This is probably a really stupid question. I posted it on the Toshiba help forum, but got no response so I thought I would ask here and see if someone knows:
Hey,
I just recently bought a 2TB Canvio Basics 3.0 (P/N hdtb120ak3ca). I have a question about powering down and the LEDs. At first when I was running this on my windows 8.1 machine, the LED is blue (USB 3.) and stays lit constantly. I can hear the drive spinning and feel it vibrating if I place my hand on the drive. When the drive is being accessed the LED flashes. When the drive powers itself down there is no noise or vibrations and the LED turns off.
However, I've just moved it to my Linux (Debian) machine which runs 24/7 and the LEDs are completely different. When the drive is being accessed there is a white light (USB 2.0) and it flashes seemingly randomly. I can hear the drive spinning and I can feel it vibrating if I place my hand on the case. I have hd-idle setup, so if there is no activity it powers the drive down. Unlike with windows when the Canvio drive powers down on my linux machine the LED does not turn off. The drive appears to be powered down, there is no noise from the drive spinning and you cannot feel any vibration. However the LED continues to flash. It appears to do about 10 quick flashes one after the other, then it pauses for a second or so and does another 10 very quickly before pausing again. Apart from the LED the drive appears to be powered off.
I just wanted to make sure this is normal and not causing any issues with the drive that will affect it's life? As I have the linux machine running 24/7 I do not want to have the Canvio running 24/7. Is what I am doing ok? Or am I unkowingly doing something bad to the drive? Has the drive actually powered down?
Looking forward to your help
Hey,
I just recently bought a 2TB Canvio Basics 3.0 (P/N hdtb120ak3ca). I have a question about powering down and the LEDs. At first when I was running this on my windows 8.1 machine, the LED is blue (USB 3.) and stays lit constantly. I can hear the drive spinning and feel it vibrating if I place my hand on the drive. When the drive is being accessed the LED flashes. When the drive powers itself down there is no noise or vibrations and the LED turns off.
However, I've just moved it to my Linux (Debian) machine which runs 24/7 and the LEDs are completely different. When the drive is being accessed there is a white light (USB 2.0) and it flashes seemingly randomly. I can hear the drive spinning and I can feel it vibrating if I place my hand on the case. I have hd-idle setup, so if there is no activity it powers the drive down. Unlike with windows when the Canvio drive powers down on my linux machine the LED does not turn off. The drive appears to be powered down, there is no noise from the drive spinning and you cannot feel any vibration. However the LED continues to flash. It appears to do about 10 quick flashes one after the other, then it pauses for a second or so and does another 10 very quickly before pausing again. Apart from the LED the drive appears to be powered off.
I just wanted to make sure this is normal and not causing any issues with the drive that will affect it's life? As I have the linux machine running 24/7 I do not want to have the Canvio running 24/7. Is what I am doing ok? Or am I unkowingly doing something bad to the drive? Has the drive actually powered down?
Looking forward to your help