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Mac Forum / Applications / Mac Applications / May 2008Thumb drives and "system" desktop icons?
Bought a 4 GB thumb drive on sale for $25 at Radio Shack (cheaper than their 2 GB drive). Plugging it into the USB slot on a MacBook running 10.4.11 puts a "pocket drive" icon named "NO NAME" on the desktop as expected -- but also what looks like a CD icon named "U3 System." Both of these also show up as mounted volumes in the Finder Sidebar; the U3 System volume be separately ejected, but comes back every time the thumb drive is injected and re-inserted, or the MacBook sleeps or is re-started. What's this? Can I get rid of the U3 icon permanently? (I may want to use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, and don't want to screw up that function.) > Bought a 4 GB thumb drive on sale for $25 at Radio Shack (cheaper than > their 2 GB drive). [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, > and don't want to screw up that function.) Some brands of thumb drives come partitioned, with Windows software on one partition. I only got to play with one like this once, but that one could _not_ be reformatted into a single paritition. It's likely the same is true of the one you bought, and you either have to live with it or exchange it for another brand.  Signature<http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi> Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/election.shtml> Election 2008 goods. <http://designsbymike.net/shop/prius.cgi> Prius shirts/bumper stickers <http://designsbymike.net/shop/greet.cgi> Holiday cards with attitude > Some brands of thumb drives come partitioned, with Windows software on > one partition. I only got to play with one like this once, but that one > could _not_ be reformatted into a single paritition. It's likely the > same is true of the one you bought, and you either have to live with it > or exchange it for another brand. Or you remove the U3 firmware from the drive. Remove software is available here: <http://www.u3.com/uninstall/> It's kind of annoying, though. They have a little survey to find out why you are removing it, and one of the answers is that you are using a Mac or Linux, so they are aware that Mac users might not want U3. Nevertheless, the program it will then give you to run to uninstall is a Windows program. And it seems to *really* want Windows. It would not work for me under Parallels. I had to actually boot Windows for real to get it to work. Signature--Tim Smith > What's this? Can I get rid of the U3 icon permanently? (I may want to > use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, > and don't want to screw up that function.) The U3 is Windows software that supposedly adds value to the USB drive. I never used it. On Windows, you can uninstall the U3. I think that makes the entire capacity available to both machines, but I no longer have the drive to check that. SignatureWes Groleau Ostracism: A practice of sticking your head in the sand. > Bought a 4 GB thumb drive on sale for $25 at Radio Shack (cheaper than > their 2 GB drive). [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, > and don't want to screw up that function.) You should be able to simply reformat/repartition the thing in Disk Utility - though be warned, it may only support Windows file systems. SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group. E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. I do not read posts from Google Groups. Use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR >> What's this? Can I get rid of the U3 icon permanently? (I may want to >> use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, >> and don't want to screw up that function.) > > You should be able to simply reformat/repartition the thing in Disk > Utility - though be warned, it may only support Windows file systems. If you do that, won't it only support _Mac_ file systems? SignatureWes Groleau Trying to be happy is like trying to build a machine for which the only specification is that it should run noiselessly. -- unknown > > You should be able to simply reformat/repartition the thing in Disk > > Utility - though be warned, it may only support Windows file systems. > > If you do that, won't it only support _Mac_ file systems? I understood him to mean that it may not be possible to reformat/repartition it because it may only support Windows file systems. Signature<http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi> Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/election.shtml> Election 2008 goods. <http://designsbymike.net/shop/prius.cgi> Prius shirts/bumper stickers <http://designsbymike.net/shop/greet.cgi> Holiday cards with attitude >>> You should be able to simply reformat/repartition the thing in Disk >>> Utility - though be warned, it may only support Windows file systems. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > reformat/repartition it because it may only support Windows file > systems. Oh, I see. I didn't try that because I knew I needed Windows to be able to read it. SignatureWes Groleau Armchair Activism: http://www.breakthechain.org/armchair.html > >> What's this? Can I get rid of the U3 icon permanently? (I may want to > >> use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > If you do that, won't it only support _Mac_ file systems? Some thumb drives absolutely cannot be formatted with non-Windows file systems, because the underlying hardware does not support it. SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group. E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. I do not read posts from Google Groups. Use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR > Some thumb drives absolutely cannot be formatted with non-Windows file > systems, because the underlying hardware does not support it. which ones, and how does the hardware preclude a specific format? > > Some thumb drives absolutely cannot be formatted with non-Windows file > > systems, because the underlying hardware does not support it. > > which ones, and how does the hardware preclude a specific format? I'm sure I wouldn't know (or really care, for that matter). Maybe Google or a call to the manufacturer will tell you. SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group. E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. I do not read posts from Google Groups. Use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR > > > Some thumb drives absolutely cannot be formatted with non-Windows file > > > systems, because the underlying hardware does not support it. