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[LonWar]

Hi Matt,

When you have the iPod connected, right above the library, there are a few buttons, Syc; Sync Now and Options.
Can you please add another button for Eject. It would be alot easier then Right clicking in the tree.


Oh, and can you also add a status bar for when the iPod is deleting tracks? Currently if I delete 50 tracks, it just seems like it is freezing, THere is no qraphic that says that it's almost done.


Thanks,

[Matt]

Is eject a common action?

I always just unplug the thing.

[LonWar]

Is eject a common action?

I always just unplug the thing.

You can do that? It was do not unplug, so I always just used the eject (Right click on the iPod tree)
I just thought having a button would be easier then trying to find the eject.

If you can just unplug it, Why is there an eject in MC, or the option Eject after sync?

[marko]

MC's eject function mirrors the behaviour of the "safely remove hardware" icon you see in the system tray.

The general idea is, that if you simply pull the plug, and windows is in the process of writing to the drive, then much corruption (and subsequent hair loss) will ensue.
Ejecting the thing ensures that all caches are empty and all write jobs are finished, then tells you it's safe to remove the hardware.

If you know the device is not being accessed, then just pull the plug and you'll be OK.
FWIW, I just unplug the ipod too and have yet to have any problems. Obviously though, you wouldn't want to do that right after hitting the "sync now" button

[lalittle]

The general advice is to ALWAYS "eject" the iPod before unplugging it.  While you may not have problems if you don't eject it first, this practice opens you up to the POTENTIAL for having problems.  Ejecting the iPod eliminates this potential.

Larry

[JimH]

We don't think that ejecting is necessary provided you're not unplugging in the middle of a synch. 

[glynor]

I have certainly corrupted data unplugging a USB flash drive immediately AFTER writing data to it (after the light had stopped blinking), when using Windows 2000.  I don't have a flash or drive based MP3 player, so I've never experienced that (but I bet it would be the same too).

Windows XP is good about obeying the "disable write caching" flag (it's also much better about automatically deciding that most removable drive types should be "quick disconnect" drives).  Write caching can certainly bite you though, especially with older operating systems (and with disk media that you've intentionally enabled write caching on for performance reasons).

The reason is that to speed disk access (particularly writes) Windows will not always save data to the physical media exactly when you tell it to.  It'll sometimes "save up" a number of writes to a RAM buffer and then flush them all out at once in a big burst.  This is a good technique for speeding up disk writes on most hard drives, but it's not such a good plan when you might unplug the drive at any second because the write could be only half-way done (leaving files in nowhere land).  Windows XP is pretty smart and automatically disables write caching on all removable media.  Windows 2000 wasn't always so smart (and doesn't always properly obey the flag anyway).

Moral is, it's generally safest to always "eject" the media before unplugging it.  On XP it's generally unnecessary unless you've mucked with the "Write Caching and Safe Removal" settings in the Device Manager.  On other older OSes, YMMV.

[lalittle]

We don't think that ejecting is necessary provided you're not unplugging in the middle of a synch. 

The problem is that windows has a tendency to do things when you might not be expecting it, which "can" (but not necessarily "will") cause problems.  For example, it's possible for a drive to still be writing even after an application says it's done.  A virus scanner can step in the way and slow the writing process down a bit, which can lead to such an issue if you eject a drive too soon after writing.  I won't argue that you might never run into such a situation, but regardless of whether it's absolutely "necessary" or not, in my opinion it's simply safer to just wait until the unit is ejected.  This way, you're SURE to avoid any potential issues. 

All that aside, you get an error message if you disconnect without ejecting first.  To me, it's worth ejecting just to avoid this message, which may startle many people.

Larry

[LonWar]

I think having a button to eject, would be better for Newbies...

In the last year, I have had to service my pod 3 times... I think I  will keep using eject... I seem to have bad luck

[gpvillamil]

Eject iPod seems a good candidate for the action window.

It is an action, it can happen in parallel with other activities, and it does not have to be center of attention for the user.

[lalittle]

I would add that regardless of an iPod "Eject" button's true "need," it still has a use, this being the fact that many people will assume it's necessary, and will therefore be looking for it.  Being easier to find, regardless of it's need, will make the program easier to use for these people.

That aside, as I already noted, I will ALWAYS "eject" my iPod before unplugging it, so I will definitely use this button.  Having an "Eject" button easier to access will be a positive addition in my usage.

Larry