Xbox One X - USB-powered external drive always on!

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 foeced to
spin 24/7.

:)

 

Xbox USB HDD random HDD disconnections.

All is USB 3.0 drives with USB 3.0 cables.

All is USB powered 2.5" drives.

It could be power unstability or something in USB ports on Xbox One of course.

External powered 3.5" could probably work better.

External power on HDD could of course make the drives more stable. I could replace them with a external 4.TB later.

 

Please recommend a good 3.0 USB hard drive

I personally use, and recommend an USB 3.0 Seagate 2TB Expansion HDD for Xbox One, as external drive is powered by mains plug pack.

Laptop External HDDs powered by USB port, are thinner; but, are also slower than Desktop HDDs used in mains powered external drives.

People recommend Western Digital (WD) external HDDs: But, they tend to use Green drives that don't perform well, and tend to fail sooner etc.

 

Have you enabled the option “When Xbox is off, turning off storage” in Settings > Power Mode & Startup?

 

The xbox one has updates sometimes when the console is off. Does the drive keep spinning for more than 10 minutes after you turn off the console?

Also, does the drive park when the console turns off? And it keeps spinning?

 

Just did this...

Console in "full shutdown" mode right now. External drive disconnected. Despite being fully off as soon as I connect the external drive it spins up.

I'll triple check the Turn Off Storage option again now. But it hasn't worked thus far.

 

This is a somewhat common problem with some drives. The xbox one has power to all USB ports even while off, to charge controllers.

I'm afraid the only solution is to try another enclosure or another drive. From what I've seen there's no solution to this because the enclosure's controller board wants the drive on when it gets power and for some reason doesn't turn off like all the other
drives do, that turn off properly.

 

Well yeah checked the Provide usb power option, only appears when the console is set to "Instant-on" not when using Power Saving option.

Not going to blame the enclosure as I've just tested 3 drives, an IcyBox enclosure with an identical 1tb Seagate hybrid drive in it & an older, off the shelf Samsung 500gb external drive. Same results on all 3 drives.

This is an Microsoft / Xbox bug (or decision, take your pick) as I also have a PS4 which I've just tested the same 3 drives with. When in standby mode, all 3 drives stay powered on but when full shutdown is chosen, all 3 drives power off completely.

Possibly a firmware update for Microsoft to consider going foward. Thanks for your replies anyway ChiefJoboo.

 

Yes, since you have set up the power settings to keep the storage on, it's because you have everything up-to-date whenever you turn on the console when this turns off so everything should be fine and it should go set to turn off USB.

 

I'm having the exact same problem. Seems it started after October update.

 

Have you tried to contact official support? There may be something else they can solve this.

 

To turn off the external HDD, use this procedure

If you're in Instant-on mode:

Press the Xbox button to open the guide.

Select System> Settings> Power & startup> Power mode & startup.

Confirm that your Power mode is set to Instant-on.

Unselect the option When Xbox is off, turn off storage.

 

Unfortunately, that is the setting my Xbox is on. Still no luck. Thanks.

 

Beem through every combination of options possible.

As previossly mentioned, I use full-shutdown and not fast-on as a default but have tried both in every combination possible. The end result is the same every time with 3 seperate drives and also as previously mentioned these same 3 drives, connected to a
PS4 do turn off.

I've done some further testing and can confirm that the USB ports on the OneX ALWAYS provide power no matter what the device and how shut down you think the system is.

To the other people getting the same issue in this thread, this is NOT an issue with your chosen external device, this is a design choice by Microsoft, as the same 3 devices, when connected to a PS4 in standby, stay on but when the PS4 is fully shutdown,
they ALL power off as expected.

My chosen solution is I'm getting an 8-way gang with individual power switches so that the Xbox gets turned fully of if it wants it or not.

 

I just went and bought an external Ssd. It stays on but don't have to hear spinning constantly. I hope Microsoft fixes this bug.