1TB Expansion card getting hot

Framework Laptop 16 Linux
1

Hi guys,

using KDE Neon 24.04 with kernel 6.8.0-48-generic on my FW 16.
I noticed the expansion storage card (1TB second gen) to get quite hot.
I don’t mind it getting hot when doing massive file transfers (backup), but when not in use, it should be barely noticeable.

Making a test plugged in port 2, while doing massive data transfers, temps raise to 52⁰C, while in idle (not mounted) we are at 37⁰C while the rest of the expansion cards is at 30 (except the charging port at 32⁰C).
BTW - without charging, same results except for the charging port which then goes down to 30⁰C.

IMHO, this is lost energy converted uselessly into heat.

Question: Is there a way to turn the expansion storage card into “powersave” mode when not used? If yes, how?
It shows as /dev/sda device:

$ lsblk 
NAME                                          MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINTS
sda                                             8:0    0 931,5G  0 disk  
└─sda1                                          8:1    0 931,5G  0 part  

$ sudo hdparm -i /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 HDIO_GET_IDENTITY failed: Invalid argument
$ sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda

/dev/sda:

ATA device, with non-removable media
Standards:
        Likely used: 1
Configuration:
        Logical         max     current
        cylinders       0       0
        heads           0       0
        sectors/track   0       0
        --
        Logical/Physical Sector size:           512 bytes
        device size with M = 1024*1024:           0 MBytes
        device size with M = 1000*1000:           0 MBytes 
        cache/buffer size  = unknown
Capabilities:
        IORDY not likely
        Cannot perform double-word IO
        R/W multiple sector transfer: not supported
        DMA: not supported
        PIO: pio0

So no information extractable.

I know this question has already been asked in [RESPONDED] 1TB expansion module is hot - #3 by Scott_H - but no answer really provided regarding the possibility to lower the temp or potential power-saving.

2

Reply to myself:

To power-off a device from the USB bus:

$ udisksctl power-off -b /dev/sda
$ echo "usb2" > "/sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind"

So - this will power-off the storage device, and I unbind the USB port 2 entirely.

To have the system re-scan for the disk - I bind the USB port again with:

$ echo "usb2" > "/sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/bind"

The port names are found under $ ls -l /sys/bus/usb/devices/

So that gives me a way to power off the SSD Storage device when not needed.
Will write a script for that :}

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