Re: Curt --- Re: iotop - or, checking what is accessing a drive
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 <deb@rangingthoughts.org> 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.
> 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.
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.
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