Why is UN-MOUNT not an option with removable devices? One area windows is better...

[oshunluvr]

I complained about this years ago, but still no change. Here's the gripe:

• You plug in a USB stick. You click "Mount with Dolphin" in Notifier or open Dolphin and open the device.
• You do whatever with the device.
• You are done and select the only available option; "Safely Eject Device".
• You want to do something else with the device.
• You now must physically remove the device and re-insert it.

This is a horrible way to have to work. There are many use-cases where one might want to re-mount or re-use the device and there's NO REASON to have to remove and re-insert it first except maybe that the developer(s) of Dolphin and/or Notifier have decided so. A simple "Unmount" option is all that's needed.

Example: You have a USB stick with some stuff on it but you want to reformat it or burn an ISO to it. So you insert it, move the files from the USB device to your hard drive. Currently, you now must "Safely Eject...", pull the stick out, push it back in, then reformat or burn. You have to go through all this even if you just forgot to copy one file to it or whatever.

It's even worse if you are using a USB port on the backside of your monitor or desktop PC that's on the floor next to your desk. Nothing makes your day like standing up and reaching over the monitor or crawling on the floor beneath your desk yet again to complete a simple task.

Here's the irritating part that I can't understand: WE DON'T NEED SAFELY EJECT AT ALL! That's right! All we need to do the unmount the device. Period. If it's unmounted, you can remove it. No problem. The only device I am aware of that requires an actual eject is a CD/DVD, which are handled by separate UDEV rules and are easily discernible from USB thumb drives, and they are notably easier to access as they are always in the front of your PC or the side of your laptop.

I've tried to figure out why this was determined as the best course of action for thumb drives. I can't think of a single reason for this. Even Windows 10 now has drive caching turned off by default for removable devices - the reason you always had to eject a USB device from a Windows PC (what moron thought that was a good idea? Sorry, different rant).

WHAT I WANT:

First, Rebuttal: Am I totally or partial wrong minded on this? Please enlighten me.
Second, Support: Do you agree with me? If so, I will (yet again) file a bug report and will ask you to add to it or vote for it so that it might get changed.
Third, Resolution: I'm not afraid of code. If someone knows where I go the change the "eject" to "umount" point me at it and I'll do my best. I will even submit the fix along with the bug report if anyone agrees with me.

P.S. Yes, I am fully aware that you can un-mount the device from the command line, which is what I have to do in these cases. This is the crux of the issue; if we have a GUI why can it not do something so simple, basic, and needed?

I'm also curious to know if Gnome or XFCE or other DE's are the same or work better in this regard.

[v7peer]

I like it the way it is now in Dolphin.
I use Gnome-disk-utility (discs) to check if an usb-stick i mounted or not. Mounting and unmounting is one click in discs.

[TWPonKubuntu]

oshuluver: AGREE.
It is an unnecessary step to physically unplug and reinsert a USB stick. I'm using Disco and frequently pull backups to USB sticks. It is a PITA as it stands now.

The terminology used: "eject", is probably a holdover from the CD/DVD era. Not a big problem but does need to be addressed in the next edit. A simple pair of options: "unmount" and "mount" should allow the stick to be left plugged in for these operations.

I'm not competent enough to code this, but I do see it as a fairly easy bit of adjustment to the right-click menu options in Dolphin.

[claydoh]

This is not a new gripe
https://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=106603

I forget about this, as I have for a long time just used the sidebar in Dolphin instead of the widget.

[claydoh]

I can't (yet) find any bug reports on this, or any references to other instances in KDEs forum. Surprising, really. But my search foo may be junk.

[oshunluvr]

This is not a new gripe
https://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=106603

I forget about this, as I have for a long time just used the sidebar in Dolphin instead of the widget.

Yeah, my comment is the last one is this post. I hadn't files an official bug report yet, but I may.

