Strix G18 storage light rapidly flashing almost all the time.

[Clownzilla]

Pretty much what the title says. Not sure why it's doing this. Any help would be appriciated.

[Anbby_ROG]

Hi @Clownzilla ,

Could you please share the full model of your laptop with us?
When the hard drive indicator light flashes, it usually means data is being accessed. Have you replaced or added an SSD?
Are you experiencing any issues during use? Please let us know so that we can provide you with further assistance. Thank you!

[Clownzilla]

The model is G814JZR. I unmounted the drive from windows and the light still rapidly flashed (like a strobing effect). It stopped when I removed the drive from the computer. Wasn't seeing a lot of activity on the task manager either. So it seemed like the fact it was installed was causing the issue. Even though I unmounted the drive. Bought a Crucial SSD and the strobing HD light is gone. However, seeing a lot of activity from the Wsappx process which is attached to the Microsoft store (which I don't use) and some other services like the State Repository Service (which is some Windows function). Just constant blinking now (mostly at the same intervals) even when idol but not strobing. I might try to look into what I can disable. Not sure if any of this is related to the strobing issue.

[Clownzilla · Accepted solution]

Looks like the Wsappx process was a big part of the issue. Been some complaints. It has to do with the Microsoft app store and for some reason it likes to continuously use resources. Have to disable it from starting in the registry and after that my drive usage plummeted. However, there was something MAJORLY wrong with the Samsung 990 EVO SSD. I know those have issues that a firmware update apparently fixes but this might have been something else. Somebody else on Reddit described the same issue I had after installing a Samsung EVO (older model) on an ASUS G series laptop but he didn't get any replies.

[Anbby_ROG]

Based on your description, the issue seems to occur only with Samsung SSD.
We recommend trying to replace the SSD with the original configuration to see if the problem persists. Thank you!

[Clownzilla]

As stated in my post, I believe the Samsung EVO 990 has a major issue. Removing the Samsung SSD resolves the problem of rapid drive access.  Not sure if it's an issue with ASUS or Samsung. Given the previous Samsung SSD issues I would assume it's Samsung's issue.