Disks will not spin down on new server.

[Bill A]

I have had many different hardware build of my unraid server over the years (I think my fist server was an old desktop over 10 years ago), I am not a Linux user so the backend (non-gui) of unraid is 100% not something I am familiar or comfortable digging into with out some direction. 

 

For my latest server build I decided to start from scratch (I will transfer appdata and configs for plex and a couple other dockers to the new server once I have data transfered) 

My old server was a desktop with 1 ssd for the cache, and mainly shucked WD 5400rpm drives for data

 

My new server is 

HPE dl380 gen9 (12 bay 3.5" drive setup) 

Dual e5-2690v4

128gb ecc ddr4 2400 ram 

2 @ 12tb used 7200 sas drives for a dual parity drive setup, these are in and Precleared but will not be added to the array until all data is copied) 

5 OR 6 (Still debating on 5 or 6 data drives) used 7200 sas drives, I current have 5 installed and 6th is Precleared and out of the server. 

1 @ 500gb sata ssd unassigned but holding OS for torrent box outside of the array

1 @ 8tb used 7200 sas drive for torrent data plex transcoding files etc, again unassigned but mounted so not hitting the parity 

1 @ 4tb sata ssd cache drive for disk writes (copying files to shares) 

1@ 1tb sata ssd cache for all appdata/dockers etc

 

The drives are all installed in hot swap cages connected to the 12 drive backplane 

The backplane is connected to a HPE sas multiplier

The multiplier is connected to an HPE p840 sas controller

HP Ethernet 1Gb 4-port 331i Adapter - NIC (appears to be Broadcom) 

HP Ethernet 10Gb 2-port 557SFP+  will be connected to my UI Dream Machine Se on next reboot

LSI Corp 2308 SAS Controller this was going to connect to external jbod enclosure that I am not current going to use

 

 

 

Currently I have the following apps/plugins/dockers installed

Unassigned devices

Unassigned devices plus (addon) 

Unassigned devices preclear

Openfiles, this was installed to see if there were files keeping the drives spinning

Community applications

Appdata cleanup, not being used yet

Appdata backup/restore v3, this isn't being used yet but will be used to transfer appdata from the old server

 

I have a global disk setting telling disks to spin down after 15 minutes

I have set a 15 minute spin down of all data drives (8tb sas drives) 

I have stopped and started the array multiple times

I have rebooted the server multiple times

 

The issue I am having is that the 5 data drives are spinning 100% of the time, if I click on the disk icon the little pop up message says "normal operation, disk is in use, click to spin down drive" but nothing happens. 

 

 

I am able to "spin down" the ssd cache (for disk writes) and I see "feb 18 16:26:18 bob-new  emhttpd: spinning down /dev/sdd" in the system log but the drives status changes back to green and the system log shows "Feb 18 16:26:22 bob-new  emhttpd: read SMART /dev/sdd" 

If I attempt to spin down the data drives by clicking on the green dot nothing happens and there is nothing entered into the system log (maybe there is a better log to look at?) 

 

The drives are enterprise class drives so im not terribly worried that they are spinning all the time but I would really like to have them spin down when not in use. 

 

Any ideas, or help troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Bill A

[Decto]

23 minutes ago, Bill A said:

I have had many different hardware build of my unraid server over the years (I think my fist server was an old desktop over 10 years ago), I am not a Linux user so the backend (non-gui) of unraid is 100% not something I am familiar or comfortable digging into with out some direction. 

 

 

 

 

Have you tried the SAS Spindown app from the APPS tab?

[Bill A]

1 minute ago, Decto said:

 

Have you tried the SAS Spindown app from the APPS tab?

Didn't know there was such an app 🙂 I will try and report back in a bit. 

[Bill A]

2 hours ago, Bill A said:

Didn't know there was such an app 🙂 I will try and report back in a bit. 

Well I installed SAS Spindown, waited over 15 minutes (set as global and on each disk) and no disks spun down, I manually spun all disks down and they spun down.

I stopped and restarted the array, waited over 15 minutes and the drives didn't spin down

Rebooted the server, waited over 15 minutes and the drives are spun down! 

 

Thank you Decto for the solution! 

[Decto]

10 hours ago, Bill A said:

Well I installed SAS Spindown, waited over 15 minutes (set as global and on each disk) and no disks spun down, I manually spun all disks down and they spun down.

I stopped and restarted the array, waited over 15 minutes and the drives didn't spin down

Rebooted the server, waited over 15 minutes and the drives are spun down! 

 

Thank you Decto for the solution! 

 

I'm just the messenger, @doron is the author.