external devices. Then connect just one drive directly to the Mac to see how it behaves.


Try booting into Safe Mode and seeing how the drive behaves.


Try creating a new macOS user account, log out of your main user account & log into the new user account. See if you still have the issue.


Try connecting a drive to a USB3 hub or dock to see if it makes any difference (powered hub/dock is best, but an unpowered one may still provide clues if it works especially since you have a drive with its own power source).


Are you letting macOS manage these external drives? Or are you using the manufacturer's software to manage these drives?


Are you actively using the laptop at the time, or is the laptop inactive where it may log out or activate a screen lock?

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 11, 2023 9:41 PM in response to Terence Ward

Actually macOS 13.5 is the current version.


Make sure to disconnect all external devices. Then connect just one drive directly to the Mac to see how it behaves.


Try booting into Safe Mode and seeing how the drive behaves.


Try creating a new macOS user account, log out of your main user account & log into the new user account. See if you still have the issue.


Try connecting a drive to a USB3 hub or dock to see if it makes any difference (powered hub/dock is best, but an unpowered one may still provide clues if it works especially since you have a drive with its own power source).


Are you letting macOS manage these external drives? Or are you using the manufacturer's software to manage these drives?


Are you actively using the laptop at the time, or is the laptop inactive where it may log out or activate a screen lock?

Aug 14, 2023 1:53 PM in response to HWTech

I have the same problem with a Mac Studio in Ventura. My disks are all in a OWC Thunderbay Flex 8 enclosure, which is connected to my mac to a thunderbolt port.

I have also tried this:

2023-07-31 14:46:39.953 systemsetup[44605:11797365] ### Error:-99 File:/AppleInternal/Library/BuildRoots/d9889869-120b-11ee-b796-7a03568b17ac/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/Admin/InternetServices.m Line:379
setcomputersleep: Never
jamesarome@JARSTUDIO-2 ~ % sudo systemsetup -getcomputersleep
Computer Sleep: Never
jamesarome@JARSTUDIO-2 ~ % 2023-07-31 14:46:39.953 systemsetup[44605:11797365] ### Error:-99 File:/AppleInternal/Library/BuildRoots/d9889869-120b-11ee-b796-7a03568b17ac/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/Admin/InternetServices.m Line:379
setcomputersleep: Never

Could the error be causing this issue. It brings my fully-loaded studio to a crawl.

Aug 14, 2023 5:06 PM in response to jrome

jrome wrote:

I have also tried this:

jamesarome@JARSTUDIO-2 ~ % sudo systemsetup -getcomputersleep
Computer Sleep: Never
jamesarome@JARSTUDIO-2 ~ % 2023-07-31 14:46:39.953 systemsetup[44605:11797365] ### Error:-99 File:/AppleInternal/Library/BuildRoots/d9889869-120b-11ee-b796-7a03568b17ac/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/Admin/InternetServices.m Line:379

Could the error be causing this issue. It brings my fully-loaded studio to a crawl.

That line with the error is odd since it seems to appear where you enter a command.


Do you get that error when first opening the Terminal app or opening a new Terminal window/session? If so, then it indicates some sort of issue with a Zsh configuration file. Otherwise I'm not sure why it is displaying an error like that in that location.


Besides, "computersleep" is different from "harddisksleep" which is probably the setting you need to check:

sudo  systemsetup  -getharddisksleep


To configure "harddisksleep" to never using the command line:

sudo  systemsetup  -setharddisksleep  Never


Aug 15, 2023 7:51 AM in response to HWTech

I get no errors and mine is set to never sleep


sudo systemsetup -getharddisksleep


Hard Disk Sleep: Never


I don't have any other software managing the hard drive.


The entire time I am using the computer, although it's usually if I stop doing something in Final Cut Pro for about a minute, then it goes to sleep (hard drive)


Updated my computer to 13.5, no change

External hard drive going to sleep

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