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.

  • halcyoncmdr@piefed.social
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    16 hours ago

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

      • halcyoncmdr@piefed.social
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        5 hours 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.