From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Jun 14 11:41:58 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 46FA11065674 for ; Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:41:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions@m.gmane.org) Received: from plane.gmane.org (plane.gmane.org [80.91.229.3]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4001B8FC18 for ; Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:41:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: from list by plane.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Sf8R0-0001mQ-Gb for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:41:54 +0200 Received: from pool-173-79-82-23.washdc.fios.verizon.net ([173.79.82.23]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:41:54 +0200 Received: from nightrecon by pool-173-79-82-23.washdc.fios.verizon.net with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:41:54 +0200 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org From: Michael Powell Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2012 07:42:11 -0400 Lines: 32 Message-ID: References: <4FD967E8.60305@dreamchaser.org> <20120614080511.0d855639.freebsd@edvax.de> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: pool-173-79-82-23.washdc.fios.verizon.net Subject: Re: USB device activity when not mounted X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: nightrecon@hotmail.com List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:41:58 -0000 Polytropon wrote: > On Wed, 13 Jun 2012 22:26:16 -0600, Gary Aitken wrote: >> I can understand why I would see activity on a USB device >> when it's first plugged in. But why do I see continued >> activity (i.e. the light blinks on a usb disk or memory stick)? >> When I umount one of these, they keep being beat up on and >> it makes me nervous... At what point is it sync'd and safe >> to unplug? I assume when the umount returns, but what's going >> on after that? > > I don't think that's a problem. I've got a USB stick here > that has a blinkenlight as soon as it's powered on (plugged > in), even if there is no reading / writing / mounting activity. > > After you've successfully performed umount, the USB stick _is_ > synced and can safely be removed, no matter what you assume > the funny lights want to tell you. > > Maybe that's just a "modern feature" to make the USB stick "more > entertaining". :-) I think der Blinkenlights is a Windows thing - some Windows driver bit turns it on and off. When you click the 'safe to remove' thing it's supposed to turn it off to tell you it's OK to pull it out. Totally meaningless and useless 'feature' if you're not using Windows, aside from the entertainment. :-) -Mike