Hardware: 2014 macbook, nuked macos, clean xubuntu 24.04 installation

I never experienced this with my other notebook, a 2016 model from a Taiwanese vendor, forgot the name.

On the macbook: I plug in the external HDD, xubuntu recognizes and opens the volume, I can use vlc to play video files (mostly mkv, x265) but then, 2 to 5 minutes later, xubuntu reconnects to the HDD, meaning the connection stopped and vlc stops playing the file. Not big files, 250 to 500 MiB, 1080p

It’s impossible to watch a 30 minute show.

This never happened with the 2016 notebook and on this notebook I also installed xubuntu 24.04, so I’m assuming this is a hardware issue.

Is it so? Any way to avoid this?

the macbook is an Intel Core i5-4278U CPU @ 2.60GHz, the other notebook an Intel Core i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz

  • FuckyWucky [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    17·
    6 months ago

    Could be a power issue. 2.5" hard drives do require some power. Some external drives have two USB one for data and other for extra power.

    Maybe one of your laptops isn’t supplying enough power or the port is dirty causing resistance and voltage drop. Or it could be something else entirely.

  • plinky [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    7·
    6 months ago

    maybe it is hdd sleep issue? it dumps file into ram, hdd idles, sleeps, laptop disconnects (due to some arcane parameter), it queries it, then it takes time to spin? does same thing happens if you actively do other stuff on hdd (opening/closing file every 2 min for example)?

    • kubica@kbin.social
      4·
      6 months ago

      I’m also betting on this. Trying to find energy-save settings for discs and also for USB might bring something.

      • Pup Biru@aussie.zone
        2·
        6 months ago

        pretty easily to test without getting bogged down in the weeds if you’re comfortable in terminal:

        cd <drive path>
while true; do
  date > test_file.txt
  sleep 10
done

        this will loop infinitely and write the the disk every 10s until you cancel, so should keep the disk awake… of course, if that works you can spend time figuring out how to keep the disk awake, or how to make VLC load less into RAM