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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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)
This is a standard drive in an external enclosure. They're not opening the drive itself, just the shell around it.
I mean messing with circuitry around a hard drive can also be problematic
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.
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... ;-)
That was still i was reffering to. I am still kinda scared to solder in there. Fault in the connector circuit may also end ir
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.