Hard drive LED constantly lit on Intel ICH6 IDE

I have the same problem on my:

ASUS P5GDC-Deluxe Board with P4 3,2 Ghz Processor
250 GB Western DIgital SATA disk

All worked fine with kernel 2.6.10 but with 2.6.12 the light turns on at boot.
before loading any service.
I read on the forums that Hard drives are even getting hot because of this so I'
m afraid to use the system now.

(In reply to comment #1)
> I read on the forums that Hard drives are even getting hot because of this so I'
> m afraid to use the system now.

Don't believe everything you read on the forums; this sounds unlikely to me.

Please send lsmod output if you are experiencing this problem; is it specific to
a particular driver?

Here's my lsmod. I don't know if it's driver specific. How could I find that out?

root@mschering:~# lsmod
Module Size Used by
nls_cp437 5664 1
isofs 35960 1
udf 90820 0
rfcomm 38460 0
l2cap 24740 5 rfcomm
bluetooth 48356 4 rfcomm,l2cap
af_packet 21768 2
cpufreq_userspace 4316 0
cpufreq_stats 5252 0
freq_table 4388 1 cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_powersave 1696 0
cpufreq_ondemand 6044 0
cpufreq_conservative 6948 0
video 15748 0
tc1100_wmi 6692 0
sony_acpi 5324 0
pcc_acpi 11104 0
hotkey 9284 0
dev_acpi 11108 0
i2c_acpi_ec 5472 0
button 6480 0
battery 9348 0
container 4384 0
ac 4708 0
ipv6 251200 17
joydev 9984 0
floppy 59124 0
pcspkr 3396 0
rtc 12344 0
usblp 12640 0
sk98lin 202616 1
ohci1394 34356 0
i2c_i801 8556 0
i2c_core 21200 2 i2c_acpi_ec,i2c_i801
tpm_nsc 6656 0
tpm 9888 1 tpm_nsc
snd_hda_intel 16704 1
snd_hda_codec 80096 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm_oss 52704 0
snd_mixer_oss 19296 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 88840 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 24164 1 snd_pcm
snd 54884 8 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixe
r_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore 9600 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 10600 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
shpchp 96996 0
pci_hotplug 27508 1 shpchp
intel_agp 23164 1
agpgart 34792 1 intel_agp
dm_mod 57692 1
evdev 9664 0
tsdev 7776 0
sr_mod 17028 0
sbp2 22952 0
ieee1394 100792 2 ohci1394,sbp2
psmouse 30116 0
mousedev 11616 1
parport_pc 35236 1
lp 12292 0
parport 35912 2 parport_pc,lp
ide_disk 18464 0
md 45584 0
ext3 136264 1
jbd 54776 1 ext3
mbcache 9252 1 ext3
vga16fb 12584 1
vgastate 9664 1 vga16fb
thermal 13000 0
processor 22812 1 thermal
fan 4484 0
usbhid 35264 0
ehci_hcd 34248 0
uhci_hcd 31184 0
usbcore 117884 5 usblp,usbhid,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
sd_mod 19120 3
ide_cd 41572 1
cdrom 39616 2 sr_mod,ide_cd
ide_generic 1376 0
ata_piix 10052 0
ahci 11716 4
libata 50436 2 ata_piix,ahci
scsi_mod 136296 5 sr_mod,sbp2,sd_mod,ahci,libata
piix 10372 1
...

Another thing when I try to do some things with hdparm I get on all options:

root@mschering:~# hdparm -i /dev/sda1

/dev/sda1:
 HDIO_GET_IDENTITY failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device

Maybe this can be of help.

