GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 768067
Manage external devices from the shell
Last modified: 2021-07-06 09:11:24 UTC
It used to be conveniently possible to move the mouse to the bottom border of the screen, open the tray, and click on an USB icon to unmount a device. This very useful functionality seems to have disappeared. The documentation says that the way to unmount a device is to go through Files' sidebar. But having to open Files first is cumbersome. Can we have this functionality back, please? (In 3.14, it was there, and it was one of the few uses of the tray. I don't know when it was removed, but in 3.20, it is gone.)
Not sure where exactly you mean by "bottom border of the screen". Can you attach a screenshot or try to explain with different words?
Created attachment 330422 [details] Screenshot of tray (Gnome 3.14)
Hoping the screenshot is clear enough. Please respond if it isn't.
oh yeah now it's clear, thanks. This is gnome-shell, not nautilus. The design was changed because the bottom bar had several UX issues. Although this case was good, it was more problematic than anything for the other cases :/ So closing as wontfix.
(In reply to Carlos Soriano from comment #4) > This is gnome-shell, not nautilus. Oops, sorry for misassigning. > Although this case was good, it was more problematic than anything for the > other cases :/ Hmm, I don't understand what the "cases" are. Maybe there is a reference of the UX discussion? > So closing as wontfix. I do not see why the redesigned / reduced bottom bar cannot accommodate an unmount thingie. Having to go through Files for cleanly unmounting a device is a hassle for a significant number of users. (Especially for casual users who have learned to "safely remove" an USB device before pulling it and who upgrade from old versions of Gnome or come from other OSes where the bottom bar offers such a helpful feature.)
> Hmm, I don't understand what the "cases" are. Maybe there is a reference of > the UX discussion? > Yeah, I don't recall where though. I think it's in the wiki of gnome-shell at wiki.gnome.org. You can ask on #gnome-design or #gnome-shell at irc.gnome.org > > So closing as wontfix. > > I do not see why the redesigned / reduced bottom bar cannot accommodate an > unmount thingie. There is no bottom bar anymore. > > Having to go through Files for cleanly unmounting a device is a hassle for a > significant number of users. (Especially for casual users who have learned > to "safely remove" an USB device before pulling it and who upgrade from old > versions of Gnome or come from other OSes where the bottom bar offers such a > helpful feature.) For what it worth it makes sense to me, you handle files and devices on the file manager, not anywhere else. I'm not sure why would you have a device but never open the file manager to do anything with it...
Created attachment 330456 [details] Screenshot of bottom bar in Gnome 3.20
(In reply to Carlos Soriano from comment #6) > > I do not see why the redesigned / reduced bottom bar cannot accommodate an > > unmount thingie. > > There is no bottom bar anymore. Hmm, but what do you call the thingie in the bottom left corner then? (See my screenshot.) > > Having to go through Files for cleanly unmounting a device is a hassle for a > > significant number of users. (Especially for casual users who have learned > > to "safely remove" an USB device before pulling it and who upgrade from old > > versions of Gnome or come from other OSes where the bottom bar offers such a > > helpful feature.) > > For what it worth it makes sense to me, you handle files and devices on the > file manager, not anywhere else. > I'm not sure why would you have a device but never open the file manager to > do anything with it... Oh, watching my son, his friends, and my wife using Gnome, I am seeing that most of the time it makes perfect sense to attach removable devices without going through the file manager. Here are just three use cases: a) Import pictures using shotwell or a similar program. (They don't usually let you safely unmount the device.) Note that these programs do write the device (erasing pictures e.g.), hence the need for a clean unmount. b) Using a web browser for downloading things from the internet to your removable device. c) Using any office program and just going through the "file open", "file save" to manage the files on the removable device. Having to open the file manager in any of these cases is a little bit more cumbersome than necessary and, worse, it is unintuitive for the casual user.
> Hmm, but what do you call the thingie in the bottom left corner then? (See > my screenshot.) Ah yeah, that's kind of hacky thing. > > > > Having to go through Files for cleanly unmounting a device is a hassle for a > > > significant number of users. (Especially for casual users who have learned > > > to "safely remove" an USB device before pulling it and who upgrade from old > > > versions of Gnome or come from other OSes where the bottom bar offers such a > > > helpful feature.) > > > > For what it worth it makes sense to me, you handle files and devices on the > > file manager, not anywhere else. > > I'm not sure why would you have a device but never open the file manager to > > do anything with it... > > Oh, watching my son, his friends, and my wife using Gnome, I am seeing that > most of the time it makes perfect sense to attach removable devices without > going through the file manager. Here are just three use cases: > a) Import pictures using shotwell or a similar program. (They don't usually > let you safely unmount the device.) Note that these programs do write the > device (erasing pictures e.g.), hence the need for a clean unmount. > b) Using a web browser for downloading things from the internet to your > removable device. > c) Using any office program and just going through the "file open", "file > save" to manage the files on the removable device. > > Having to open the file manager in any of these cases is a little bit more > cumbersome than necessary and, worse, it is unintuitive for the casual user. That makes sense.
I edited the bug tittle to something that fits more what we want here, allowing to manage external devices from the shell. Supposedly we want less and less file manager management, so makes sense to allow extraction of external devices from somewhere else than the file manager for cases like gnome-photos or so.
I just discovered this: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/7/removable-drive-menu/ IMHO, it is too useful to be not installed by default. ;-)
I am glad that this is reconsidered, as it is a common element in other desktop environments and systems. Richard's words are true and there are other use cases. For a while I thought this mockup (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gnome-design-team/gnome-mockups/master/notifications/top-right/system-menu.png) was going to be implemented and it seems like a good solution or stick with the idea of maintaining persistent notification next to a button to safely remove the device.
Created attachment 351484 [details] rdm-mockup The removable-drive-menu extension is the best current solution and would be ideal to be included by default in the system, but I see two problems: • It doesn't have a visual ui indicator that separates the function of opening the device with Files or safely remove, like a button (See mockup). • In practice, the extension don't safely remove the device, just unmount it. On some cases it is necessary to turn off the device via gnome-disks to safely remove. Bug 749761 is duplicate?
GNOME is going to shut down bugzilla.gnome.org in favor of gitlab.gnome.org. As part of that, we are mass-closing older open tickets in bugzilla.gnome.org which have not seen updates for a longer time (resources are unfortunately quite limited so not every ticket can get handled). If you can still reproduce the situation described in this ticket in a recent and supported software version, then please follow https://wiki.gnome.org/GettingInTouch/BugReportingGuidelines and create a new ticket at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/ Thank you for your understanding and your help.
Moved to https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/4448