Linux and spinning down unused disks

[tatteredpotato]

I've recently orderd a Lenovo x220 which comes with a 320G HDD. I've also ordered a 40G mSata SSD off Newegg that I would like to use for boot, and only use the spinning disk for the large files if at all.

I'm planning on loading Arch Linux as my main OS and was curious on what (if any) action I need to take to make sure Linux spins down the HDD if unused to decrease power consumption. I'm okay with leaving the HDD unmounted until I need it (which I suspect may be enough).

 

[themillak]

never used arch but in debian, under power management, you can set the hard disks to spin down. I don't know what the specifics of it are, the text I see is just "spin down hard disks when possible."

 

[Soulkeeper]

those settings should be handled by the hdparm command
ie:

hdparm -S 60 /dev/sdc

/dev/sdc:
setting standby to 60 (5 minutes)


Here are some of the options:

-S Set standby (spindown) timeout
-B Set Advanced Power Management setting (1-255)
-M Get/set acoustic management (0-254, 128: quiet, 254: fast)
-y Put drive in standby mode
-Y Put drive to sleep

Your drive make/model and hdparm version will affect what options will work for you

 

[Soulkeeper]

I should say that the factory settings will suffice in most all cases

you can do harm messing with the wrong settings
also spinning up/down too much is a cause for extra drive wear

 

[Jodell88]

This should do the trick. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop-mode-tools

 

[tatteredpotato]

This should do the trick. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop-mode-tools

Oh good find, thanks!