[Bug 270703] New: Device notifier needs to let user know if unmount has not completed

[ben chang]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=270703

           Summary: Device notifier needs to let user know if unmount has
                    not completed
           Product: kde
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: Ubuntu Packages
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: major
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
        AssignedTo: unassigned-bugs at kde.org
        ReportedBy: bchang at artic.edu


Version:           unspecified (using KDE 4.5.1) 
OS:                Linux

In general, unmounting a removable device such as an external USB drive through
Device Notifier unmounts it easily and cleanly.  However, if an operation is
still cached, such as a lengthy write, it may take some time before the unmount
completes.  There is no notification that the unmount has NOT completed, other
than small italic text saying "unmounting..." under the listing for the device
if the user opens the Device Notifier again.  It's very easy for the user to
mistakenly believe that the unmount has finished, and unplug their device with
disastrous consequences. 



Reproducible: Sometimes

Steps to Reproduce:
Attach an external USB drive
Copy files to it
After the copy operation has completed, unmount the drive from Device Notifier
by clicking the "Eject" button next to it in the list.


Actual Results:  
Device Notifier closed, as it usually does, suggesting that the umount was
complete.  

It wasn't.  Cached writes were still going on in the background from the
previous copy operation.  

The drive is formatted HFS+, unjournaled so I can use it in Linux as well as
OSX.  

The extents tree has been demolished, Disk Utility and fsck are unable to
repair it. 

Expected Results:  
Kept a notification onscreen that the umount had not yet completed.

Everybody knows not to unplug a drive without cleanly unmounting it.  But we
have to rely on the desktop to be let us know if unmounting has failed or is
still in progress.  In most day-to-day computer usage, operations can happen
asynchronously, fail quietly in the background, and notify the user
unobtrusively or only on request.  For example, if I try to send an email or
load a web page and it fails due to a network error, the only consequence is
that I may have to repeat the action.  If I try to copy files to a device but
run out of space, I still have the originals.  This is one unusual situation
where the user's situational awareness of whether an operation has completed
has severe consequences in the form of catastrophic data loss.  

I know requesting "Major" for severity might seem like overkill, or wrong for
something that's arguably user error - but I think it's a case where just a
small bit of software design can help prevent a very large amount of serious
user error.

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