External drives randomly start up

[skidded]

Why do my external drives startup when exiting sleep mode? Is there a setting to prevent that?

 

[DeltaMac]

If you are waking up your Mac (it has been sleeping), then I would expect that drives attached should also respond to that wakeup...
Not exactly a "random" start up, is it?

 

[usagora]

Well if you don't want the drives starting up when you start your Mac or wake it from sleep and they don't have a physical power switch, then you'd have to disconnect them from the Mac.

 

[skidded]

So the consensus is that drives are supposed to spin up when the Mac is either started or waken from sleep mode, right? And I can either turn drive switch off or unplug from the Mac. Or I can eject via Finder.

I would like the have the drives off when not in use, to reduce noise, since they are sometimes not used for days, weeks or months and was hoping there was a setting in the Mac.

 

[DeltaMac]

So, if the drives are not often used, eject the drives (always eject first), then turn drive power off, or unplug from your Mac. Power on (or plug in to the port) when you need the drive.

 

[Boyd01]

Perhaps it would stop this if you set the computer not to sleep and just have the display sleep instead? That's what I do, but I'm using a Mini and not a laptop.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:
"I would like the have the drives off when not in use, to reduce noise, since they are sometimes not used for days, weeks or months and was hoping there was a setting in the Mac."

The simple (and correct) answer:
DISCONNECT THEM if you won't be needing to use them for days, weeks, or months.
(nothing follows...)

 

[skidded]

If you are waking up your Mac (it has been sleeping), then I would expect that drives attached should also respond to that wakeup...
Not exactly a "random" start up, is it?

In response to DeltaMac's re: "random" startup, both drives attached to the Mac (1 Thunderbay4 & 1 Gdrive) start periodically and then shut down after a brief period even in sleep mode.

 

[DeltaMac]

Thanks for the added info.
There are some kinds of events that will attempt to read from any connected/powered drives.
So, I think that the easiest way around this is to unmount, then turn off/disconnect drives that are rarely used.
I have two drives that just sit on my desk. It only takes a few moments to either plug in, or turn on either drive, get at the files that I need (or store some other archives (which I keep in a dedicated folder for those occasional transfers), otherwise, those drives just take up space near my Mac. One is used a couple of times per week. The other, used this morning for the first time this month. One does get intermittent use as a paperweight, so it does serve another purpose

I am sure that I have seen a particular terminal command (?) that will prevent the normal mounting of specific drives, but I don't know how well that works, in the long term. Maybe someone with that knowledge will respond to this thread.

 

[skidded]

Thanks DeltaMac and all for your help. I will unmount and turnoff/disconnect offending drives that aren't needed daily to address this.