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I'm sure I wouldn't know (or really care, for that matter). Maybe Google > or a call to the manufacturer will tell you. absent an example, i remain *very* skeptical. and the only thing i can find on google are people who have problems formatting them on windows with a windows file system. On 5/26/08 6:11 PM, in article jollyroger-920648.18115626052008@individual.net, "Jolly Roger" <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote: >>> Some thumb drives absolutely cannot be formatted with non-Windows file >>> systems, because the underlying hardware does not support it. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I'm sure I wouldn't know (or really care, for that matter). Maybe Google > or a call to the manufacturer will tell you. Following your suggestion, I found this: http://www.bradbergeron.com/2006/11/howto-install-and-boot-os-x-on-a-flash-d rive/ (watch the wrap) > On 5/26/08 6:11 PM, in article > jollyroger-920648.18115626052008@individual.net, "Jolly Roger" [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > (watch the wrap) BTW, wrap wouldn't be a problem if you'd enclose your URLs with < and >, like so: <http://www.bradbergeron.com/2006/11/howto-install-and-boot-os-x-on-a-fla sh-drive/> Alternatively, a quick trip to TinyURL.com will make any URL short enough not to wrap. Taking it a step further, you can add this JavaScript applet to your web browser's toolbar to have single-click access to a tiny URL for the current web page you are viewing: javascript:str=document.URL;if(str){location.href=%22http://tinyurl.com/c reate.php?url=%22+str.split(%22 %22).join(%22+%22)}; SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group. E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. I do not read posts from Google Groups. Use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR > Taking it a step further, you can add this JavaScript applet to your > web browser's toolbar to have single-click access to a tiny URL for > the current web page you are viewing: Or you can go to tinyurl.com and drag a link to the toolbar and not have to type anything. SignatureSupport the troops: Bring them home ASAP. > > Taking it a step further, you can add this JavaScript applet to your > > web browser's toolbar to have single-click access to a tiny URL for > > the current web page you are viewing: > > Or you can go to tinyurl.com and drag a link to the toolbar and not have > to type anything. The JavaScript I posted automatically submits the current web page to TinyURL and retrieves a tiny URL version of whatever web page you are viewing. It's more than just a link. SignatureNote: Please send all responses to the relevant news group. If you must contact me through e-mail, let me know when you send email to this address so that your email doesn't get eaten by my SPAM filter. JR > > Or you can go to tinyurl.com and drag a link to the toolbar and not > > have to type anything. > > The JavaScript I posted automatically submits the current web page to > TinyURL and retrieves a tiny URL version of whatever web page you are > viewing. It's more than just a link. And the link you drag to the toolbar from tinyurl.com does the same thing. Once you drag that link to the toolbar, all you have to do is click on it in the toolbar to create a tinyURL for that page. This is the content of the link that's dragged: javascript:void(location.href='http://tinyurl.com/create.php?url='+locati on.href) SignatureSupport the troops: Bring them home ASAP. > > > Or you can go to tinyurl.com and drag a link to the toolbar and not > > > have to type anything. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > javascript:void(location.href='http://tinyurl.com/create.php?url='+locati > on.href) Ah I see. I was not aware of that. : ) SignatureNote: Please send all responses to the relevant news group. If you must contact me through e-mail, let me know when you send email to this address so that your email doesn't get eaten by my SPAM filter. JR On 5/27/08 10:39 PM, in article michelle-2A7087.20395527052008@news.west.cox.net, "Michelle Steiner" <michelle@michelle.org> wrote: >>> Or you can go to tinyurl.com and drag a link to the toolbar and not >>> have to type anything. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > javascript:void(location.href='http://tinyurl.com/create.php?url='+locati > on.href) Thanks guys! I learn something every day. This info will help cure my laziness, LOL. > Or you can go to tinyurl.com and drag a link to the toolbar and not have > to type anything. Suppose I am viewing http://this-is-my-blog-url-that-I-know-you-will-want-to-share-because.i-am-an-id iot.net/article/3.14158265358979 and I go to tinyurl.com because I really do want to share it. Now I am at tinyurl.com Where do I find a link to the referring page to drag to a toolbar? Now, I have noticed that with SOME browsers, if you copy the URI to the clipboard, then go to tinyurl.com, their Javascript actually fetches the clipboard URI and creates the hash automatically. SignatureWes Groleau Change is inevitable. We need to learn that "inevitable" is neither a synonym for "good" nor for "bad." -- WWG > > Or you can go to tinyurl.com and drag a link to the toolbar and not have > > to type anything. