removing external usb hdd without unmounting causes reboot?

[Momchil Ivanov]

On Wednesday 18 July 2007 17:41:04 Oliver Fromme wrote:
> As Josh wrote, it's expected.  The problem is known
> to exist for a long time already (probably as long
> as FreeBSD itself exists), and if there was an easy
> solution, certainly someone would have fixed it.
>
> Just remember to always umount first, and you're safe.
> In the early 90s I panicked a FreeBSD machine by
> removing a floppy disk that was mounted.  I did that
> mistake only once -- afterwards I always remembered.
>
> If you have problems remembering, another work-around
> is to use the auto mounter daemon (amd(8)).  It umounts
> file systems automatically that are not in use.
> Another nice feature of amd(8) is that you don't have
> to mount the file system either -- Simply plug the USB
> stick in, then access it, and amd(8) will automatically
> mount it for you.
>
> Best regards
>    Oliver

I started the thread just because it hit me today. I wanted to disconnect my 
mouse and forgot that the hdd is connected to the same hub, I realized that 
after having unplugged the usb hub and saw the system freeze. I know that 
this has been an issue for a long time. With cdroms it`s easy, the tray won`t 
open until you umount the cd fs, floppies......... nowadays they have been 
replaced by usb sticks, but they have no trays as cdroms do :) moreover 
people use other usb storages too and unplugging those is just as simple as 
unpluging the cable.

I think this is a critical problem and needs to be addressed, avoiding it 
doesn`t solve it.

As technology advances I think FreeBSD has to advance too. You said you 
paniced a system in the early 90s, which is more than 10 years from now. In 
the past floppy disks were maybe the only problem, but nowadays as storage is 
cheap more and more people use USB storage devices, and these are easy to 
unplug. It`s even worse if you have a laptop, since it`s easier to connect 
everything to a hub (mouse, hdds, other usb stuff) and connect/disconnect it.

In the days before common storage devices (hard drives) where fixed inside the 
computer`s case, so unpluging a hard drive when the computer was running was 
considered as "insane", so panicing is ok. Nowadays things have changed. USB 
(maybe Firewire too, have no experience with that) offers a simple way to 
connect/disconnect devices to your computer (here I have to note: not just 
one!), having a laptop and 1,2,3 or even more external storage devices is 
something usual.
That`s why I think this particular problem needs to be addressed.

Thanks for the tip about amd(8) I will give it a try.

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