In the official screenshots of the PortableApps Menu, there are two buttons on the bottom right: Close, and something else (looks like an Eject button). Yet, after installing the menu on my 2GB Sony MicroVault, all I see is the Close button. What's up?
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The biggest problem with searching (and the reason I don't normally do it) is because it's never clear just WHAT you're supposed to be searching for, moreso with some topics than others. In any case, it turns out the search query "eject" was sufficient in this case... seems John removed it at the last minute.
Then allow me another question (yes, I'm aware I sound like Xemnas). Why include it in official screenshots if it's not actually there? I shouldn't have had to search the forums to find out that the feature doesn't actually exist.
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"You missed the bigger picture, Bruce. You always have."
- Robert Spellbinder, Spectacles: Bruce's Story
John released a couple of betas for the menu, but the final isn't out yet.
Beta? Now I'm really confused. The PortableApps Menu is the first thing you see when you go to portableapps.com, the download links have it as 1.0 (1.0 normally means final), and I can't find a single instance of the word "beta" on any of the relevant pages.
Isn't beta software normally clearly marked as such?
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"You missed the bigger picture, Bruce. You always have."
- Robert Spellbinder, Spectacles: Bruce's Story
..have been out of the loop.
Here you go Bruce: PortableApps Menu 1.0.2 Beta 3
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Life is about the journey not the destination!
The Kazoo Spartan
Then what's 1.0 (the version on the mainsite)? Is that beta, too? If so, that should be noted on the download page.
And I'm out of the loop because I haven't been here for months. I just came back the other day.
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"You missed the bigger picture, Bruce. You always have."
- Robert Spellbinder, Spectacles: Bruce's Story
No, 1.0 was a "final" version even though some features weren't implemented. It probably should have been labeled as a beta, I'm not sure why the newer versions aren't on that page - they are surely better than the version 1.0 menu...
I don't know how far John has gotten with the next final version - maybe he will be here in a min to clarify.
Okay, well that's what I meant. 1.0 is considered final, but doesn't include the eject function. Yet the screenshots that go with it show an eject button. That's bound to confuse some people (as it did me).
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"You missed the bigger picture, Bruce. You always have."
- Robert Spellbinder, Spectacles: Bruce's Story
on the suite page you'll find several patches to fix 120 dpi or win2k issues. And then there is a separate post with the beta3...
"There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows about. It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them!" - Richard Feynman
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
It confused at least 5 pages of people. One being me.
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was removed from the release and will hopefully be re-added into the next release.
"There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows about. It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them!" - Richard Feynman
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
Didn't know you were gone that long.
John left it out of the final version because it didn't work properly with some drives. I don't have it on my confirmed features list, but it should be coming.
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Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
any chance of you going public with that list???
"There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows about. It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them!" - Richard Feynman
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
Only on a case-by-case method.
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Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Come to think of it, I can't imagine eject working correctly on any drive. Windows won't eject a drive if any files on it are in use, and PAM has to be running in order to issue an eject request. Since Windows locks all currently-running executables, how would this work at all?
Another thing I've noticed is that with portable apps, Windows tends not to want to eject the drive anyway. When that happens, killing explorer and restarting it will usually let you eject the drive. I think it's a bug in explorer, keeping files open long after you're done with them.
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"You missed the bigger picture, Bruce. You always have."
- Robert Spellbinder, Spectacles: Bruce's Story
@Ryan &/or John
Are you guys working with Rene to get the eject feature working properly? His program (according to what's posted in his AutoStart page) is able to eject any type of drive, including u3 and truecrypt volumes. It's open-source so I'm sure you can get the code and implement it to PAM
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"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." -- Confucius
"Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world." -- Lily Tomlin
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." -- Robert Frost
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: baby ain't mine." -- Adam Holguin
I'm hoping John is, as I use AutoStart for all my drives.
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Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Hi Bruce,
I have a play-around version of PAM I wrote in C/C++ that I recently added ejection capabilities to. What I had it do was, when run from a removable, copy itself into the user's temp directory then run from there. When it's done it self deletes itself using one of several methods I found via googling. So it's able to eject w/o problems and w/o admin privileges.
I'm currently using the shell to do the ejection since I thought that would be the best way to get the most compatible results. But I think based on your observations of explorer (what versions/OSs btw, if you have the info handy) it looks like I need to dig into this more. I have code from MS to do the ejection using other methods but so far they have eventually led to BSoDs when the removable device is removed from the USB port.
