Regression: usb-creator replaced using abstracted device names by using device paths. This should not be the default.

Bug #506586 reported by komputes
18
This bug affects 2 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
usb-creator (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
Low
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: usb-creator

A usability regression was presented in Karmic which complicates the use of usb-creator. This bug limit the functionality of a core application used for Ubuntu installation, and affects many users.

This bug report asks that usb-creator move back to its previous behavior of using an abstracted device instead of listing device paths (/dev/sd[a-z][1-9] alongside /dev/sd[a-z]). For the majority of users on the Ubuntu Desktop abstraction should be the default.

There are two use-cases/reasons why this change was introduced in Karmic:
1) .img files for Ubuntu Mobile requires the images to be written directly to the device, and not a partition.
2) Some USB disks come formatted as a single vfat filesystem without a partition table.

The first is a corner case and this needs to be discussed with the Design and Mobile Team.
The second is less important, as formating needs to be standardized when (re-)formatting the disk (See Bug #296160 for more details).

Steps to reproduce:
1) Open usb-creator in Jaunty and create a usb startup disk.
2) Open usb-creator in Karmic and create a usb startup disk.
3) Compare usability, intuitiveness and ease of use.
Result: Jaunty (previous release - Ubuntu 9.04) wins hands down.
Expected: With development, software should strive to become easier and simpler. This is not true of this change which was made for a the Mobile team and not for a large number of desktop users.

Conclusion:
The reason that the title ends with "This should not be the default" is because there is (all be it, minority) a use case for writing directly to a device. For this one use case we need to have an "Advanced mode" which switches from Abstracted Devices to Device Paths (Device/Partitions). What we should NOT do is alienate all desktop users because of a needed change. The Design and Mobile Team have a talk concerning the redesign of usb-creator. This bug was created in hope of moving back to a simple intuitive drive abstraction by default for Lucid.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Tue Jan 12 17:27:11 2010
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
Package: usb-creator (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-17.54-generic
SourcePackage: usb-creator
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-17-generic i686

Revision history for this message
komputes (komputes) wrote :
Revision history for this message
komputes (komputes) wrote :
Revision history for this message
komputes (komputes) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox) wrote :

Confirmed: we do have screenshots to describe the state of usb-creator between the two releases.

I've opted to mark this as Low rather than Wishlist since it would seem to me like this is a regression (hence the regression-protential tag).

Thanks komputes!

Changed in usb-creator (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
importance: Undecided → Low
tags: added: regression-potential
komputes (komputes)
summary: - Feature request: redesign usb-creator to use abstracted device names
- instead of device paths by default
+ Regression: usb-creator stoped using abstracted device names for device
+ paths. This should not be the default.
komputes (komputes)
description: updated
komputes (komputes)
summary: - Regression: usb-creator stoped using abstracted device names for device
- paths. This should not be the default.
+ Regression: usb-creator replaced using abstracted device names by using
+ device paths. This should not be the default.
komputes (komputes)
description: updated
Revision history for this message
Daniel Richard G. (skunk) wrote :

I agree with this bug report, and with the need for an "advanced mode" in which one of multiple partitions can be selected as a target. The use case I want to support is a combination data + boot USB drive, where you have a large FAT32 partition first (i.e. the only one Windows notices when you plug in the drive) and then a smaller ~1GB partition for the live system.

C de-Avillez (hggdh2)
tags: added: regression-release
removed: regression-potential
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