https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gvfs/+bug/504440

[Claudio Moretti]

> (1) Is there any way to implement a "reconnect device" option, as
> suggested in comment #7 some months ago?
>
> While less than ideal, this would be one way to help people who make
> this mistake to recover from it themselves.
>
> (2) Alternatively, a language change to the context menu, so the item
> concerned does not say "Safely remove drive", but instead says something
> closer to "Power down external device" might help, since it then (a)
> sounds a bit scarier and (b) does not look so similar to the Windows
> message people are apparently confusing it with.
>
> "Won't fix" seems inappropriate to me. If it can't be "fixed" at a
> deeply technical kernel level, fine, let's come up with a way to
> minimize the issue at a UI level instead. Not just ignore the problem.
>
> The problem, as Martin Pitt says, is not from Ubuntu:

I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about this right now, since this kind
> of hardware unhelpfully does not say that it is not really hotpluggable.
>

Hardware claims to be hotpluggable, says to the system that it is actually
hotpluggable, but in fact it is not.
It's like your old parallel printer says "I am hotpluggable", while what
it's really saying is "You can refill paper and change the ink cartridge
without shutting the system down", because that's what the printer means as
"hotpluggable".

Problem is, from Ubuntu point of view "hotpluggable" means "I can be
disconnected from and reconnected to a system without shutting the system
down".

The fact is that, as the device only says "hotpluggable", Ubuntu treats it
like a real hotpluggable device (like an USB stick) and thinks that removing
the device won't be permanent, as the device says it is unpluggable.

And this is why it cannot be resolved: it's a device problem, not a
kernel/system one, and to try to avoid problems like this

We changed the default action (in the nautilus bar) to do an eject, not a
> safe removal, for this very reason. You really do not want to remove the
> internal drive. :-)


Claudio

(I attach under here the first message I sent, as it was only sent to Phill
because I used the Reply button instead of replying to the entire list)

From: Claudio Moretti <flyingstar16 at gmail.com>
> Date: Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 13:50
> Subject: Re: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gvfs/+bug/504440
> To: Phill Whiteside <phillw at ubuntu.com>
>
 [ ... cut ... ]
>
Phill,
>
you are right, but there's something you have not considered:
> Martin Pitt said, while marking this bug as wontfix
>
> I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about this right now, since this kind
>> of hardware unhelpfully does not say that it is not really hotpluggable.
>>
>
> Which means that this is a hardware problem, not an Ubuntu problem: if your
> device claims to be hotpluggable while it is not, when you "safely remove"
> it, the device will be removed.
> There's a difference between ejecting a drive (an SD card or a CD/DVD) and
> safely removing the drive, but while a hotpluggable device can be removed
> and replugged without a reboot, non-hotpluggable devices can't.
> If your device pretends to be hotpluggable while it's not, what can Ubuntu
> do?
>
> I understand this can be annoying, but this can't bi fixed.
>
> Regards,
> Claudio
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-bugsquad/attachments/20110123/f91256c6/attachment-0001.html>