SSD activity light active when laptop switched off?

googler

almillar wrote: »

1. DON'T DEFRAG SSDs. DON'T!

I'm not trying to defrag it. There's no need to shout.

2. Windows XP doesn't know what an SSD is. Why are you still using XP?

... but it still installs, and still runs on it. Why would it think it's anything other than a fast HDD?

I'm using XP because it pleases me to do so.

3. You should have the BIOS set to AHCI for an SSD when you install in, then a fresh install of Windows 7 or 8 SHOULD activate TRIM (see above) to make efficient use of the space.

I don't have Win 7 or 8 to install. I've already installed XP on it, it seems to work OK apart from the problem mentioned in the OP. Can you help with that?

4. REMEMBER NOT TO DEFRAG!

I'm not. Don't shout.

Nilrem

Windows XP can treat the drive as just a fast hdd, but that means it isn't treating it how SSD's tend to need to be treated, which isn't just as a faster spinning disk.

IE behaviour that is normal (and preferred, especially under XP) for a normal HDD can lessen the lifespan of an SSD considerably.

Basically the OS needs to know to do things like turn on trim and reduce the number of unnecessary read/writes to the HDD.

Windows Vista from memory often needed drivers (usually supplied by the SSD manufacturer) to know this and deal with it, Windows 7 and 8 have the support built in (generally), as the SSD specific features for the hard drive controllers (which mean generic drivers will support them, and windows will support it out of the box), were not incorporated into the SATA drive spec until V2, and even then not every drive controller natively supported the full spec as SATA v3 (6gbs) was from memory the first version to have everything in it as a basic requirement*.

Windows XP simply doesn't support SATA "natively" (even v1 which didn't support SSD specific features as a basic part of the spec), hence the questions about did you install drivers - the basic SATA controller driver may not tell Windows XP to handle the drive properly for the best use of it, and the best lifespan.

What I'm saying is, that whilst drives have remained compatible (generally) with the controller regardless of the relative generations of the interface on both sides, they default to the lowest standard they both agree on.

This is a bad thing for SSD's, as whilst they'll work as standard HDD's (albeit very fast ones), it means they're missing the parts of the drive instruction set that lets them work reliably for the most time.
Hence the question about if you've installed drivers - as those drivers will do things like tell the OS to to automatically run defrag.


*The old PATA/IDE interface physically remained the same for something like 15 years and at least 6 major versions, and old IDE drives would work on new controllers and vice versa, but things like CD drives (first supported in something like the third major version of the IDE spec) wouldn't work with V1 or 2 controllers, and your fast V4/5/6 HDD would run a lot slower.

Jemma-T

I have 2 Crucial SSDs both had their firmware updated recently http://forums.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/bd-p/ssd

That activitity light problem seems to affect a lot of people.

Whomever your manufacturer is get the latest firmware.

I'd not recommend an SSD to anyone as they still seem a bit new and problematic for most users. Great startup and access times no doubt but far from perfect operation.

vuvuzela

Jemma-T wrote: »

I'd not recommend an SSD to anyone as they still seem a bit new and problematic for most users. Great startup and access times no doubt but far from perfect operation.

SSD's have been around for around 10 years now, becoming more mainstream in the last 3/4. I'd definitely recommend them to people as when used with the right version of Windows (ie not XP) they are excellent.

almillar

The defrag panel carries no indication that it's running automatically - I've always defragged manually in the past.

Sorry for shouting - though it's good advice - the above set alarm bells ringing.
RE: XP - fine by me - though you're being left behind, and more importantly will lose support from MS soon. I guess I'm just confused at buying these ultra modern SSDs and sticking with XP. It doesn't have TRIM as you've been advised, so it doesn't treat the SSD like an SSD, it'll just throw data at it. You MAY be able to get drivers from the SSD manufacturer though.
And no, sorry, but I can't think why the light would be flashing away long after the computer has switched off.

googler

I tried a dual-boot setup with Ubuntu booting from CD, and XP booting from the SSD; regardless of Op Sys, and regardless of whether or not machine is powered up or not, the HDD activity light persists in flashing repeatedly every half second or so, so it doesn't seem to be OS-related.

spannerzone

You sure it's not something like a BIOS setting such as 'wake on lan' or such like where the PC is in a mode that can be woken up by a magic packet over the network?

Just a wild guess.

googler

I'll trawl the BIOS later and see what I can find...

I_have_spoken

I'll trawl the BIOS later

You'll certainly want to attempt setting the BIOS from ATA to AHCI mode, but that'll need a reinstall of Windows XP and having the Dell drivers to hand as AHCI drivers weren't in XP. AHCI improves the speed of disk access.

I put Intel Rapid Storage Technology onto Windows to manage SATA AHCI.

That said, if your Dell still has 512MB of RAM an SSD won't help much