External disk temperature is no longer correct

[Clairvaux]

This is an external 2,5" backup disk, connected through USB 3.0. It has been monitored by HDS for a while, and temperature changes used to show correctly.

Right now, HDS thinks it's 22°C, which is impossible, since it's in the middle of a backup operation. This usually raises the disk temperature above 30°C and sometimes above 40°C, and indeed HDS still shows 44°C reached a few days ago in the Daily Maximum chart.

I don't think it's a driver issue, or similar. Any ideas ?

[hdsentinel]

Thanks, but do not really think there is a "bug", HDS never "thinks" about temperature

The following situations can happen:

1) the update frequency is set to a very low value at Configuration -> Advanced options page. In this case, Hard Disk Sentinel detects the disk status rarely, so the temperature rise may be not yet detected/updated. By default, Hard Disk Sentinel detects the new status once per every 5 minutes.
Not sure if enabled, but the option "Automatic detection based on disk utilization" below the slider also affects the detection: it may prevent accessing a disk drive (to update its status/temperature) when the disk drive seems not active, if Windows may not provide correct performance counters (so the Disk Performance tab may not able to show the actual transfer rate/utilization).

2) the disk drive may report its power state incorrectly: if the disk seems "sleeping", then Hard Disk Sentinel does not automatically update its status to prevent wake up. Some disk drives (more precisely its USB adapters) suffer from this firmware bug: when the software attempts to verify the power state, it may always show fixed "sleeping" (or active) regardless of the real status. You can verify the current power state on the Information page.

Some other tools completely ignore this and always attempt to detect status, which causes wake up of sleeping disks...

If you'd
- close Hard Disk Sentinel completely by File -> Exit and restart
or
- use the manual update button (the leftmost button in the main window, two blue arrows forming a circle)
then Hard Disk Sentinel would immediately detect the current temperature.

That should happen of course upon the next periodic update cycle too, if the drive seems active.

As always, if you see similar (and generally something "suspicious"), the best is to use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option as it can help to check the actual, real situation. This can confirm what's happening and if there is anything to do (for example to adjust/modify the mentioned settings/options).

[Clairvaux]

Whaaat ? HDS does not think about temperature ? I cannot tell you how disappointed I am...

Thank you for the detailed instructions. While typing this right now, the temperature is correctly shown. Earlier at some point, I did restart HDS, and indeed it changed the temp into the correct one.

I un-ticked Automatic detection based on disk utilization just in case. The interval is at the default 5 minutes.

Good to now about the refresh icon. I had not noticed it, since it does not seem to have its equivalent in the menus (and I'm a menu guy).

What sub-forum should be preferred for such questions, when one asks about a problem, without knowing if it's a bug ? Bug reports, or Questions ?

Also, how should the Send test report feature be used ? Just fire off a report from the software, or ask a question first in the forum, and wait for a request for report ? I don't see a "notes to developer" field in the program.

[hdsentinel]

I mean HDS reads the temperature from the device - and ideally the device reports / provides the value correctly (as eg. some disks may not have accurate temperature sensor).

> What sub-forum should be preferred for such questions, when one asks about a problem,
> without knowing if it's a bug ? Bug reports, or Questions ?

No problems of course, you can generally post in any of them if you're not sure (just please do not post in multiple locations)


> Also, how should the Send test report feature be used ?
> Just fire off a report from the software,

Yes: this is definitely the easiest and fastest. You can use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option (from the menu) or use the corresponding button in the button bar (the globe behind a monitor).

No need to ask question first, as reports seen faster/frequently than the forum...
Also as the report contains details of the actual disk drive/situation, it can help immediately to check and answer/investigate.

> I don't see a "notes to developer" field in the program.

If you open the Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, then a small window appears where you can specify name/e-mail address (if you prefer to have answer) and there you can enter your message, comments, questions etc.

[Clairvaux]

Great. I'm making a note of this.