New T460 - Hard drive turning off and on rapidly when the display turns off

[steveki]

I just got a new T460 and have the standard Lenovo Companion and Settings applications installed on it.  I set up the Windows power management to never turn the hard drive off even when on battery.  Yet, the moment the display goes black (default after 5 minutes on battery) the hard drive turns off and on over and over as fast as it can spin down and spin up.

Almost all power and display feature settings in Lenovo Settings are turned off (Battery Stretch off; Airplane Power Mode Night Mode off; 30 Day Standby off; Battery Charge Threshold off; Dynamic Brightness Control off).  If I set the screen to never turn off, the hard drive doesn't turn off until the designated hard drive power off setting is reached.

I expect the hard drive to obey the Windows power management settings for its power behavior, but it is clearly turning off instantly once the screen goes black.

[steveki · Accepted solution]

I found one workaround for this issue.  If I disable PCI Express power management (defaults to Maximum Power Savings), the hard drive does not spin down the moment the screen turns off.  It would seem that the hard drive and PCI express are tied together in some battle causing the drive to spin down and up repeatedly.

So, if you have a HDD and not an SSD in your T460, I would absolutely recommend you disable the PCI express power management so you don't kill your hard drive in a few month's time (it's recommended that HDD not spin down frequently, because it will burn the motor out quickly.

[bella_b33]

Hi,
I am using a T460p with a 2TB HDD + MSATA SSD and facing exactly the same problem. As long as the screen is bright, the HDD works. Whenever the screen is turned off by Windows Power Management, the HDD start spinning down and up on and on again. I've tried to turn off the PCI Expres Energy Saving...nothing. I've tried to turn off the Link Power Management(Intel Rapid Storage)....nothing.

Bios is up to date(the issue persits since 3,5 years, so it is since i got the Notebook in February 2016).
I would be grateful for any hint about this problem.

Silvio