Hi Stephen,

This explanation is quie plausible. Also, since I have never used ReiserFS on a Unix installation before it would be why this seems so different to me. Is there a way to either tune the update time or look in some logs to see for sure if this is the activity?

The sound itself is definitely more than just a brief flash of the HD LED. It is a disk access sound of maybe 100 milliseconds or more. Since this disk is kind of loud, it is quite noticeable.