Turn off internal hard disk on WL700ge?

[Bunny Rabbit]

Hi,

Is there a way to switch off the built in hard disk on my ASUS WL700ge router
and only have internet connection running?
My hard disk makes noises when i need to sleep
But others need to use the internet and so far i have to switch off the unit to sleep

Thanks

[Guru]

Hi,

Is there a way to switch off the built in hard disk on my ASUS WL700ge router
and only have internet connection running?
My hard disk makes noises when i need to sleep
But others need to use the internet and so far i have to switch off the unit to sleep

Thanks

hahahahahahahahahahahaha I agree, it makes quiet a bit of noise at night but I'm downloading BT torrents so it's ok I guess.
Someone was working on a custom firmware to spin down the hard-drive or set it in idle when it's not used.
In order to do so you would have to download linux and know basic programing.
People who make custom firmware don't share it with the rest of the community, they might give you the source code but like I said you need linux to make it happen.

[jfletcher]

I can still access the internet with mine switched off

[Guru]

I can still access the internet with mine switched off

Really? I had no clue you can do that, will try it out.

I think his friends are using the internet via wireless connection and the router needs to be on.

[Bunny Rabbit]

I can still access the internet with mine switched off

JFLETCHER

Please can you tell us what you did to allow your hard disk to spin down and allow internet traffic only.

Many Thanks

[bubieyehyeh]

JFLETCHER

Please can you tell us what you did to allow your hard disk to spin down and allow internet traffic only.

Many Thanks

On my WL-HDD I use "hdparm" can't remember the command line option off-hand.

[jfletcher]

I should tell you that my WL-700ge is configured as an access point - internet access is provided by an adsl router. Also, all the connections to the WL-700ge are by wire. But, yes, if I punch the power button (far left on the front panel), all the lights go out, but the internet's still there and the machines can still see each other.

[Guru]

I should tell you that my WL-700ge is configured as an access point - internet access is provided by an adsl router. Also, all the connections to the WL-700ge are by wire. But, yes, if I punch the power button (far left on the front panel), all the lights go out, but the internet's still there and the machines can still see each other.

I tried it and it didn't work.
All connections are made by wire and the wl-700ge is configured as an access point.
o well, I guess we have to wait on Asus to fix some of this problems or maybe a community member will grow a heart and upload a custom firmware that can easily upgrade the current one without the need of linux

[jfletcher]

I tried it and it didn't work.
All connections are made by wire and the wl-700ge is configured as an access point.
o well, I guess we have to wait on Asus to fix some of this problems or maybe a community member will grow a heart and upload a custom firmware that can easily upgrade the current one without the need of linux

I'm mystified by that. I don't have the technical knowledge to understand why this is working for me.

[d3viant]

I can get the hard drive to shutdown using MoD's modified firmware (from this forum)

I use the command hdparm -y /dev/ide/host2/bus0/target0/lun0/disc when I am in a telnet session.

HOWEVER: The hard drive seems to constantly need to be accessed, so it shuts down for 30 seconds or so, then spins up again. If you use the option of spinning the hard drive down after a certain amount of time (hdparm -S ) it never gets to that timeout as each hard drive period of activity resets the counter.

So right now, it isn't possible to get the disk to sleep properly...

[kfurge]

So right now, it isn't possible to get the disk to sleep properly...

It's possible, I've confirmed it. Just do a little more:

killall -q -9 watchdog
mount -o remount,noatime,nodiratime /shares/MYVOLUME1
hdparm -S 60 /dev/ide/host2/bus0/target0/lun0/disc
smartctl -dT /dev/ide/host2/bus0/target0/lun0/disc

You'll need to adjust the mount command appropriately for your system. I've modified box with a usuable fstab which makes my usage of mount easier.

I'll be posting a binary and patches against the 1.0.4.6 sources soon.

- K.C.

[Mpu]

Hi,
Is there a way to switch off the built in hard disk on my ASUS WL700ge router
and only have internet connection running?

There is (unused)configuration page for disk power management in WL700gE fw-1.0.4.2
"http://192.168.1.1/disk_management/disk_power_management.asp"
but naturally it doesn't work Maybe its possible to fix it somehow ?

[kfurge]

There is (unused)configuration page for disk power management in WL700gE fw-1.0.4.2
"http://192.168.1.1/disk_management/disk_power_management.asp"
but naturally it doesn't work Maybe its possible to fix it somehow ?

I don't think so.

I tested the three of the steps listed below individually, and in combination, to see what was keeping the HDD spinning. It was necessary to execute all three of them to get the drive to spin down.

The main culprit was watchdog. It regularly pings the internal web server, the web server, in turn, makes a temporary file on the HDD which which keeps the drive spinning.

- K.C.