On 4/8/2010 3:51 PM, Tejas Guruswamy wrote:
On 08/04/10 22:26, John Andersen wrote:
*Safely remove is NOT a sufficient option*. Basically USB devices simply have buffers flushed and files closed, with safely removed. This might work for a dumb stick but for other things like cameras, ereaders and some phones its not good enough. The assertion is often made that the device is mounted synchronously and therefore needs no unmount option.
However, some devices (my Barnes and Noble nook for example) do not return to normal operation until they are dimounted, and they don't charge their battery till they do return to normal operation, and you can't do anything with the device while it is mounted. Same for many Cameras. You have to de-cable the device.
I would love to see a true Eject added back into the Device Notifier (I'm on KDE 4.4.2).
Sorry, I don't understand your problem. "Safely remove" is a filesystem sync AND an unmount - I have never had it not unmount for any device. If your devices are not recognizing being unmounted, I think you are encountering a different issue - I would ask if you unmount the device from the command line does it recognize it is disconnected? Does it behave similarly in Windows?
Regards, Tejas
Well, I thought I 'splained it fairly succinctly, but let me try again. There are some devices that use USB connections and appear on Linux as disk drives. These devices have other functionality besides JUST being a USB storage stick. Examples include Cameras. Ereaders, cellphones, etc. I have an Olympus camera, a Nicon CoolPix camera, and a Nook ereader. All of these act the same way under linux. You plug them in, and the KDE Device Notifies shows them as recently plugged in devices, reports WHAT they are, and show you a list of things you can do with the device. (Download pictures, copy files, explore with Dolphin, etc). So far so good. These devices typically will NOT perform their primary function when plugged in as a USB storage device. Can't take pictures. Can't read ebooks. My Cameras just show a blank screen and are unresponsive to any buttons or controls. My nook pops up a stylized picture of a USB cable, its way of telling you it is acting as a USB storage drive, and won't allow any other functions while mounted as a USB storage device. So, to to regain functionality of the device, you would expect to click the Eject icon that shows on the Device notifier. *Two problems*: 1) the icon does not show till you click the little symbol that says make this available to other programs 2) After making it available, the eject symbol simple does what it calls a "safely remove". The device is still connected as a USB device. It still will not allow you to read ebooks or take pictures because IT believes it is still in use as a USB storage device. There is no way to use Device Notifier to do a real eject. The option is not available. There is no command line I can find to eject it either, because it is not mounted, does not appear in fstab or mtab. So it sits there and there is nothing you can do but yank the cord. (Worse, it drains the battery on the device). *Under Windows 7*, the Tray icon for USB devices offers a Safely Remove. It acts EXACTLY the same way. The USB device is made un-available for read write, but the device Still thinks its connected as a USB storage device and will not honor its intended purpose. However, if you call up Windows Explorer, Right click the drive icon you will be offered an EJECT option in the context menu. That Eject WORKS. The camera returns to functionality, the nook allows ebook reading. *In KDE 3.5*, a desktop icon appeared when a usb device was plugged in. The context menu of this Desktop icon had a Safely remove option that would actually do an EJECT, and the device properly recognized that it was disconnected and returned to its normal function (taking pictures or reading ebooks). (You can't remount these ejected devices without re-plugging them). *Under Gnome*, Nautilus offers three options: 1) Safely Remove, which fails as often as not, 2) Unmount, which leave the usb device connected and you can remount it, but Camera won't function, and ereader won't read ebooks, and 3) Eject which restores functionality to the devices, (but you can't remount them without replugging them). *But under KDE 4.4.2* Eject is not possible. There is no command line that I can find to do the equivalent of Eject, because there is nothing mounted. There is no option for eject in Dolphin or the Device Notifier. -- _____________________________________ At one time I had a Real Sig. Its been downsized. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org