Re: [usb-storage] [PATCH] Another SanDisk USB stick with a cdrom scsi lun

Matthew Dharm <mdharm-usb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> · Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:55:09 -0800

On Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 07:38:12PM +0100, Hans de Goede wrote:
> Matthew Dharm wrote:
> > On Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 10:35:56AM -0500, Kyle McMartin wrote:
> >> On Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 12:33:28AM -0800, Matthew Dharm wrote:
> >>> Someone remind me again why we bother masking out the fake CD-ROM in these
> >>> devices?
> >>>
> >> It's confusing to users, and completely useless -- it's added by the
> >> manufacturer because Another OS can only autorun from a cdrom, which
> >> they need to do to be able to install drivers.
> > 
> > Beyond being confusing to users, does it cause any *problems*?
> > 
> > I'm hesitant to add code which doesn't actually *fix* anything.
> > 
> 
> Well it fixes the very annoying fact that when you plug one of these in and are 
> using a hal enabled desktop first a filemanager window with your files pops up 
> and then when you want to navigate to the correct dir a filemanger window with 
> autorun.inf and other stuff pops up.

Then shouldn't you talk to the people who write the code to make the window
pop up?  That's a desktop environment issue, not a driver issue.

> But I believe that just adding prove only a single lun flag entry for these is 
> wrong. I would like to advocate a special U3 flag and a mod param / sysfs 
> attribute for the usb-massstorage driver which allows one to configure the 
> behaviour. Some people have come up with all kind of ingenious uses for the 
> cdrom emulation.

This is overly complex, and doesn't really solve anything.  The fake CD-ROM
is there.  Who knows what's on it?  If the desktop wants to ignore it,
that's fine... but as a transport-oriented driver, usb-storage should
cleanly transport the commands as much as possible.

> Still I believe that some kernel support is needed to avoid the _very_ annoying 
> popping up of the second useless lun, but this should be a special U3 flag so 
> that it can be configured. Also note that U3 is not sandisk only, there is an 
> U3 consortium and others may very well come with U3 disks in the future too.

Definately not.  If the poping up of a window is the problem, then fix the
window; don't fix the driver.

Matt

-- 
Matthew Dharm                              Home: mdharm-usb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Maintainer, Linux USB Mass Storage Driver

E:  You run this ship with Windows?!  YOU IDIOT!
L:  Give me a break, it came bundled with the computer!
					-- ESR and Lan Solaris
User Friendly, 12/8/1998