[Bug 21238] New: hal's automount_enabled_hint causes disk to beep every few seconds

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Ubuntu | hal

           Summary: hal's automount_enabled_hint causes disk to beep every
                    few seconds
           Product: Ubuntu
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: i386
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: hal
        AssignedTo: martin.pitt at ubuntu.com
        ReportedBy: akkzilla at shallowsky.com
         QAContact: desktop-bugs at lists.ubuntu.com


After installing either Hoary or Breezy on my Vaio SR17 laptop, the hard drive
emits a very faint beep every couple of seconds, forever. If I put my ear very
close to the machine, in between beeps I can hear clicks. The laptop is also
very sluggish: hitting return in a terminal, moving the mouse, etc. often
doesn't respond for several seconds.

I tracked it down to the hal automount_enabled_hint, which is apparently polling
every few seconds in some way that affects the hard drive. Uncommenting the code
in /etc/hal/fdi/polixy/preferences.fdi (in hoary it was in /etc/hal/hald.conf)
to set automount_enabled_hint to false, then rebooting (is there a better way to
restart hal? It doesn't seem to have an /etc/init.d file) makes the noises stop
and makes the system much more responsive.

Hardware on this laptop which may be relevant to automounting checks:
- There's no built-in CDROM drive. CD is external (via pcmcia or usb).
- There's a built-in memory stick reader (internal but implemented as a USB
device, and seen as sda at boot time) though I very seldom have a memory stick
inserted into it.
- The hard drive (not the original one) is a WD600VE-00HDT0. I don't know if the
original IBM disk  made this beeping noise during the hal polls, because the
drive itself was so noisy the additional noises wouldn't have been audible.

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