Differences between revisions 15 and 24 (spanning 9 versions)
Revision 15 as of 2006-10-20 17:44:42
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Revision 24 as of 2008-06-08 01:42:10
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Editor: calin
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##CategoryProjects
##CategoryComputers
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Language: WikiPedia:Perl Language: [http://www.perl.org Perl]
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attachment:driveplugger.png DrivePlugger is yet another attempt to make removable media more comfortable on a linux desktop.
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I think I've succeeded, but you can judge for yourself. attachment:driveplugger.png DrivePlugger is a tray icon with menus for managing removable media. I have always been unhappy with how cumbersome removable media can be on linux. Even modern distros with [http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/hal hal] support don't seem to have the simple and intuitive features I'd like. So, as often happens with people like me, I wrote my own.

Now I can plug in a thumb drive or memory stick, insert a CD or PCMCIA card, and use it without complication. Users can name their devices as they like, and browse or safely eject with a few clicks.

Another nice feature is that any locking processes are listed, with the option to kill them (provided the user has the necessary permissions, of course).

For CD/DVD support, you must run the included cdpolld polling daemon.

Floppy disks are not currently supported. If anyone knows how to poll for floppy disk change events without constantly running the drive, let me know. If you really need floppy support and don't mind the drive constantly running... well let me know that too and I'll add it in as an option. I'm inclined to say that for floppies, something like [http://submount.sourceforge.net/ submount] is more appropriate.
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=== How it Works ===
DrivePlugger uses the linux hotplug mechanism to pass information about plug/unplug events (and a secure tag) on to the user agent.

The user agent will then either ask the user what to do, or run an action previously chosen by the user. If the device is to be mounted, the user agent will run a suid script to add an entry to fstab, and then mount the drive under ~/Devices/<devicename>.

Through a tray icon, you can easily change user preferences and device settings, as well as unmount media or see (and kill) processes locking the media.

If you're a security expert, you're probably freaking out by now. Included in the package is a SECURITY file, detailing the risks associated with running DrivePlugger, as well as what I've done to reduce them.
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[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-10-19-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-10-19-2006.tar.gz] [http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-12-06-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-12-06-2006.tar.gz]
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[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-11-17-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-11-17-2006.tar.gz]

[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-10-19-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-10-19-2006.tar.gz]
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12-06-2006

 * Fixed a bug where multiple group numbers were listed in fstab
 * Corrected uid/gid entries for unsupporting filesystems

11-17-2006

 * Removed Linux::CDROM dependency in favor of plain ioctl
 * Added event caching to handle events that occur when the user agent is not running
 * Added uid= and gid= options to fstab entries, to fix incorrect permissions with some filesystems.
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----
CategoryProjects CategoryComputers


Author: ["Calin"]

Language: [http://www.perl.org Perl]

Platform: Linux


attachment:driveplugger.png DrivePlugger is a tray icon with menus for managing removable media. I have always been unhappy with how cumbersome removable media can be on linux. Even modern distros with [http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/hal hal] support don't seem to have the simple and intuitive features I'd like. So, as often happens with people like me, I wrote my own.

Now I can plug in a thumb drive or memory stick, insert a CD or PCMCIA card, and use it without complication. Users can name their devices as they like, and browse or safely eject with a few clicks.

Another nice feature is that any locking processes are listed, with the option to kill them (provided the user has the necessary permissions, of course).

For CD/DVD support, you must run the included cdpolld polling daemon.

Floppy disks are not currently supported. If anyone knows how to poll for floppy disk change events without constantly running the drive, let me know. If you really need floppy support and don't mind the drive constantly running... well let me know that too and I'll add it in as an option. I'm inclined to say that for floppies, something like [http://submount.sourceforge.net/ submount] is more appropriate.

News

10-15-2006

I just recently posted on [http://sourceforge.net/projects/driveplugger Sourceforge] and [http://freshmeat.net/projects/driveplugger/ Freshmeat], and as of right now I've had 34 downloads. I'm totally excited, as this is my first project I've listed publicly. I'm very interested in feedback, so don't be shy! calin at splitreflection dot com.

Screenshots

Gallery(numberofcolumns=3,prefix=Archive.zip)

Download

Latest:

[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-12-06-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-12-06-2006.tar.gz]

Previous:

[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-11-17-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-11-17-2006.tar.gz]

[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-10-19-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-10-19-2006.tar.gz]

[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-10-08-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-10-08-2006.tar.gz]

[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-9-10-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-9-10-2006.tar.gz]

[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/driveplugger/driveplugger-8-17-2006.tar.gz?download driveplugger-8-17-2006.tar.gz]

Change Log

12-06-2006

  • Fixed a bug where multiple group numbers were listed in fstab
  • Corrected uid/gid entries for unsupporting filesystems

11-17-2006

  • Removed Linux::CDROM dependency in favor of plain ioctl
  • Added event caching to handle events that occur when the user agent is not running
  • Added uid= and gid= options to fstab entries, to fix incorrect permissions with some filesystems.

10-19-2006

  • Create base mount directory if it does not exist.
  • CDROM polling script now uses the CDROMREADTOCHDR ioctl to check for discs, which does not put messages in syslog.

10-08-2006

  • Rewrote device identification methods.
  • Multiple partitions on a single device are no longer treated as seperate devices.
  • Added cdrom support via a polling daemon.
  • Added cdrom, scsi, and pcmcia eject signals on eject.
  • Ditched 'Device Options' and 'Mounted Devices' menus in favor of 'Disconnected Devices' and 'Connected Devices'

9-10-2006

  • Events for devices listed in fstab will no longer be passed on to driveplugger (not counting lines added by driveplugger, of course).
  • This keeps driveplugger from offering to mount your root partition in case of a hotplug system reset (such as when waking up after hibernation).
  • When a new device is detected, the 'cancel' button on the popup now prevents driveplugger from taking any action on the device.
  • Previously, cancel would accept default settings for the device, and then take the default actions.

DrivePlugger (last edited 2008-06-08 02:11:13 by calin)