Emelfm2 with usb storage devices

As Audax 0.2. came out it came along with a program Simple mount that made it easier to mount usb devices. You can access Simple mount by pressing Windows+p and open the Sysman2 Gui program, which also holds the launcher entry for Simple mount. Alternatively, you can open a terminal and type: sudo sh /usr/share/sysman2.sh in order to get the Sysman2 Gui started.

What Simple mount does is that it basically creates a folder to user’s home directory and then mounts an usb device into it. After the device gets mounted you can access the folder and your device’s content will show up. Note. Even when it is possible to mount the same device to multiple mount points (a.k.a. folders) simultaneously, I strongly advice against it. If you do multiple mounts at the same time and then forget to unmount everything before unplugging the device from the computer you might get a data corruption and damage your files.

As Emelfm2 is now the default file manager of Audax, it is of use to clarify few things so that Emelfm2 would not feel too odd for the regular or first time users. The most obvious question might be: How to copy files within Audax using Emelfm2?

When you start Emelfm2 (in Audax 0.2) as a regular user your interface will look like this:

Emelfm2 replaces Thunar.

Emelfm2 interface for the regular user.

As a regular user should be able to copy files from the usb device to your local hard drive.

Emelfm2 is copying files/folders and has a status icon "busy" to indicating it.

Emelfm2 is copying files/folders and has a status icon “Busy” indicating it.

You cannot copy files from the computer back to the usb as a regular user. Omitting the copying back feature from the regular user protects the usb device from malicious attempts. The protective feature comes from the fact that as a regular user you cannot add any files or folders to the mounted usb device – or go and delete them either. If you want to add or delete something you need to mount your usb device, for example, with Simple mount and then start Emelfm2 as a root/sudo. To start Emelfm2 as a root/sudo go and open a terminal (or Fbrun dialog by hitting F2 button) and type:

gksudo emelfm2

As you enter to Emelfm2, your root/sudo interface will look like this:

Emelfm2 under root mode.

Emelfm2 under root/sudo mode.

You can see that things look a bit different in the root/sudo mode. Icons are smaller and the text labels are missing beside the icons. Still, the functions do remain the same. The reason for arrangeing the root/sudo mode to look different is that it is rather important to distinguish the regular user mode from the root/sudo mode. As a root/sudo you can practically do whatever you want, so when you use it be very careful and consider twice before doing anything. When you use Emelfm2, the file actions (copy,paste, move etc.) always go from the active (selected) panel/side to the unselected panel/side. On the above screenshot the right side is the side that is selected. If I would like to copy a file from the selected side to the unselected side I would basically select a file, which would make it look something like this: screen2 and then I would hit this button screen2 to copy the file to the unselected side.

Hint1. If you happen to forgetĀ  the name of the folder you used to mount your usb then click this icon screen2. The icon should show you two entries: /home and the folder where you mounted your usb. You could also unmount your device (as a root/sudo) by unchecking the folder entry, which appeared when you clicked the above icon. Alternatively, you could just use Simple mount to unmount your device easily. Hint2. If you move your mouse pointer above any given button you will get a yellow tooltip text, which tells you the button’s function.

As mentioned, you should be able to copy files from the mounted usb device to the computer without the root/sudo mode. In any case, if you experience copy permission errors – as a regular user – then it is of course wise to use the root/sudo mode to get things done.

Warning. Remember that the root/sudo mode does not feature a trash bin. Think twice before you delete anything – so that you do not lose anything valuable permanently.

If you encounter a crash

If you are unlucky you might encounter a crash while running Emelfm2 as a root/sudo. If the crash happens then you need to terminate your Emelfm2 interface with the xkill command. Hit, for example, F2 and write xkill to the Fbrun dialog. Now, your mouse cursor will turn into a skull. Point and click a window you want to terminate and it will shut down instantly. If you wish to cancel the xkill “order” then just click on an empty space within your desktop.