On Fri 22 Mar 2019 at 16:16:51 (-0400), deb wrote: > On 3/22/19 4:00 PM, David Wright wrote: > > On Fri 22 Mar 2019 at 14:00:24 (-0400), deb wrote: > > > On 3/22/19 1:48 PM, Curt wrote: > > > > On 2019-03-22, deb <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Depending on what's on the disk, it might be more useful to just use > > > > > > lsof to see what files are open and try to understand what those > > > > > > might > > > > > > be doing. > > > > I believe you said that the external USB drive's LED remains on, even > > > > after unmounting, and that indicates to you that there's activity on the > > > > drive. I've always labored under the idea that a *flashing* light > > > > indicated activity and a steady one an idle state. > > > > > > > > Now it occurs to me that these signal indications may depend on the make > > > > and model of the drive itself. > > > > > > > > What should be the behavior of the LED on your drive when the drive is > > > > unmounted and/or inactive? > > > YES -- this differs by manufacturer. > > … and by model, in the case of Seagate. > > > > > Just a reminder -- the bulk of mine are Seagate Backup Plus (1-5TB. > > > USB 3.0). > > > On Windows, when you dismount (Safely Remove) these > > > the light goes off. > > I've never seen the light go off until it spins down (those that do). > > > > > It is On when connected and very dimmly flashed when being accessed. > > > So, it can flash a bit when indexes are up[dated, > > > or a file is flushed -- and go right back to steady on. > > My 5TB doesn't ever flash or dim; a little annoying. > > > > > I only *feel* safe, pulling the cable when the light is OFF. > > If you're really worried, first remount the partitions readonly, which > > will fail if they're in use. Then unmount them and disconnect. > > Good idea David. > > I'll add this to the list.
It was only a recommendation for yourself. > by-the-by, (when I last checked) Windows does NOT have a mount > read-only notion. > > The recommended approach when I last looked was to rip through each > file and folder setting them individually to read-only. > > Guess how long that takes on a 5TB? > > Now multiply that guess by an office of drives; with people wanting to > switch them back and forth R-O -> W -> R-O One would presumably be expected to script it if there's no equivalent of chmod -R. But I have no idea whether the semantics of write-protected directories is the same in Windows as it is in linux, and particularly for NTFS which I only ever mount RO. > > > Again, I can NOT suffer a data-loss-because-of-Evil-Linux situation, > > > giving the Windows-folk ammo. > > Disks occasionally fail for everyone, irrespective of OS. > > > > > I wanted to switch to your name in the Subject Curt, > > > but Jim P. will yell at me. :-) > > > > > > > > > Screw it --- I switched it anyway. > > I can already see whose post yours is commenting on. The rule is simple: > > Change the subject line if the subject changes, > > Don't change the subject line if the subject doesn't change. > > Ack on the subject-line change. > > I am one-time switching this one's back. > > > Now then -- where ARE these rules? > > I'd like to hand a list to new users. > > Obviously, I don't know them all. The more important ones are at https://www.debian.org/MailingLists/ Otherwise, "When in Rome" generally works best. That's why most people lurk a while before they first post to a new list. (That's not meant personally.) > > On a technical point, there are those whose less functional > > mail clients thread by subject line rather than Message-ID. > > Their threading get totally fragmented by all your changes. Cheers, David.
