Hard Drive Icon

I have enabled the hard drive activity display on my player, but don't know for sure what it is telling me.

I see three different patterns: 1) No icon displayed; 2) A rectangle with greyed dots; 3) A rectangle with bright dots.

What do each of these variations stand for?

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

In reply to:

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I see three different patterns: 1) No icon displayed; 2) A rectangle with greyed dots; 3) A rectangle with bright dots.

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• No icon displayed - the drive is currently spun down


• A rectangle with greyed dots - The drive is spun up, but data isn't being transferred


• A rectangle with bright dots - The drive is spun up, AND data transfer is taking place

-mark

I think you guys are missing a fourth image: A disk icon with NO dots (neither grey or white).

I got the impression that no dots means one thing, and grey dots means another thing. Spin-up vs. spin-down, maybe? Can one of the guys@empeg clarify so we can stick it in the FAQ?

___________
Tony Fabris

I think you guys are missing a fourth image: A disk icon with NO dots (neither grey or white).

Are you sure? I've watched half-way carefully and never seen that one.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

I think that guys@empeg explained it somethilg like this:

1) No box: drive spun down
2) Empty box: drive being spun up (and down?)
3) Box with grey dots: drive spun up (nominal rotational speed), no data transfer
4) Box with white dots: data being transferred

I am not sure whether heads seeking qualify as case 3 or 4 :) Also, I am not sure I'he ever caught it in situation #2.

BTW, are your disk's seeks rather loud? I can hear mine almost across the room (if amp is switched off, of course - music at any normal volume drowns the noise completely). Anyway, it is much louder than my IBM laptop (with, presumably, similar, though much smaller, drive). Hm, perhaps I should postpone waranty-voiding upgrade to two-disk configuration and give this one some more time to fail...

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

BTW, are your disk's seeks rather loud?

I only have a single drive (18 GB) but it seems quiet enough. It sounds about like if someone dropped a paper clip on a wooden table on the other side of the room.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

I only have a single drive (18 GB) but it seems quiet enough. It sounds about like if someone dropped a paper clip on a wooden table on the other side of the room.

Yes, something like that. Well, I can consider it normal, then. Thanks, I am reasurred now.

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Also, I am not sure I'he ever caught it in situation #2 (empty box indicating the disk bein spun up/down).

I looked more closely and empty box indeed appears for about half a second, perhaps a second when disk(s) start/stop. Not that this is of some Earth-shattering importance, though.

I noticed another interesting thing about caching/spinup algorithm: when you just start the player, or switch the shuffle on or off, or skip a track, the drive stays spun up for much longer than usual (a full minute) - obviously waiting for the user to make up his mind and leave the playlist order well alone :)


Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green