External Hard Drive (HDD) Spins Down Very Very Frequently

[NA.Media]

Hello Adobe Community,

I've been video editing off of an 8TB Seagate Expansion SW (SRD0NF2) for a while now. I'm editing H.265 files and when I've tested the drive the read/write speed is more than enough for these files. My cache is sizable (90Gb) and placed on my 2024 Macbook Pro's internal SSD. Now, I am working with a very large ongoing project, totaling about 7TB of video files and assets. But I only actively use a few select files at a time (sequences are less than 5mins tops). The drive is Mac formatted.

The issues:
- Premiere seems to only load the files immediately near the playhead. When I stop to grade an image and then request playback on the previous few clips, I notice that the HDD has to spin up again.
- Premiere seems to spin down the external drive when I switch windows (CMD+Tab) to view a message in slack or email, even if it's like 15 seconds.
- The drive will spin down if I stop or pause too long on a clip.
- I have to constantly be preforming playback or moving the playhead to keep the drive from spinning down.
- These issues are inconsistent, sometimes it's better, sometimes it's not.

I've tried:
- Using quicktime to playback a long audio file in the background from the drive (4hrs) to try and keep the drive running.
- Working on the computer from a fresh reboot.
- Chainging the parameters in system prefrences to keep drives spinning.
- Upgrading Mac OS.

It's crazy how inneficient this makes my workflow. I would assume there's somthing wrong with my drive. but perhaps I'm mistaken?

Thanks.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @NA.Media -  Thanks for submitting your bug report. We need a few more details to try to help with the issue.
What version of Premiere Pro and macOS are you using?

I do see a few threads from googling that users are having issues with drives spinning down on mac computers.

Can you confirm which exact setting you changed to keep drives from spinning down?

Usually the OS in combination with the hard drives firmware controls when the drive spins up or down. Applications like Premiere Pro don’t directly manage drive power states.

[NA.Media]

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm working on Mac OS Seqoia 15.5 and Premiere 25.1.0 (Build 73). I've also seen others talking about this issue but have had trouble finding a solution that worked for me. So far, there's no settings I've been able to change that have resolve this.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @NA.Media - In your OS system settings under Battery at the bottom you will see "Options" that is where they moved the "Put hard disks to sleep when possible". let us know if you have tried this setting?

[NA.Media]

I have this set to "never" and I've also tried changing the power setting option in the command promt. Still no luck.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @NA.Media - can you try searching for updated firmware for your hard drive https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/firmware-updates-for-seagate-products-207931en/

let us know if that helps.

[NA.Media]

Hmm! Seems like there is no new firmware to be found.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @NA.Media - Have you tried changing the port that you are connecting to?

Seagate also offers a toolkit that lets you control these settings https://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/

[NA.Media]

Sadly, I've tried this also. I think the next step is to replace the hard drive. Will report back if this solves the issue.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @NA.Media - Just to make sure does this issue happen in Premiere Pro version 24.6.5?  You can install this version from the creative cloud desktop app. Click the three dots under premiere pro and select other versions.

[NA.Media · Accepted solution]

So in a very unscientific fashion... one or more of the following may have solved the issue:
- Upgrading Mac to latest OS
- Upgrading Premiere beyond 25.1.0 (Build 73).
- Using a new USB cable.
- Using a new port (HDD is wired through my monitor rather than into my macbook pro).
- Having tasks in the Progress Dashboard underway (see attached image).

I recently loaded in some Pro Res 422 footage and this started the progress bar up. However, I suspect it was an MacOS / Premiere version issue. I can now switch windows and pause on clips and the HDD keeps running. Phew! I hope that this might help someone else in the future!

Hopeing this stays fixed (even when the progress bar finished).

[jamieclarke]

Hi @NA.Media - That is great to hear.  Keep us updated on progress.  Happy editing!

[NA.Media]

Thank you!