10.5.1 + Time Machine = ???

[creator2456]

I upgraded to Leopard a week after the release and have only had minimal 'problems.' Time Machine was working just fine on my external HD, but since the 10.5.1 update I have noticed that the drive is spinning up 2 or 3 times/hour even when there is nothing accessing the drive.

Has anyone else noticed this or should I look for an underlying cause?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I've noticed this on my own machine, and the culprit is probably Spotlight trying to index your Time Machine drive. That's what it was when I looked at Activity Monitor to see what was going on when the drive randomly spun up.

 

[adamfishercox]

Yeah, mine spins up at the backup time, 15 minutes before, and 15 minutes after, even though I told Spotlight not to search my Ext HDD.

 

[creator2456]

I've noticed this on my own machine, and the culprit is probably Spotlight trying to index your Time Machine drive. That's what it was when I looked at Activity Monitor to see what was going on when the drive randomly spun up.

Yeah, mine spins up at the backup time, 15 minutes before, and 15 minutes after, even though I told Spotlight not to search my Ext HDD.

I wonder if there is a reason for this or if it is just a simple bug. I am not worried about my drive failing on me since I have a second backup and I have never had a drive fail. It's just the fact that it is unusually loud during spin-up and spin-down...especially compared to the lulling hum with it at full 7200.

 

[desenso]

I am not worried about my drive failing on me since . . . I have never had a drive fail.

This is a terrible reason to not be worried about drive failure. If anything, you're overdue for one!

 

[creator2456]

This is a terrible reason to not be worried about drive failure. If anything, you're overdue for one!

True...this is why I am waiting for the day that my hds just stop spinning all at once in some big hard drive mutiny...

...and exactly why I have a backup of my backup on a drive I only use for backups

 

[kolax]

It isn't a problem or a bug - does it affect your performance or cause errors? No.

Big deal if it spins up. My hard drive is located on a shelf, and doesn't make hardly any noise (I can't hear it spin up or down anyway) and I don't feel vibrations.

Try moving the hard drive onto a shelf or something and quit moaning.

 

[Samwise592]

Every time you use spotlight or open an open/save dialog, it spins up all external media *just in case*

 

[creator2456]

Every time you use spotlight or open an open/save dialog, it spins up all external media *just in case*

I figured that much out, but it does it when I'm not even using it. Just seems odd that OS X would need to access an external drive before and after Time Machine updates.

 

[adamfishercox]

yeah, the open save thing pisses me off. I don't want to wait while it spins up just to not select it. If I click on my external, THEN spin it up.