Das blinkenlights

[cr]

My laptops (Thinkpad A20m, R50) talk to my wireless router using Dick Smith /
TP-Link PCMCIA cards (Atheros chipset). Usually the Status light stays
steady and the Activity light almost never blinks.

But I just installed Debian 6 Squeeze and the Activity and Status lights flash
together, full brightness, at about 1-second intervals. The card works
fine, but the steady blinking is a bit distracting.

Has anyone experienced this? Is this a bad sign?

cr

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[Daniel Pittman]

Post by cr
My laptops (Thinkpad A20m, R50) talk to my wireless router using Dick Smith /
TP-Link PCMCIA cards (Atheros chipset).    Usually the Status light stays
steady and the Activity light almost never blinks.
But I just installed Debian 6 Squeeze and the Activity and Status lights flash
together, full brightness, at about 1-second intervals.   The card works
fine, but the steady blinking is a bit distracting.
Has anyone experienced this?    Is this a bad sign?

A bunch of the wireless drivers picked up the ability to flash the
activity LED, rather than just let it stay still, over time. The
upgrade probably just pulled in a newer driver and turned on that
"feature".

I had the same thing happen with the Intel wireless card in my
Thinkpad a while back.

Daniel

[Nick Rout]

Post by cr
My laptops (Thinkpad A20m, R50) talk to my wireless router using Dick Smith /
TP-Link PCMCIA cards (Atheros chipset).    Usually the Status light stays
steady and the Activity light almost never blinks.
But I just installed Debian 6 Squeeze and the Activity and Status lights flash
together, full brightness, at about 1-second intervals.   The card works
fine, but the steady blinking is a bit distracting.

I hear that black nail polish is good for fixing annoying leds.

Post by cr
Has anyone experienced this?    Is this a bad sign?
cr
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[Bruce Clement]

Post by Nick Rout
I hear that black nail polish is good for fixing annoying leds.

Done something similar, but I prefer bluetack as it can be easily removed
for diagnostic purposes
--
Bruce Clement

Home: http://www.clement.co.nz/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Bruce_Clement
Directory: http://www.searchme.co.nz/

"Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good
appreciation of everything that already exists in this field." Mikhail
Kalashnikov
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[Nevyn]

Post by Bruce Clement

Post by Nick Rout
I hear that black nail polish is good for fixing annoying leds.
Done something similar, but I prefer bluetack as it can be easily removed

for diagnostic purposes

Black insulation tape - clean straight lines...

Regards,
Nevyn
http://nevsramblings.blogspot.com/
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[cr]

Post by Nick Rout

Post by cr
My laptops (Thinkpad A20m, R50) talk to my wireless router using Dick
Smith / TP-Link PCMCIA cards (Atheros chipset).    Usually the Status
light stays steady and the Activity light almost never blinks.
But I just installed Debian 6 Squeeze and the Activity and Status lights
flash together, full brightness, at about 1-second intervals.   The card
works fine, but the steady blinking is a bit distracting.

I hear that black nail polish is good for fixing annoying leds.

I'd thought of that, but I prefer to be a little less drastic. A small bit
of a Post-it note stuck in the right place should do (same as I use over the
far-too-bright 'high beam' warning light on my car dash. It lets through
some light at a non-distracting intensity.)

Post by Nick Rout

Post by cr
Has anyone experienced this?    Is this a bad sign?
cr

I gather from the comments that my wireless card is not about to catch fire...

cr

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[Bruce Clement]

Post by cr
I gather from the comments that my wireless card is not about to catch fire...

Does it feel hot?

Is it giving off smoke?

Has the insulation tape / nail polish / bluetack melted or the post-it
browned?

If you can answer "No" to those three questions you're probably safe.

Disclaimer: I'm a software developer, not a hardware expert.
--
Bruce Clement

Home: http://www.clement.co.nz/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Bruce_Clement
Directory: http://www.searchme.co.nz/

"Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good
appreciation of everything that already exists in this field." Mikhail
Kalashnikov
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[cr]

Post by Bruce Clement

Post by cr
I gather from the comments that my wireless card is not about to catch fire...

Does it feel hot?
Is it giving off smoke?
Has the insulation tape / nail polish / bluetack melted or the post-it
browned?
If you can answer "No" to those three questions you're probably safe.
Disclaimer: I'm a software developer, not a hardware expert.

Reminds me of an old tagline -
"If it's not actually on fire, it's a software problem"
:-)

Thanks all who answered

cr

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[Martin D Kealey]

Post by cr
Reminds me of an old tagline -
"If it's not actually on fire, it's a software problem"

I've seen a system literally start smoking *because* of a software problem:
masking interrupts and therefore not responding to an overheat alarm and
cranking down the clock speed.

(Fortunately it was just the paint on the outside of a load-dumping resistor
and I hit the power switch before anything more significant was damaged.)

-Martin

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[Nevyn]

Post by Martin D Kealey

Post by cr
Reminds me of an old tagline -
"If it's not actually on fire, it's a software problem"

(Fortunately it was just the paint on the outside of a load-dumping resistor
and I hit the power switch before anything more significant was damaged.)
-Martin

Thus it's a hardware problem - you hit the power switch. Hardware ;) Once
the power switch was hit, then it became software... (No longer smoking)

Regards,
Nevyn
http://nevsramblings.blogspot.com/
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