Issues copying data to USB key

Lockheed · 2012-01-10 16:23:13

Since I installed arch, I have a peculiar problem with copying data onto USB keys (not USB HDDs, though).

Even if the file is large (1-4GB), the copying progress bar completes in just few seconds, but if I unplug the USB then, the data will not copy. I need to keep the USB plugged in for how long I might THINK it needs to complete it, and then hope it was enough. Otherwise, the data is not be copied, or is corrupted.

The same issue occurs when using PCmanFM, which is my main file manager, and Nautilus.

alphaniner · 2012-01-10 16:40:33

I don't know all the details, but I suspect keys are being mounted as async, hdds as synchronous. Or something like that.

What I am certain of is that you can enter sync in the terminal and once you get the prompt back, you can be certain that it's ready to unmount and unplug. I think it forces all buffered disk operations to flush to disk.

...Or something like that.

Lockheed · 2012-01-10 16:53:39

Is there a way to get USB flash memory to mount properly? I remember not having such issues on Ubuntu 2 years ago.

alphaniner · 2012-01-10 17:21:37

In retrospect I should have been more cautious about the async/synchronous stuff. That was just something I 'overheard' on some USB related thread at some point. I found some threads by searching 'flash synchronous' but the related ones are pretty old.

apaige · 2012-01-10 17:58:02

Do you properly unmount the drive before unplugging it? That should sync all data to the drive.

Lockheed · 2012-01-10 18:52:31

I click 'unmount' but it freezes the file manager for the duration of the actual copying.
What I want is to see the real progress of copying, and not meaningless progress bar reaching 100% in 3-4 second on files of several GBs.

piratebill · 2012-01-10 18:58:44

I have the same problem, and it drives me insane. What desktop manager are you using? Maybe it has something to do with it?

Lockheed · 2012-01-10 19:00:12

I am using gutted XFCE with PCmanFM handling desktop and file operations, but the same is true for Nautilus.

piratebill · 2012-01-10 19:21:46

The only thing I could find after a quick google search were these posts about using sync. In regards to alphaniner's last post, these are all recent.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions … ng-920266/
http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic … sb-sticks/

anonymous_user · 2012-01-11 03:44:29

If you mount your USB drive with the sync option, you will get the "real progress of copying". Two way to accomplish this:

1. Mount your USB manually from the terminal (or add it to fstab)
2. Use devmon to mount your USB drive(s); it has a --sync | -s flag.

Lockheed · 2012-01-11 15:10:36

anonymous_user wrote:

2. Use devmon to mount your USB drive(s); it has a --sync | -s flag.

Is there a way to run devmon daemon (?) automatically with sync option so it mounts all future usb plugins properly, or does it have to be done manually each time?

brebs · 2012-01-11 15:50:17

Use the flush option. And no, "sync" is not used with hard drives - it would ruin performance, by disabling buffering.

"flush" is a reasonable compromise for buffering.

anonymous_user · 2012-01-11 16:41:09

Lockheed wrote:

anonymous_user wrote:
2. Use devmon to mount your USB drive(s); it has a --sync | -s flag.
Is there a way to run devmon daemon (?) automatically with sync option so it mounts all future usb plugins properly, or does it have to be done manually each time?

Just specify "devmon --sync" in your DE/WM's startup file.

Lockheed · 2012-01-11 17:50:42

Would that not conflict with the current way devices are being mounted?
Also, would this affect internal HDD, too? I read --sync causes slower transfers.

anonymous_user · 2012-01-11 17:57:55

If you just want the sync option for a specific device, you could try the --mount DEVICE flag. I never tried using devmon to only mount a specific device though. Also it does not affect internal drives unless you use the --internal flag

Lockheed · 2012-01-11 18:08:44

But this brings us back to manual mounting. What I would like is to have interhal HDDs and USB HDDs running at full speed, while USB flash drives mounted in a proper way.

Lockheed · 2012-01-11 18:40:00

Scratch that. I did some more testing, and running devmon --sync does not actually change a thing.

afulm · 2012-09-11 02:33:33

Any solution to this problem? I have it to.

DSpider · 2012-09-11 10:00:00

Like someone else already said, after the progress bar goes away, run:

$ sync

A dirty hack would be to copy a file upward of 100 MB (like an .avi file or something) after you copy whatever you want copied 100% intact. Then remove this 100MB+ file. This way it makes sure that whatever was copied last, was copied completely.

afulm · 2012-09-12 14:38:42

I guess sync kind of works, though had hoped for a more satifying solution.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-01-10 16:23:13

Issues copying data to USB key

#2 2012-01-10 16:40:33

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#3 2012-01-10 16:53:39

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#4 2012-01-10 17:21:37

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#5 2012-01-10 17:58:02

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#6 2012-01-10 18:52:31

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#7 2012-01-10 18:58:44

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#8 2012-01-10 19:00:12

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#9 2012-01-10 19:21:46

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#10 2012-01-11 03:44:29

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#11 2012-01-11 15:10:36

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#12 2012-01-11 15:50:17

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#13 2012-01-11 16:41:09

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#14 2012-01-11 17:50:42

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#15 2012-01-11 17:57:55

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#16 2012-01-11 18:08:44

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#17 2012-01-11 18:40:00

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#18 2012-09-11 02:33:33

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#19 2012-09-11 10:00:00

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

#20 2012-09-12 14:38:42

Re: Issues copying data to USB key

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