So, I have a thinkpad, and I've been using it under NetBSD for the last year
or so.

Around the time of Usenix, it developed a quirk, which is that the IDE drive
activity light stays pegged.  All the time.

It does not do this under Windows.  It used to sometimes stop if I rebooted.
Now it just stays that way all the time.

Any suggestions or explanations?

-s