Re: [Ayatana] USB Device Removal Indicator

[Walter Wittel <wittelw@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 3:54 PM, Frederik Nnaji
<frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 23:45, David Hamm <davidthamm@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> If the os completely powered the device down, i'm not sure if it would be
>> able able to remount it. Example, usb powered hdd.
>
> Once it is powered down properly, i can finally remove the device safely and
> without any fear of disrupting any mechanical process

I think completely shutting off the power is correct for removing the
device. Mount / unmount for removable devices is less compelling.

While I suppose it would be possible to power up and reenumerate a USB
device on a particular port (when happens when powering on a system)
specifying the specific port to the user would be a nightmare (how do
you describe the bottom USB port on the left side of the laptop when
it is just a chip on the bus to the OS?). And resetting the wrong USB
port could have dire consequences if another device is connected.

So I think mount and unmount are good for permanently connected HDDs,
but for removable devices "Safely Remove" is best. Once removed the
device should not show up in Nautilus or be mountable again. For the
occasion where the user wants to remount the device they simply unplug
/ replug. Since they have a physical device it would be much easier to
understand than a desktop metaphor anyway.

Workflow:
* Plug in to use the device (physical).
* Use the device (GUI).
* "Safely Remove" (GUI). This last step should be easy to get to in
all workflows and in a place that is consistent with the rest of the
UI design.
* Unplug the device (physical again).

The term "Eject" should probably be reserved for ejecting media from a
device rather than removing the device itself, and allows the device
to continue to be used when new media is inserted.

I agree many users may not know about or understand the "Safely
Remove" step, there isn't a lot more than can be done other than
making it easy to find "devices I want to remove". It would be cool if
the notification window on mounting "minimized" to the indicator where
the "Safely Remove" action was possible.