It's also important to remember that any example code you get from Microsoft can not be integrated into a GPLed application. It's a copyright violation to do so. Microsoft does not give licensing terms for its example code. Commercial apps include it in their apps but don't worry about it since they don't release the code. You'd need to ask Microsoft's permission to re-license it under the GPL and I can guarantee you that they'll refuse. Incidentally, this was the issue with Rene's autostart app, since, at least originally, it included code pulled from the Microsoft Technet website.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I'll make sure to strip it out if and when I make the next version available.
The code that uses the shell is all my own, if you're interested. It uses the shell's "eject" verb against the drive's shell object. So far it's worked on everything I've thrown at it.
Issuing the "Eject" verb to a USB drive is basically the same thing to the OS as ejecting your CD tray. The drive letter still shows up under My Computer, possibly confusing the average user when they go to double-click the drive and see "please insert a disk in drive" message. Especially since USB drives don't have removable disks.
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"You missed the bigger picture, Bruce. You always have."
- Robert Spellbinder, Spectacles: Bruce's Story
Ejecting the media is obviously just the first step in the process. Removing the device chain follows. Using the shell to do the ejection gives the "average user" a standard and known interface in case something prevents the ejection and allows them to retry after attempting correction. Otherwise it's up to the menu app to carry out that conversation.
Doesn't seem to be as obvious as you make it out to be. I've seen programs that simply issue an Eject command to the drive and leave it at that. The ml_iPod plugin for Winamp (v2.03 and earlier) is a good example. It wasn't fixed until I brought it up on the ml_iPod forum.
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maggie n. The fattest thing known to man, a gigantic woman whose name is rendered invariably in lowercase. Eats everything that isn't nailed down and even some things that are.
My apologies for calling your post nonsense. Bad day at school/work and all that.
It's obvious to anyone who's researched how the "safely remove hardware" functionality works under Windows. It looks like the plugin coder didn't do his/her research. But this is just for my little play version so it's no big deal. I'll probably make it an option.
I still haven't figured out how to do it programmatically. deveject.exe does it, but I'll be damned if I can understand the deveject source.
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maggie n. The fattest thing known to man. A gigantic woman whose name is rendered invariably in lowercase; eats everything that isn't nailed down and even some things that are.
http://www.codeproject.com/system/RemoveDriveByLetter.asp?df=100
I started with that source first. It's not as low-level or thorough as deveject but is much easier to follow, especially if you can't read german.
Careful with code form codeproject. It's under a free use license (you can use it in commercial and freeware apps), but it can't be used in GPLed software unless you get permission from the author. And, unfortunately, some of the authors there never respond.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
What I do with the published but non-GPL'd source I find on the web is to use it as a learning tool. I suck all of it in, think on it for a few days/weeks, and then finally write some pseudo-code and go from there. By then my code doesn't even come close to anyone elses, although the structure of it may be similar since there are only so many ways of organizing a given piece of work. I don't know if this is a legally defendable position given the blanket copyright standard in the US but I think it follows the intent of the original publishers. And I think it falls within the copyright/fair use realm of things? But of course I'm no lawyer so what do I know.
So, even though the coder had the statement "// you are free to use this code in your projects" in his code, I didn't use it other than to learn from it so I could write my own "safe eject."
I forgot about this since I didn't look at the code, I just went through the article. I have several more links at home that I'll post later.
>_
your friendly neighbourhood moderator Zach Thibeau
As a IT tech, I don't consider myself a complete idiot... but pretty close. but like Bruce, I've tried installing all three official versions of PAM and obviously no eject button... so I searched the forums and found this one that seamed to have all the answers. So I follow the link to the Beta3, but that bloomin' eject button STILL eludes me. Have I missed something? I seriously think I've lost my mind...
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American by birth.
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It just hasn't been included in any of the 1.* releases. Supposedly, it's coming in a future release... *nudges John*
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Okay... now I'm REALLY confused.... so the new menu isn't part of the beta either?..... what's so beta about it, then?
I just need to go to bed... *sigh* lol
American by birth.
Christian by choice.
American by birth.
Christian by choice.
The most recent beta has been out for a LONG time, and it does have several upgrades over the current stable release. The whole time that beta has been available, John has been making more upgrades to the PAM, but those newest upgrades have not been released yet. I believe John was waiting til the final version was complete to release the new features. There are a few forks of the PAM being developed by SmithTech, netroid and i think there is one other.
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