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Asked: 2010-12-01 18:20:51 +0800 CST

Powering down USB drive while PC suspended

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Is it safe, with respect to the data on a USB drive, to power it down while the computer is suspended, and then power it back up before resuming? E.G. are buffers on the USB drive flushed as part of the suspend procedure? Are there likely to be any other unfortunate side effects?

Specifically under Maverick "10.10" Meerkat, with an IDE (PATA) drive, but of course it would be useful to get info on a variety of setups.

Note: by "suspend" I mean the S3, "mem" sleep state. However, answers pertaining to hibernation (S4) would also be helpful.

usb-drive suspend suspend-resume

2 Answers

  1. I have done this with my system using powertop, no side effects. In fact most usb devices are powered down during suspend by default, and since that is normal, shouldn't cause problems for you in this case.

    EDIT: in a simple sense, your drive will be fine on suspend. The problem will occur if you take it out and use it in another system. It also depends on the level sleep your system is doing (S1, 2, 3 etc).

    NB: As noted in the comment below, this will not be true if you remove the drive and use it before you resume.

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  2. when you power down the system it automatically gets ejected. and inserting it during powerup doesn't cause any damage..

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