Xbox One X - USB-powered external drive always on! (Vol 2 REVIVED!!!)

SD_AZ · Apr 27, 2020

Hi,

This thread began in Oct 2018 without resolution. It was closed in Oct 2019 (see below)...

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/xbox/forum/all/xbox-one-x-usb-powered-external-drive-always-on/622889ab-8dc6-4ba6-b579-75ae56521a05?page=1

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My question is the same as the original poster. I have an new external USB drive plugged into our Xbox One X. When the Xbox is powered down, the drive remains on with its LED illuminated (blinking). I want it to power off to save the mechanism as there is
no need for it to be spinning with the Xbox off.

I've tried all the power settings in the Xbox menu as recommended by others in the original thread. They make no difference.

Dear Microsoft: Why are you ignoring this oversight? I read that it's a bug but one that you've not addressed for years. WHY??

PLEASE... help.

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(Original post)

Hi there,

Ok read a ton of similar threads but most official microsoft answers thus far seem to either side-step or avoid answering some not quite so direct questions, so I thought I'd ask a bullet proof question....

Console: XBox One X

External Drive: Startech S251BMU313 USB 3.1 external 2.5" enclosure containing a Seagate 1TB hybrid ST1000LX015 drive.

Power settings: set to Full Shutdown.

I've even gone into setting to force a full-shutdown to force this.

Problem..... The external drive NEVER turns off, it's always on, always spinning DESPITE system being set to full off.

No matter what I do I have to physically disconnect the drive from the Xbox in order to switch it off.

I work in the IT field and a tiny little 2.5" consumer hard drive is NOT suitable for an "always-on" environment, this isn't a hardened industrial-use drive like a Seagate IronWolf, it's domestic.

Please tell me what setting I need to change to power off this USB-powered external drive.

Before you say it.... I am NOT using power-saving mode, I have tried this which enables the "provide power to external drives" option and BOTH still leave the drive powered up. I'm using the FULL Shutdown option and still the
external drive is forced to spin 24/7."

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(Final post)

Hey there,

We will be locking this older thread due to it being revived by a new post. If the issue is on going, we recommend creating a new thread detailing the issue at hand and any troubleshooting steps
(if any) you’ve tried so far. We will be more than happy to answer any questions.

Thank you!

Regards,

XBF Amber M

Microsoft Agent | Moderator

(๑•ᴗ•๑)♡

"Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll." ~ Shigeru Miyamoto

:)

SD_AZ

Hi there,

the only way to let it turn off is to use the fast bootup on the xbox with the setting to turn of external drives, (but this can take a while).

the "problem" is that there is a small amount of power on the ports to check/and load external usb devices.

so lets say, its normal on the xbox one that external drives wont power down,

but wait,

there are some external chases that can make a power down of the drive if the port goes in power save mode.

dont ask me for the name of this function, its been a long time i have seen this function.

Hi...

This is the advice from the other thread...

Settings>General Power Mode & Start Up> (select) Instant-on> √ When Xbox is off, turn off storage

I've tried this a number of time w/o success. I've tried combinations. No luck.

It seem like it should be easy and MS has coded for this. However, these commands are not working as intended.

FlashSpirit3

The external drive will stay on as long as you have the Xbox console set to receive remote updates, which is highly recommended. If not when you power the box on it will first have to go through updates and reboot (possibly several times). The drive is
not being used unless updates/downloads are happening, just the console is checking the ports for connectivity. Unless you are extremely power conscious, again it is highly recommended to leave the setting to default. If you are highly power conscious (and
I applaud that), the best thing to do is to shop around for drives that go into a minimal power state yet still listen for port calls. There are several out there and can be found through good reviews like at Tom's Hardware.

Thank you for your understanding.

CyTeK1978

Hi there,

the only way to let it turn off is to use the fast bootup on the xbox with the setting to turn of external drives, (but this can take a while).

the "problem" is that there is a small amount of power on the ports to check/and load external usb devices.

so lets say, its normal on the xbox one that external drives wont power down,

but wait,

there are some external chases that can make a power down of the drive if the port goes in power save mode.

dont ask me for the name of this function, its been a long time i have seen this function.

SD_AZ

I also have this problem and it's recent.

I have an external SSD (not enclosure, it's an ASUS external RAID0 512Gb SSD) that worked just fine until recently.

By "worked fine" i mean that, the XBox turned off, the drive turned off, unless something was updating. I can tell that because the drive was cold when the console was off, only heating up when running a game installed on it... Now, even on Full Shutdown
mode, the drive is burning hot, like it was being used actively, and this occurs whether the console is on Instant-On, Power Save or Full Shutdown mode.

I had to disconnect the USB cable of the drive or i'm afraid this will just kill it, as sustained high temperatures on these drives will eventually damage them beyond recovery.

I'm an XBox Insider so this might be some bug on the software? Weird thing is, this did not happen until this week...

Hi hss1981

I appreciate your post. This is an issue that we've had since we plugged in the external (new), which was added for expansion. IMO, it shouldn't behave this way but does no matter the settings as you write

PLS Microsoft. Take a look and address. It shouldn't be hard. Computers and laptops don't work this way.

-S

hss1981

I also have this problem and it's recent.

I have an external SSD (not enclosure, it's an ASUS external RAID0 512Gb SSD) that worked just fine until recently.

By "worked fine" i mean that, the XBox turned off, the drive turned off, unless something was updating. I can tell that because the drive was cold when the console was off, only heating up when running a game installed on it... Now, even on Full Shutdown
mode, the drive is burning hot, like it was being used actively, and this occurs whether the console is on Instant-On, Power Save or Full Shutdown mode.

I had to disconnect the USB cable of the drive or i'm afraid this will just kill it, as sustained high temperatures on these drives will eventually damage them beyond recovery.

I'm an XBox Insider so this might be some bug on the software? Weird thing is, this did not happen until this week...

Xbox One X - USB-powered external drive always on! (Vol 2 REVIVED!!!)