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Strange computer question?????

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by topkick, Dec 22, 2007.

  1. topkick

    topkick Member

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    Actually it's a question about USB hard drives. I just purchased a Toshiba 200Gig USB hard drive and it has a power light on the front but it shows no activity when the drive is in use. I have several smaller USB drives and they all have activity lights on them.

    I know there are a lot of computer tech's on here that own a prius so I thought I would ask. The Toshibas USB drive come in 100/120/200/250Gig. If anyone has one and can tell me if the blue light on the drive is only a power light or if it also should show activity? The documentation that comes with the drive does not say and their web site does not say anything more than the pamplet that comes with the drive.

    Thanks for any info you might give me.

    Jim
     
  2. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I do not have this brand or specific drive, but I have two trains of thought on this subject.

    The first is that the external drives I have flash when there is activity.
    The second is that as long as the drive is working, don't worry about it.

    Though I suppose that if it bothers you, you should return it for another one and see if that one flashes with use.
     
  3. topkick

    topkick Member

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    Thaks, I just have not seen an external drive that does not indicate when there is activity and for the price it should work correctly, so I may have to return it in a few days if I don't find a definate answer.
     
  4. TheForce

    TheForce Stop War! Lets Rave! Make Love!

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    I had an old external HD case and all it has was the power light. If its working don't worry about it. If you want a flashing light I think you can add one for a few penny's. All you need is an LED, some wire, some solder, and know where to solder the wires.
     
  5. topkick

    topkick Member

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    Thanks for the input. It is a sealed case so no way to add a light to it. I found someone with one and the light is mostly a power indicator, however it does blink about every 20-30 seconds while transfering files.

    Jim
     
  6. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    If it's a physical disk, there may be an LED on it, inside the
    box. If there's any kind of ventilation hole in the case, peer
    in there while it's transferring and see if you can see any kind
    of glow from that LED [uselessly against the inside of the box,
    of course]. Many drives have, or at least had up until recently,
    a pair of pins designed to receive a little connector that goes
    out to the "HDD" on a computer case.
    .
    Light or no light, remember to do a proper dismount/eject/whatever
    before yanking the connection. The activity light may not be
    enough to indicate that there are some "dirty" in-memory blocks
    that haven't been written out yet, but proper unmounting should
    guarantee that it's all flushed.
    .
    _H*
     
  7. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    I have a big external drive. Presently connected by firewire but also supporting usb. There is only a power light on the front. There seems to be no indication of activity, though if the power light blinked during activity I might not have noticed it. It's only for backups, which happen automatically, so I pay it little attention.

    As hobbit says, always unmount before disconnecting.
     
  8. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Normally, I can hear the HD so I don't even need to look the LED indicator. Yea, there are time when it is transferring sequencial blocks and I can't hear it but has to rely on the LED.
     
  9. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    I just noticed that when my external HD is active, the power light does a little blinky dance between its top and bottom halves. When not active, the light is on solid.
     
  10. tleonhar

    tleonhar Senior Member

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    Yup, that's what mine does as well.