[Bug 1294877] Re: usb-creator fails to wipe usb device when the device has ext4 partition

[Martin Pitt]

Thinking about this again, using "erase": "zero" might not actually be
what we want here. For usb-creator it's not really necessary to actually
write zeros over the entire device, just to clear up all partition and
file system signatures. Hence this should rather call Format() with
type=empty. If someone actually wants to cleanly wipe a device, then
using Disks instead of usb-creator is certainly appropriate.

** Changed in: usb-creator (Ubuntu)
       Status: Fix Released => In Progress

** Changed in: usb-creator (Ubuntu)
     Assignee: (unassigned) => Martin Pitt (pitti)

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Title:
  usb-creator fails to wipe usb device when the device has ext4
  partition

Status in OEM Priority Project:
  In Progress
Status in OEM Priority Project trusty series:
  New
Status in abstraction for enumerating and managing block devices:
  Invalid
Status in “udisks2” package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid
Status in “usb-creator” package in Ubuntu:
  In Progress
Status in “udisks2” source package in Trusty:
  Invalid
Status in “usb-creator” source package in Trusty:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  A dialog with the following text appears anytime I try to wipe my usb
  pen (both when partitioned and unpartitioned):

  org.freedesktop.DBus.Python.gi._glib.GError: Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/service.py", line 707, in _message_cb
      retval = candidate_method(self, *args, **keywords)
    File "/usr/share/usb-creator/usb-creator-helper", line 239, in Format
      block.call_format_sync('dos', GLib.Variant('a{sv}', {'erase': GLib.Variant('s', '')}), None)
  gi._glib.GError: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.UDisks2.Error.Failed: Error synchronizing after initial wipe: Timed out waiting for object

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: usb-creator-gtk 0.2.55
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-17.37-generic 3.13.6
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-17-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.13.3-0ubuntu1
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Wed Mar 19 23:26:15 2014
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-10-05 (165 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Beta amd64 (20131005)
  SourcePackage: usb-creator
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2013-12-10 (99 days ago)

  [Impact]

   * This bug is a runtime exception caused by invalid erase type.
   * With this bug users can not erase disks with usb-creator.

  [Test Case]

   * Prepare an usbstick with any partition(s),
     this could be done with "gparted".
   * Launch usb-creator-gtk or usb-creator-kde.
   * Insert the usbstick, click the button "Erase Disk".
   * It will popup an exception window with the error message similar to:

          Traceback (most recent call last):
            File "format.py", line 7, in <module>
              block.call_format_sync('dos', GLib.Variant('a{sv}', {'erase': GLib.Variant('s', '')}), None)
          gi._glib.GError: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.UDisks2.Error.Failed: Error erasing device: Unknown or unsupported erase type `'

   * Please be noted, the erase operation may still fail even with
     this bug properly fixed due to some other bugs, such as bug #1318954.

  [Regression Potential]

   * Since the erasing operation is also blocked by other bugs,
     we may not be able to verify the entire erasing operation,
     in such a case we can not promise the effect of the patch,
     and it may (although not sure to) has other side effect such as:
   * The patch for this bug changes the erase type to "zero",
     according to the UDisk2 API [1] it will erase the entire device,
     this may cause a long time to complete.

  [1]: http://udisks.freedesktop.org/docs/latest/gdbus-
  org.freedesktop.UDisks2.Block.html#gdbus-method-org-freedesktop-
  UDisks2-Block.Format

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