From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org  Thu Aug 27 22:06:05 2015
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Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2015 00:06:02 +0200
From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>
To: Quartz <quartz@sneakertech.com>
Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Stop using a SATA drive
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On Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:03:00 -0400, Quartz wrote:
> > FreeBSD runs on all sorts of different kit from all sorts of different
> > providers, hence the uniform interface that Apple has achieved is much
> > harder.
> 
> I can understand that argument for physically powering down a device, 
> but whether or not a particular item shows up in a particular directory 
> is entirely a software issue, isn't it?

Yes - mostly the software inside the device, which we
commonly call firmware. On USB, and to a certain extent,
on SATA, the device identifies to the system and enters
a communication with it: stating what device class, who
built it, which model, what capabilities are available
and so on. If the firmware is able to delete that
connection (which is, after all, a _data_ exchange,
not primarily an electric connection), the OS would
act accordingly by removing the device file entry.

But on the other hand, what's wrong with _ignoring_ a
device file you don't want to have anything to do with?


-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...