Problem: Persistent 15-Minute "Pokes" Preventing HDD Spindown (TrueNAS SCALE 25.10.2)

:stop_sign: Problem: Persistent 15-Minute “Pokes” Preventing HDD Spindown (TrueNAS SCALE 25.10.2)

System Environment:

  • OS: TrueNAS-SCALE-25.10.2 (Goldeye)

  • Hardware: 9-Drive HDD Array (MainPool), separate SSD Boot-Pool, separate NVMe App-Pool.

  • Services: System Dataset is confirmed on the boot-pool (SSD). All Apps (Jellyfin, etc.) are on NVMe. No SMB/NFS activity during the test window.

The Issue: Despite a 120-minute spindown timer being set, the drives never enter standby. Power consumption stays at 100W (active) instead of dropping to the expected 67W (idle/standby).

The Evidence (Logs): Looking at /var/log/syslog, I am seeing a “heartbeat” from truenas_audit_handler.py almost exactly every 15–16 minutes (e.g., 03:14, 03:30, 03:45). This periodic audit/polling is resetting the internal ZFS/HDD idle timers before they can ever hit the 120-minute threshold.

Roadblocks in 25.10.2:

  1. Missing UI Options: The “Enable S.M.A.R.T.” toggle and “S.M.A.R.T. Extra Options” boxes are no longer present in the Disk Edit UI for this version.

  2. Middleware API Changes: Attempting to mute the service via CLI (midclt call smart.update '{"powermode": "STANDBY"}') returns “Method does not exist,” indicating the legacy S.M.A.R.T. API has been removed or replaced.

  3. Kernel Polling: It appears the new drivetemp kernel module or Netdata reporting is polling the drives for temperature/stats every 15 minutes, acting as a “forced wake-up” or timer reset.

The Question for the Forum: In 25.10.2, how do we globally force the middleware/audit-handler to respect standby states or increase the polling interval of drivetemp so that a 120-minute spindown timer can actually complete?

1 Like

Spinndown is broken since 25.10, because a new kernel module for temp probing got added which prevents spinn down, you’d have to disable the temp probing

Edit:
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I am reverting back to older version I need to save power California cost lost for power. Thanks for the help.