difficulty unmounting/ejecting USB linked external HDD

[nailz]

When I connect my Maxtor external HDD and try to unmount/eject it I get a strange result with my Gnome desktop. The three volumes on the hard drive have been umounted ("sudo umount /media/disk", for example), but they still show on my Gnome file browser. When I try to Eject them, I get this message (I got the same message before I went to the terminal to umount using the command line):

"There is data that needs to be written to the device Maxtor 6 Y080L0 before it can be removed. Please do not remove the media or disconnect the drive."

I also get a warning box: "Cannot eject volume."

Also the file browser windows for all three volumes on that HDD open. But nothing else happens. Nothing is getting written and the system just sits at that stage.

Does anyone what's happening here?

Since I have successfully (apparently) umounted using the command line, can I safely pull the USB plug?

Thanks.
Nailz

[marshallbanana]

Re: difficulty unmounting/ejecting USB linked external HDD

Gnome desktop

Unless I'm misunderstanding your question is related to Gnome, in which case you are likely to get more responses over at the ubuntu forums. Some people here will know a bit about Gnome but we're all using mostly KDE.

[MoonRise]

Re: difficulty unmounting/ejecting USB linked external HDD

Most times when you have those kind of problems, it is because a program or the system is still accessing (or thinks it is accessing) the HD. I've had success before by opening the last file I had open and close it right after. Doesn't always work though.

Since I have successfully (apparently) umounted using the command line, can I safely pull the USB plug?

The last time I did this with a memory stick, I had to reformat it. Try rebooting first, unmount then remove.