Spin Down and Manage Hard Drive Power on Raspberry Pi – sleep hdd hd-idle

This is an example how you to set the hard drive into a standby or hibernate mode after a defined time. This saves power and protects the hard drive in continuous or server use.

Requirements:

• A mounted USB hard drive (Tutorial)

1. As a first step we need to update the package lists of Raspbian. We further need to install hdparm.

   sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install hdparm

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2. To figure the name under which the hard drive is mounted in the system we need to use the following command. In this example, it is /dev/sda

   sudo fdisk -l

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3. We check the current power mode status. In case it returns the status unknown, it is impossible to set the hard drive to a standby mode. Your HDD does not support spin down/hd-idle.

   sudo hdparm -C /dev/sda

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   “-C shows the current “Power-Mode-Status” of an IDE hard drive. The return value can have the following states:

   • “unknown” – The hard drive does not support the command
   • “active”/”idle” – Standard operation
   • “standby” – Low power mode, the hard drive does not spin or even sleeps completely

   The options -S, -y, -Y and -Z can be used to change the IDE power mode. wiki.debianforum.de

4. We use the parameter -y to set the hard drive to the standby mode. The hard drive should now be completely quiet. The command sudo hdparm -C /dev/sda can be used to check if the hard drive is in standy mode. As soon as the hard drive is accessed it should start to spin again.

   sudo hdparm -y /dev/sda

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5. Now we need the UUID of the hard drive. Type the following command into the console and note the UUID of the hard drive.

   sudo blkid

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6. Open the hdparm config file with the text editor Nano.

   sudo nano /etc/hdparm.conf

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   Replace yourUUID with the previously noted UUID and add the text shown below at the end of the file. Exit the Nano text editor afterwards with Strg+x (Win) ctrl+x (Mac) and confirm the changes with y or j (depending on your language settings).

   /dev/disk/by-uuid/yourUUID {
     spindown_time = 240
   }

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   The number behind spindown_time tells after what time the hard drive will be set to its standby mode. Choose the time not to short as a continuous start-up of the hard drive will harm its motor and mechanics.

   0 = Standy activated
   60 = 5Min (60*5Sec=300Sec=5Min)
   240 = 20Min (240*5Sec=1200Sec=20Min)
   From 240 the calcuation changes
   241 = 30Min (1*30Min)
   242 = 60Min (2*30Min)

7. Now restart the system with the command shown below. After that the hard drive will automatically go into standby mode after the time you have set.

   sudo reboot

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