[clem-vangelis]

hi guys , i have the same harddrive ( WD passport 160 gb ) i notice the sound too and my solution is to use sdparm to stop the hardrive heads , here is my script :

you'll need sdparm ( sudo aptitude install sdparm )

#!/bin/bash
WD=/dev/sdb1
sudo umount $WD
if [ $? -eq 0 ]
then
echo Stopping heads
sdparm --command=stop $WD
else
echo Unmount Failed !
fi

just replace /dev/sdb1 by your WD passport name and then your WD will shutdown silently ( like in windows