*** Bug 22457 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Here's my lsmod output

Module Size Used by
ipv6 263968 8
binfmt_misc 12456 1
rfcomm 40600 0
l2cap 27840 5 rfcomm
bluetooth 51364 4 rfcomm,l2cap
speedstep_lib 4548 0
cpufreq_userspace 6208 0
cpufreq_stats 6080 0
freq_table 4736 1 cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_powersave 1920 0
cpufreq_ondemand 7208 0
cpufreq_conservative 8140 0
nvidia 3713448 12
agpgart 35436 1 nvidia
video 16004 0
tc1100_wmi 6916 0
sony_acpi 5548 0
pcc_acpi 11360 0
hotkey 9508 0
dev_acpi 11396 0
i2c_acpi_ec 5696 0
button 6704 0
battery 9572 0
container 4608 0
ac 4932 0
af_packet 23656 2
tsdev 8000 0
floppy 60564 0
pcspkr 3880 0
rtc 13672 0
ohci1394 35252 0
i2c_i801 8844 0
i2c_core 21760 2 i2c_acpi_ec,i2c_i801
tpm_nsc 6912 0
tpm 10464 1 tpm_nsc
snd_hda_intel 17856 1
snd_hda_codec 80448 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm_oss 53760 0
snd_mixer_oss 19584 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 92900 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 25956 1 snd_pcm
snd 57764 8
snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore 10176 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 10824 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
shpchp 97860 0
pci_hotplug 28412 1 shpchp
dm_mod 59232 1
evdev 9920 0
sr_mod 17476 0
sbp2 23624 0
ieee1394 103128 2 ohci1394,sbp2
psmouse 30628 0
mousedev 12132 1
parport_pc 36356 1
lp 12548 0
parport 37384 2 parport_pc,lp
md 47536 0
ext3 138824 1
jbd 59768 1 ext3
mbcache 10116 1 ext3
vga16fb 12840 1
vgastate 9888 1 vga16fb
thermal 13320 0
processor 23816 1 thermal
fan 4708 0
usbhid 36096 0
8139too 27264 0
mii 5920 1 8139too
uhci_hcd 32720 0
usbcore 121180 3 usbhid,uhci_hcd
sd_mod 19680 4
ide_cd 42148 0
cdrom 40096 2 sr_mod,ide_cd
ide_generic 1600 0
ata_piix 10308 0
ahci 12164 6
libata 51140 2 ata_piix,ahci
scsi_mod 138472 5 sr_mod,sbp2,sd_mod,ahci,libata
piix 10980 1
ide_core 140628 3 ide_cd,ide_generic,piix
unix 29392 610
fbcon 38880 72
tileblit 2592 1 fbcon
font 8448 1 fbcon
bitblit ...

So far you're both using the ide_generic driver. Please send lspci output as well.

The dparm update didn' t fix it for me too. Here's my lspci:
Can someone confirm that this bug is not dangerous for my hard drive?

root@mschering:~# lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 915G/P/GV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 04)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 915G/P/GV PCI Express Root Port (rev 04)
0000:00:1b.0 0403: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High
Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI
Express Port 1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI
Express Port 2 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #2 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #3 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #4 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family)
USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 PCI Bridge (rev d3)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FR (ICH6/ICH6R) LPC Interface
Bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE
Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801FR/FRW (ICH6R/ICH6RW) SATA
Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus
Controller (rev 03)
0000:01:03.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB22/A IEEE-1394a-2000
Controller (PHY/Link)
0000:02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.: Unknown device
4362 (rev 15)
0000:04:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 014f
(rev a2)
root@mschering:~#

Generic Driver? So something with the hardware scan is up and can't load the
correct driver?
Can we just tell it to use the correct driver?

Anyway, here's my pci list:

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 925X Memory Controller Hub (rev 04)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 925X PCI Express Root Port (rev 04)
0000:00:1b.0 0403: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High
Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI
Express Port 1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #2 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #3 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #4 (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 PCI Bridge (rev d3)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FR (ICH6/ICH6R) LPC Interface
Bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE
Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801FR/FRW (ICH6R/ICH6RW) SATA
Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus
Controller (rev 03)
0000:01:03.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB22/A IEEE-1394a-2000
Controller (PHY/Link)
0000:01:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Accton Technology Corporation SMC2-1211TX (rev 10)
0000:03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 0091
(rev a1)

Here is the output from lspci for my Sony VAIO A497XP:
---
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. Mobile Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. Mobile Memory Controller Hub PCI Express
Port (rev 03)
0000:00:1b.0 0403: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High
Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #2 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #3 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB
UHCI #4 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family)
USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 PCI Bridge (rev d3)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE
Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus
Controller (rev 03)
0000:01:01.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI7420 CardBus Controller
0000:01:01.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments PCI7x20 1394a-2000 OHCI
Two-Port PHY/Link-Layer Controller
0000:01:01.3 Unknown mass storage controller: Texas Instruments PCI7420/PCI7620
Dual Socket CardBus and Smart Card Cont. w/ 1394a-2000 OHCI Two-Port
PHY/Link-Layer Cont. an
0000:01:02.0 Network controller: Intel Corp. PRO/Wireless 2200BG (rev 05)
0000:01:03.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169
Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)
0000:03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 3150
---

I have just noticed that if I run hdparm -i .. I also get the following error,
I'm not sure whether this is a problem or not?

