I’m using KDE4 in openSUSE 13.1 and I’m having trouble configuring the device actions (System Settings->Hardware->Device Actions).
I have some USB drives for backup that, when I plug them in, I want immediately mounted and displayed in my default file manager (konqueror). That seems simple enough, but I always get asked to choose whether to use digiKam or gwenview as well. This has to be used by family members who aren’t particularly Linux-aware, so it just needs to happen with no choices involved - as it did with KDE3.
Let’s focus on the digiKam action - and how to get rid of it. As far as I can see, you can’t simply delete it, which seems a bit crazy. You can edit it, but only to a certain extent. For example, I don’t think you can add any new items to the decision tree, but you can change what the items are. I’ve tried changing the items so that the final result can’t possibly be true, but still I get prompted with the digiKam action.
There is a reference to a device “Ignore” property, which sounds promising, but I’ve no idea how you set it and switching between true and false values when testing for this property does nothing.
In summary, nothing I do to the Device Actions settings seems to make any difference at all (yes, I’ve tried logging out and back in, etc.)
Has anyone cracked how this interface works? Is there a secret way of making a single action just happen when you plug a device in?
The KDE device notifier can be configured (Device Notifier Settings > Removable devices > ‘Only automatically mount removable media that has been manually mounted before’). Does that work for you?
It is also possible to write udev rules to recognise and handle backup media as required.
The “Device Notifier Settings->…” page seems to just be another interface to the same information as in “System Settings->Hardware->…” so it does the same thing. I don’t seem to have a problem with mounting the drive; I have set that up and it gets automatically mounted OK. The problem is in the set of actions that can be applied to it after it’s mounted and that pop up in the system tray.
I could go down the udev route (although I’d rather not), but the Device Notifier is still going to get in the way unless I can find a way to turn it off. I discovered you can change the decision tree in Device Actions (by changing items to a “Content Conjunction” or “Disjunction”). So for the single digiKam entry I now have:
All of the contained properties must match
-->The device property Ignored must be true
-->The device property Ignored must be false
Since I can’t see how “Ignored” (whatever it is) can be both true and false, I’d expect the action not to be applied. Ever. But it still is. Other similar variations don’t do what I’d expect either.
So does this look like a bug? Or is there something I’m not grasping here?
You need to highlight the entries for digiKam and Gwenview, select Edit and then, under Parameter Type, select Device Interface Match and a device for that Match. If you are not going to use either, change the device to Camera and there will be no action with a Storage device.
OK, I’ve done that and all the relevant entries now say “Camera”.
But when I plug in a USB drive, the Device Notifier still invites me to download photos with digiKam or gwenview (as well as open with file manager, which is what I want to happen on its own).
Basically, whatever I set seems to make no difference.
I don’t think it is always entirely clear that when you insert a memory type device that device contains pictures or other types of files. So you are given a choice on how you want to view the device. Is this really a problem??
If the interface appears to give you control over this, but it doesn’t actually do so, then yes it’s a problem - if only because of the time it wastes. That’s a pretty complicated settings interface so I’d guess it was intended to actually do something.
