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How to disable this blinking light on a WD External Hard Drive? (thelemmy.club)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I am on Arch Linux and I want to disable this activity indicator light on a WD hard drive. I know there is a software on Windows for doing that, but since I am on Linux, how could I do it? This light is annoying when I am in a dark room.

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[–] 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

No, not quite everyone...

l was about to mention trying to open the case.

Seems like if you own a soldering iron, everything looks like a tinkering project... 😆

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    I do have a soldering iron, but god forbid i won't open up a hard disk lol(even if this is less risky to open this one)

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  • [–] 8 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    This is a standard drive in an external enclosure. They're not opening the drive itself, just the shell around it.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (1 child)

    I mean messing with circuitry around a hard drive can also be problematic

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    Not really. You're not messing with the hard drive itself at all. A hard drive is a sealed component. Unless you're taking an extremely strong magnet near it, dripping it, or trying to directly inject power to the pins on the drive, there is no risk of damaging it.

    You're messing with the plastic shell and maybe a small board that handles low power conversion and the LED. These are very simple things.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    l have to add that I'm ancient and most extemal hard disks I have lying around still have actual 2.5" or even 3.5" devices with standard connectors in there.
    Have opened at least two of those to exchange drives.
    So my perspective is slightly twisted... ;-)

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    I have this exact hard drive, it only cost about $30. If I cared about the light, I would be at least willing to attempt to mechanically disable it. Judging by OP asking, I'm assuming they are too.

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