/dev/sda:
 HDIO_GET_IDENTITY failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device

More worrying, is that if I use "sudo smartctl -i /dev/sda" to query the
S.M.A.R.T status of the drive, I get:
smartctl version 5.32 Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

Device: ATA HTS541010G9SA00 Version: MBZO
Serial number: MP2Z80X0G2ME6E
Device type: disk
Local Time is: Wed Sep 28 13:59:21 2005 BST
Device does not support SMART

The BIOS reports that this HD *does* support smart, and that is it enabled, so
something in the smartmon tools isn't working correctly, could this be a related
issue?

Apologies for yet another post, but I have just tried running iostat to check
what it thinks is happening with the disk subsystem.

I ran this under watch (watch -n 1 iostat), and then put my ear against the HD,
it seeks now and then, but it's not hammering away or anything suspicious,
however, iostat is reporting *alarming* stats:

vaio:~$ iostat
Linux 2.6.12-9-386 (vaio) 28/09/05

avg-cpu: %user %nice %sys %iowait %idle
           6.93 0.11 1.48 16.15 75.33

Device: tps Blk_read/s Blk_wrtn/s Blk_read Blk_wrtn
sda 41.22 1624.51 78.85 1278410 62049

I monitor iostat on a lot of my Linux servers at work, as they are heavily
utilised DB boxes and application servers. Typical values on another SATA-based
workstation system are around 30-40 reads/second when idle, and perhaps a few
hundred blocks/second when running a clean build of an enterprise Java
application, but never in the region of 1600 reads/second. I think perhaps
iostat might be mis-reporting the figures - but it does make me wonder....
anyone got any thoughts about this??

Thanks,
Mark

Just tested the 5.10 (Breezy) and 5.04 (Hoary) Live CDs, and this HD LED issue
is not present, so it would appear to be something to do the loading the kernel
from disk rather than CD? Just about run out of ideas now, any help would be
greatly appreciated.

(In reply to comment #10)
> Generic Driver? So something with the hardware scan is up and can't load the
> correct driver?
> Can we just tell it to use the correct driver?

The generic driver is correct for your hardware.

(In reply to comment #14)
> Just tested the 5.10 (Breezy) and 5.04 (Hoary) Live CDs, and this HD LED issue
> is not present, so it would appear to be something to do the loading the kernel
> from disk rather than CD? Just about run out of ideas now, any help would be
> greatly appreciated.

There is no 5.10 CD yet; the release isn't until October 13th. Which Breezy CD
did you try?

The Breezy 5.10 pre-release Live CD and Install CD are both available here:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/5.10/

Install Image: http://releases.ubuntu.com/5.10/ubuntu-5.10-preview-install-i386.iso
Live Image: http://releases.ubuntu.com/5.10/ubuntu-5.10-preview-live-i386.iso

I realise this is preview / pre-release, apologies for any confusion.

This is probably due to the system using the ahci driver now rather than the
ata_piix one. This ought to be correct, but it's possible that there's a minor
bug in the ahci driver.

Could you check /proc/scsi in order to ensure that ahci is actually bound to
your devices? If so, then it's almost certainly just a cosmetic driver bug.

There is a dir ahci in there:

root@mschering:/proc/scsi# ls
ahci device_info scsi
root@mschering:/proc/scsi# cd ahci/
root@mschering:/proc/scsi/ahci# ls
0 1 2 3

[quote]Could you check /proc/scsi in order to ensure that ahci is actually bound to
your devices?[/quote]

Sorry this is a bit above me in linux. How do I do that exactly, or is what
Merijn posted correct?
If so, mine is exactly the same!

Just to say - I get the same bug on my Sony VGN-A397XP.

It happened with the first few kernels in Hoary, too. I remember building my own
kernel to fix it, but finding a couple of weeks later that the current default
kernel was fine.

It looks like this bug is related to the following upstream kernel issue in the
ahci driver:

http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commitdiff;h=c0b34ad2956036cdba87792d6c46d8f491539df1;hp=9309049544935f804b745aa4dea043fb39b2bf2a

The given patch should solve it, as reported by a happy user in this thread:
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/9/25/125

I'll try to patch my kernel here and see if it works.

This bug has been fixed in the latest kernel in our Dapper release. There are no
plans to fix this in breezy.