08-30-2013, 01:21 AM
I got mine today and added comments to the original thread which I'll copy here too.
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,1604956
Mine arrived and I did quick tests, maybe Robert M will be happy, but I find this annoying. The enclosure will NEVER allow the drive to spin down, even when commanded by the computer. So, it will continue to generate heat and consume power continuously when not in use.
I can see people having problems if the enclosure decides when to spin a drive up/down, but there are also commands sent by the computer/OS to control drive spinup/down and I find it very annoying if those are ignored. I have drives connected to my home server that are used for SuperDuper backups. The family computers wakup and run a backup over the network at 1AM, it takes about 30 minutes. The drive storing the backups only needs to spin for 30 minutes per day, and doesn't need to consume an extra 10 watts the rest of the time.
I like the three choices of fast interfaces on this enclosure and I'll keep it for times when I'm doing large drive cloning operations, but due to this one flaw, it's unusable for my everyday application.
Edit: Did some more testing, trying both FW-800 and USB2 (I don't have a USB3 Mac, or an ESATA interface)
The lack of spin down occurs with both FW and USB.
I tried SMART Utility with it's driver for external drives installed, it was able to see the drive and SMART Status using USB, but not FireWire. There are two separate controllers on the logic board.
The main chips on the board are
ASMedia ASM1051E http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show_pro...hp?item=96
JMicron JMB355 http://www.jmicron.com/Product_JMB355.htm
LSI FW843 http://www.lsi.com/products/networkingco...FW843.aspx
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,1604956
Robert M wrote:
jdc,
I saw that deal yesterday and was trying my best to avoid it. I don't really need another external enclosure. But, $20.00 (after rebate) for an enclosure that supports Firewire 800, Esata _and_ USB 3.0? And, one that has an on/off switch. And, one, based on a review I saw elsewhere, doesn't automatically spin down the drive? Yups! I grabbed it. Mackenfrackenfrickenfracken.
I read a review that stated the USB 3.0 flavor doesn't spin drives down. This may be a good thing. I had a Seagate GoFlex enclosure that refused to work properly when connected to an Airport Extreme. It spun down and dropped its connection. Made it near impossible to use for wireless Time Machine backups.
The Sandisk enclosure may not have this issue because it doesn't spin down the drive. That it also has an on/off switch is an added plus. I _hate_ enclosure that lack a power switch.
Robert
Mine arrived and I did quick tests, maybe Robert M will be happy, but I find this annoying. The enclosure will NEVER allow the drive to spin down, even when commanded by the computer. So, it will continue to generate heat and consume power continuously when not in use.
I can see people having problems if the enclosure decides when to spin a drive up/down, but there are also commands sent by the computer/OS to control drive spinup/down and I find it very annoying if those are ignored. I have drives connected to my home server that are used for SuperDuper backups. The family computers wakup and run a backup over the network at 1AM, it takes about 30 minutes. The drive storing the backups only needs to spin for 30 minutes per day, and doesn't need to consume an extra 10 watts the rest of the time.
I like the three choices of fast interfaces on this enclosure and I'll keep it for times when I'm doing large drive cloning operations, but due to this one flaw, it's unusable for my everyday application.
Edit: Did some more testing, trying both FW-800 and USB2 (I don't have a USB3 Mac, or an ESATA interface)
The lack of spin down occurs with both FW and USB.
I tried SMART Utility with it's driver for external drives installed, it was able to see the drive and SMART Status using USB, but not FireWire. There are two separate controllers on the logic board.
The main chips on the board are
ASMedia ASM1051E http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show_pro...hp?item=96
JMicron JMB355 http://www.jmicron.com/Product_JMB355.htm
LSI FW843 http://www.lsi.com/products/networkingco...FW843.aspx