Tutorial[ Seagate Disks ]: Optimize Life Span/Power Managment

[tuxd3v]

Hello tuxd3v, I managed to install OpenSeaChest Utilities!
With USB 3.0 external enclosure 3.5 and Ubuntu.
I hope it works now.

Can you please advise me, which settings are most appropriate for my needs?
I mainly use for multimedia entertainment (stream DLNA, movie, music).
1. I want that the hard drive consumes so little power, because most of the time it will be in standby, and only when streaming needs power.
2. Which Spindown time is appropriate for my needs? (Do I need this?)
3. Which power management makes sense for my needs? (127, 128, 192?)
4. Which settings are important to activate?
Many Thanks!

Hello Neo2018,
Its nice to know that you Succeed, Congratz! 

My point 1)  and the point 2) above( Initial post ), are very crucial.
As they control, powering disk up in standby, and Startup Spinning Current control.

So they will be less aggressive pushing power( you will have less spikes in power needed to operate the disks, also less vibration of the plates.. ).
And off-course, RockPro64 power supply life will be extended..

I will assume, that your device is sdd.
Do that in the same machine, you configured OpenSeachest, and its working..

Code:

./openSeaChest_Configure --device /dev/sdd --puisFeature enable
./openSeaChest_Configure --device /dev/sdd --lowCurrentSpinup enable
reboot

 A reboot because only after a reboot, this options are enabled..

My point 3),
You refer it a mix of your point 2./3.
The APM could be persistent between reboots or set on boot..
I set them on boot time, and do not turn them persistent..no need, because my system has a service for that..

Its difficult to advocate a state without knowing what a user do in reality..
The best way I find is to check your Load/Unload head park Cycles, like described:

Code:

for blockid in {a..d};do smartctl --attributes /dev/sd${blockid}|grep -E "^ 12|^193"; done

This values for S.M.A.R.T APM, you can configure also in OMV panel( I think.. )
Or  with a script on bootup as a service for OneShot only( at startup in rockpro64 ):
See the note, bellow, about disk containing the operating system or not..its configured to *not* having the OS on it..

Code:

cat <<EOF > /lib/systemd/system/seagate.service
[Unit]
Description=Seagate - Set APM Level

## IF disk contain Operating System
#After=local-fs.target
#StartLimitIntervalSec=0

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
User=root
ExecStart=/root/openSeaChest/Make/gcc/openseachest_exes/openSeaChest_PowerControl --device /dev/sdd --setAPMLevel 127
StandardOutput=journal

[Install]
WantedBy=basic.target
EOF

Then:

Code:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable seagate.service
reboot

After the reboot, check if service is up:

Code:

systemctl status seagate.service

Query the disk, you configured, to see S.M.A.R.T APM level set in 'seagate.service' above, is with the right value:

Code:

/root/openSeaChest/Make/gcc/openseachest_exes/openSeaChest_PowerControl --showAPMLevel --device /dev/sdd

It should now report APM 127 

Your point 4),
There are indeed several options to tune the disks, like the timers for the disk to enter in Standby, etc..
I start by the default values, and I still use the default timers, because I only use APM 127 and its nice for my workloads..

You can also Look at My Point 4) Above( First post ), to check if your disk support a Power Balanced Mode..

Best Regards,