Simple little script to keep my external drive spinning as it likes to go to sleep... lots...

mkspin.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
#
# Keep the external drive spining!
#

require 'fileutils'

# set the name of the file to write
FILE = '/Volumes/Drive_Name/.stayawake'

# add a welcome message, that strange bit of text clears the screen
# SEE: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10261359/ruby-clear-screen
puts <<WELCOME
\e[2J\e[f
*********************
** Drive Spinner ****
*********************

WELCOME

# keep touching a file on the drive every 10 minutes
1.upto Float::INFINITY do |i|

  if File.writable? FILE

    puts "Keeping the drive spinning... forever...\n\r" if i.eql? 1

    # touch file
    FileUtils.touch FILE

    # sleep for 10 minutes
    sleep 600

  else

    # break out of the loop
    puts "File looks like it's not writeable, is the drive mounted?\n\r"
    break

  end

end