From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Dec 26 23:33:20 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2CD3716A417 for ; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:33:20 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DF42913C46A for ; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:33:19 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.14.1/8.14.1) with ESMTP id lBQNXJUB088765; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:33:19 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.14.1/8.14.1/Submit) with ESMTP id lBQNXJsW088762; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:33:19 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:33:19 -0700 (MST) From: Warren Block To: Paul Schmehl In-Reply-To: <3A8ACE339481E6EDC53CDAFF@paul-schmehls-powerbook59.local> Message-ID: <20071226162252.X88719@wonkity.com> References: <200712212341.44308@aldan> <200712221313.lBMDDx5M036478@lava.sentex.ca> <200712260038.11546@aldan> <20071226062508.GA85141@parts-unknown.org> <2C4BA76BE60FC029360155FE@paul-schmehls-powerbook59.local> <20071226153541.S88508@wonkity.com> <3A8ACE339481E6EDC53CDAFF@paul-schmehls-powerbook59.local> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-3.0 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:33:19 -0700 (MST) Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: usb/umass, devfs: this sucks X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:33:20 -0000 On Wed, 26 Dec 2007, Paul Schmehl wrote: > --On December 26, 2007 3:45:15 PM -0700 Warren Block > wrote: > >> It seems like we need another kind of storage, something that is known >> to be only mostly data-safe. If the system would gracefully handle >> unexpected media removals, that would be nice. Not everything is a >> trustworthy hard drive. >> >> The user ought to be able to tell the system "Yes, da0s1 is an msdos >> filesystem which I'm going to be yanking out at unexpected times. Yes, >> I know it might lose some data, but at least figure things out and don't >> panic." >> > > I absolutely agree with this. At a minimum it should be possible to forcibly > umount a device that you removed after forgetting to umount it first. If I > had the first clue about the code, I'd submit a patch. The code is likely... er, non-trivial, and might reach into some deep places. Maybe a project the FreeBSD Foundation would sponsor? (Seems like there was something about bounty projects being ungood, but maybe I have that wrong. If not, I think a lot of us would be willing to contribute funds to a "Don't Panic: Removable Media" project.) -Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota USA