My hardware drive box will not go to sleep.

[Tinchohs]

Hi everyone. Thanks in advanced for any guidance you might be able to provide me.

Context. I have am OWC Thunderbay 4 (USB-C) connected directly to the USB-C port in my 2018 MacBookPro 15.

Problem. When I send the computer into 'sleep' mode, although the drives will go to sleep, the unit itself, and thus the fan, will stay on indefinitely. In my prior setup with a Lacie 5Big 20T (using Thunderbolt 2 to 3 Apple Adapter) this same situation would work perfectly. Unfortunately, the Lacie unit is now malfunctioning.

I talked to OWB tech support. They claim that the unit and the fan remain on, because it is receiving date through the USB-C port. When I disconnect the drives (one of them is Time Machine) and unplug the USB cable, the unit does in fact go to sleep, the fan turns-off and the unit light goes from blue (active) to orange (sleep). So this seems to support OWC's claim.

I have tried deactivating all the options in the 'Energy' setup of MacOS with no resolution of this problem (screen capture attached).

Question. Does anyone have an idea if and how to control that data is not active in a given or all USB-C ports during sleep mode? Or anyone has a different potential solution?

Thanks SO much. m.

 

[DeltaMac]

The Thunderbay 4 is technically not USB-C, but Thunderbolt 3.
The connector is identical in appearance, but needs the correct cable to actually communicate through the Thunderbolt bus.
Is there a chance that you are using a USB-C cable, and not a Thunderbolt 3-rated cable?
(Are you using the Thunderbolt 3 cable that shipped with the OWC drive?)

 

[Tinchohs]

The Thunderbay 4 is technically not USB-C, but Thunderbolt 3.
The connector is identical in appearance, but needs the correct cable to actually communicate through the Thunderbolt bus.
Is there a chance that you are using a USB-C cable, and not a Thunderbolt 3-rated cable?
(Are you using the Thunderbolt 3 cable that shipped with the OWC drive?)

Thanks Delta. I am using indeed the cable that shipped with it. My understanding is that it is TB3. Is there any easy way to tell them apart? Thanks again...

 

[Tinchohs]

I noticed today that my com[uter 'wakes-up' from sleep to remind me of a calendar event. I assume that the state of 'awareness' the computer is in, it's not really a full sleep. Is there a way to configure such that I do not get any notifications or reminders while at sleep? That might help in getting the drives to also go to sleep. Thanks.