HDD light always on (non-Thinkpad)

[virge]

I'm working on a Sony PCG-Z505he for a friend of mine and I've managed to upgrade the memory and HDD despite Sony's best efforts.

The machine is up and running, but from the moment its turned on, the HDD light remains lit. Everything works just fine, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why the light is always on. This is an ultraportable and there are no other drives connected.

Does anyone have any suggestions? This is driving me batty!

Here are the specs and changes I've made:
Sony PCG-Z-505HE
450mhz
192mb --> 320mb
8gb hdd --> 40gb
Win98SE --> WinXP

[ajkula66]

A shot in the dark...what AV is on it, if any?

[RealBlackStuff]

Check if the original HD has a jumper, you may have to put that on the new one also.

[GomJabbar]

I had a desktop PC that required the HDD light cable to be plugged directly into the hard drive to work. When it was plugged into the motherboard, the light always stayed on (IIRC). Likely the problem is with the hard drive itself. My guess is there's not much you can do unless there is a jumper to change on the hard drive.

[virge]

ajkula66: I'm not sure what you mean by "AV."

Neither the new nor original HDD have jumpers. The jumpers might be the solution though. I will have to try putting jumpers on the drive to set it as master to see it that makes a difference. Its a PITA remove the HDD, but its worth it to get rid of the light. Its just annoying!

Thanks for all the suggestions. Have a Happy thanksgiving everyone!

[tfflivemb2]

ajkula66: I'm not sure what you mean by "AV."

AV = AntiVirus

I am guessing that he thinks that the AV might be running continually, which is possible.

[BillMorrow]

i have seen HDD access going on continually (at least it lookd to be 24/7) on everything from a 600E to T60p to multiple desktops..
looking at task manager shsows little to no cpu useage, no network activity, nothing that should be accessing the drive yet the light is there and blinking..