After initial Ubuntu kernel boot starts HD light remains constantly on

[Mark Mc]

See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/SonyVaioA497XP for full details on
the machine spec

I have installed Ubuntu Breezy 5.10 pre-release. When I boot into Ubuntu, after
the very first initial bootstrapping loads, the HD light goes off, then comes
back on as Ubuntu boots up. After this point, the HD light remains continuously
lit. This is a nuisance, as you cannot tell when something is happening on the
disk, and when it is idle.

Interesingly, the CDROM LED works perfectly fine. I know that the VGN-A4xx
series has S-ATA hard disks, but I doubt the CD/DVD drive is using this
controller, so perhaps this is a SATA related problem?

If any further information is required for debugging purposes, please let me know.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/SonyVaioA497XP: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/SonyVaioA497XP

[Paul Sladen (sladen)]

Hello Mark,

Does this continue to happen if the laptop is powered on and left alone for 1
hour? It could be the cronjobs (updatedb in particular) catching up. That
would make sense if it was for 10minutes or more.

[Mark Mc (mark-ubuntu-vaio-laptop-testing-bugzilla)]

Hi Paul,

It's not hard disk activity that causes the LED to stay on .. it's something
else. I've had the laptop on for hours and hours at a time, and using something
like xosview or the gnome system monitor, it shows zero activity on the disk,
yet the light stays on permanently.

Might be worth saying also, that the LED comes on before Linux even starts
loading the services, so it's very early on in the boot process.

[Matt Zimmerman (mdz)]

Bug #21585 and bug #21852 describe similar problems

[Mark Mc (mark-ubuntu-vaio-laptop-testing-bugzilla)]

I have read the 2 similar bugs, and they do indeed report very similar issues.
Being a Sony Laptop, the harddisk is very quiet, but if you hold your ear to it,
you can hear it seeking...however, the LED stays on permanently, and no noise
can be hear most of the time.

If any logs / command outputs from my system are required, please let me know.

[Merijn Schering (mschering)]

I have the same problem on my:

ASUS P5GDC-Deluxe Board with P4 3,2 Ghz Processor
250 GB Western DIgital SATA disk

All worked fine with kernel 2.6.10 but with 2.6.12 the light turns on at boot.
before loading any service.
I read on the forums that Hard drives are even getting hot because of this so I'
m afraid to use the system now.

[Matt Zimmerman (mdz)]

This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 21852.