EE TV Box Pro hard drive always active

[RonnyBatty]

I received my new TV box a couple of days ago and noticed the hard drive was continually spinning, even when watching terrestrial TV through the aerial. When the box is on standby I can hear the HDD spin with the occasional read/write every few seconds. This NEVER stops, so the box needs to be switched off at the wall before going to bed or work.

It's a brand new box with the latest software version installed. Other than the HDD problem the box works fine, but I'm concerned that this will cause overheating, particularly worrying if I'm not at home. Has anyone else noticed this problem? I've tried a full factory reset but that seems to have caused the HDD to read/write continuously, even on standby.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Alex_H]

Hi @RonnyBatty,

Welcome to the EE Community

I can definitely understand your concerns with the box HDD constantly going. We would have recommended a factory reset in this case so if that has not resolved it when you tried, then I would recommend getting in touch with our TV tech team to report the issue and they will be able to provide further support. Contact Us To Request Technical Support for EE TV | EE

Alex

[Midnight_Voice]

@RonnyBatty 

When you are watching TV through the aerial on your EE box, it is recording a 90-minute buffer to support any Live Pause and Rewind you might do.

When your box is in Standby and apparently doing nothing, it is receiving a constant stream of data from EETV ; programme start/stop times, programme metadata and so on, some of which it must add to the EPG and so on, so it doesn’t  cause a delay when you switch to this.

The box is designed to run its drive 24/7 if needed, and the drive is likewise designed for this duty cycle.

Switching it off overnight or when you go to work negates its use as a remote recording device; and additionally, increases the workload on the disc when you switch it on again, as it has to catch up with what it missed while it was off.

Try leaving it to itself. This should minimise the hard disc activity. 

[RonnyBatty]

Thanks for the responses. I don't think the box is faulty, I just feel the HDD spinning 24/7 is unnecessary when the TV is only used 4-6 hours a day.

As mentioned by @Midnight_Voice, the box needs to store a buffer of data to allow rewinding and also needs to keep the EPG up to date, so the guide responds quickly. I have no problem with HDD access while I'm watching TV, it's actually very quiet.

I managed to get the behaviour I was looking for by changing Standby Mode to Energy Saver. The box clicks off after a few minutes on standby and the fan & HDD stop. This does mean the initial startup takes a bit longer (about a minute), but I only do this once a day so it's not a problem.

I also noticed that SMART mode goes into Deep Sleep at a specified time (1AM to 5AM default), so this may also result in the same behaviour. I've not had a chance to check this yet.

[Midnight_Voice · Accepted solution]

@RonnyBatty 

Good find!

That minute is of course the hard disc catching up, among other things, and people with other boxes, earlier and slower perhaps, have reported 4-5 minute startups, so 1 minute is excellent.

Energy Saver and Deep Sleep are pretty much the same thing, so you might want to look at setting SMART mode Deep Sleep to practically 24 hours, as far as possible, and if you regularly start the Box at or around a certain time, have it come out of Deep Sleep just before that, so it’s ready for you without even the one minute delay ⏱️

[RonnyBatty]

Yeah, that's a good idea. I can switch back to SMART mode and set Deep Sleep from 1AM to just before I return from work.

Would be great if the remote supported two standby modes. Normal press of the EE button for what it currently does and long press for Deep Sleep. I'll wait with anticipation for that feature update 😏

[Midnight_Voice]

@RonnyBatty 

Take a packed lunch 😛