[claydoh]

Here it is, with many dupes

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=402660

[oshunluvr]

OK, yeah well I figured at least part of this out:

#1 Dolphin. I made a service menu to unmount. It doesn't work in the left panel in the Removable Devices section, but if you have the folder in the Dolphin Window, you can unmount it with a right click. Copy the text below into kate or kwrite and save it as "unmount.desktop" in the folder ~/.local/share/kservices5/ServiceMenus/

[Desktop Entry]Type=Service
X-KDE-ServiceTypes=KonqPopupMenu/Plugin
X-KDE-Priority=TopLevel
MimeType=inode/directory;
Actions=unmount;


[Desktop Action unmount]
Exec=umount %f
Icon=folder
Name=Unmount folder
Comment=Unmount user folder

Now if I can get it to appear when right-clicking on the device in the "Removable Devices" menu, that would be perfect. The odd thing is "mount" is the option you're given there, but not "unmount". There's got to be a way to skin that cat.

The only downside to the above is you have to navigate to /media/user/ to unmount. I have enabled the "up one level" action in the Dolphin toolbar, so I have to select the device, hit the up arrow, then unmount. Better than nothing.

[oshunluvr]

#2 The notifier actions. Hey, it turns out you can add any custom actions you want to the device notifier if you know the proper foo to make it work. I did it in about 10 minutes. It's not intuitive so I screenshot-ed the steps. First off - check this out!

[oshunluvr]

To add this to Notifier, open Settings and navigate to Hardware > Removable Storage > Device Actions. At the bottom, click " + Add " and a window will open asking for Action Name. Enter "Unmount device" then another window opens. In the "Command:" entry, enter "umount %f". Now you must go the the window below and start entering the conditions for the action. Here, I used screenshots, so do these one at a time and verify you entered the info as shown. Click "Save Parameter Changes" as you work through each parameter and click "OK" when you're done. Once complete, you may have to log out and back in for the new option to appear.

Here we go:

one of three

[oshunluvr]

two of three:

[oshunluvr]

three of three:

[oshunluvr]

Those photos aren't super readable once posted. Here's a better set;
Steps.zip

[jglen490]

I understand your use case, and on some level it makes sense.

Since it is udisks, or udev, or whatever it is now that is performing the actual mounting process on temporary, removable, attached USB devices, it doesn't seem like much of a reach to think that once the user has indicated that he/she is done with a removable drive - they're done. The process is different between the permanent (session) drives indicated via fstab, and any number of unpredictable removable devices that might be attached via USB at any given moment - and then unmounted even if still physically attached. Other than using udisks to detect the device and discover some attribute (i.e., a label) that the USB device might have, the OS has no means of predicting that the user will re-attach or even re-use some device that it just let go on the user's instruction, and no longer has reference to as it no longer has the device mounted. The OS would need to have a list of every known device that the user could attach or reuse, and the user would have to select it - the device is either currently mounted or it's not.

It's just easier and less of a literal reach for the user to lean over to the USB device, pull it out after telling the OS to release it and then reinsert the device - or insert some other device. Or just leave it attached until that user is actually done. And if the user made a mistake in telling the OS to release it, oh well, he/she just lost 10 or 15 seconds; the universe won't end. Don't make the OS assume that the user wants to use something about which the OS has no knowledge.

[jlittle]

... "Safely Eject Device"...
You now must physically remove the device and re-insert it...
This is a horrible way to have to work.

I agree, this nuisance has annoyed me.

It does something at a low level on the stick; the system cannot even reboot from it. With a Kubuntu Cosmic USB stick, if I do "safely remove", I cannot do a UEFI boot from that stick, even after a full shutdown (the UEFI boot from USB option is not given on the UEFI menu; there is a legacy boot option which doesn't work, it tries a 32 bit boot which goes straight to a grub rescue prompt). I have to switch off the power to the box (using the switch on the back) to avoid removing and reinserting.

More generally, I'd like to be able to change that context menu, or at least add an entry.