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > clipboard, then go to tinyurl.com, their Javascript actually fetches the > clipboard URI and creates the hash automatically. It's right there where it says: Add TinyURL to your browser's toolbar Click and drag the following link to your links toolbar. TinyURL! SignatureTom Stiller PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF > It's right there where it says: > Add TinyURL to your browser's toolbar > > Click and drag the following link to your links toolbar. > TinyURL! OH! I thought folks were trying to say that by dragging a link I could create a hashed version of the link--not a tool to make a link at some future time. SignatureWes Groleau ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ A UNIX signature isn't a return address, it's the ASCII equivalent ^ ^ of a black velvet clown painting. It's a rectangle of carets ^ ^ surrounding a quote from a literary giant of weeniedom like ^ ^ Heinlein or Dr. Who. ^ ^ -- Chris Maeda ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > Suppose I am viewing > http://this-is-my-blog-url-that-I-know-you-will-want-to-share-because.i-am-an- [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Where do I find a link to the referring page to drag to a toolbar? There's a link on tinyURL.com that you drag to your toolbar. You have to do this only once. Then when you're viewing <http://this-is-my-blog-url-that-I-know-you-will-want-to-share-because.i- am-an-idiot.net/article/3.14158265358979>, you click on that link in the toolbar, and you will wind up back at tinyURL with the tinyURL for that link ready to be copied and pasted into your message. SignatureSupport the troops: Bring them home ASAP. > > What's this? Can I get rid of the U3 icon permanently? (I may want to > > use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, > > and don't want to screw up that function.) > > You should be able to simply reformat/repartition the thing in Disk > Utility - though be warned, it may only support Windows file systems. Disk Utility won't do the trick. A U3 drive doesn't show up as a single drive that has been partitioned. It shows up as two separate drives--one a USB disk and one a USB CD-ROM. The best you can do with Disk Utility is repartition the disk drive, which won't touch the fake CD-ROM drive. You need something more low level than Disk Utility--something that knows that special commands that the U3 device recognizes. Signature--Tim Smith > Bought a 4 GB thumb drive on sale for $25 at Radio Shack (cheaper than > their 2 GB drive). [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, > and don't want to screw up that function.) some info here: http://www.u3.com/smart/default.aspx > > Bought a 4 GB thumb drive on sale for $25 at Radio Shack (cheaper than > > their 2 GB drive). > > > > Plugging it into the USB slot on a MacBook running 10.4.11 puts a > > "pocket drive" icon named "NO NAME" on the desktop as expected -- but > > also what looks like a CD icon named "U3 System." > some info here: > > http://www.u3.com/smart/default.aspx Thanks! Now I at least know what U3 is. Whether I can disable the autolaunch of the U3 system on my Mac without taking the thumb drive to a PC machine, is still unresolved, but I at least know what's going on. > Thanks! Now I at least know what U3 is. Whether I can disable the > autolaunch of the U3 system on my Mac without taking the thumb drive to > a PC machine, is still unresolved, but I at least know what's going on. It's not autolaunching anything, it's simply mounting two partitions. Signature<http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi> Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/election.shtml> Election 2008 goods. <http://designsbymike.net/shop/prius.cgi> Prius shirts/bumper stickers <http://designsbymike.net/shop/greet.cgi> Holiday cards with attitude > http://www.u3.com/smart/default.aspx I used something called Drive Key Boot Utility (somewhere on the Hewlett Packard site) last year to get rid of a U3 partition on a SanDisk thumb drive. I downloaded it from HP (while on someone's PC), ran the utility with the thumb drive in the PC. I might have had to reformat the drive with Disk Utility (on my Mac) after I removed the partition, but I don't remember. I got the tip from here: http://www.talino.org/blog/u3_and_osx/. >>> Bought a 4 GB thumb drive on sale for $25 at Radio Shack (cheaper than >>> their 2 GB drive). [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > autolaunch of the U3 system on my Mac without taking the thumb drive to > a PC machine, is still unresolved, but I at least know what's going on. Note that when U3 talks about software for "any computer" they mean any computer running MS Windows. I had a similar USB drive and tried to remove the U3 software. The drive became unreadable and could not be recognized on either a PC or a Mac. I took ti back to the store and got a refund. They said that the USB drives were known not to work with Macs. Take it back and get another brand without this kind of Windows software. > Note that when U3 talks about software for "any computer" they mean any > computer running MS Windows. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > took ti back to the store and got a refund. They said that the USB drives > were known not to work with Macs. I have two U3 flash drives. I used a PC to get rid of the U3 feature which is a Windows-only thing anyway. Both drives now work fine with both platforms. > Note that when U3 talks about software for "any computer" they mean any > computer running MS Windows. This is true, but ... > I had a similar USB drive and tried to remove the U3 software. The drive > became unreadable and could not be recognized on either a PC or a Mac. I ... it DOES work to run the U3 uninstaller on a Windows machine, and ... > took ti back to the store and got a refund. They said that the USB drives > were known not to work with Macs. ... they lied to you. At least you got your money back, though. SignatureWes Groleau Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it. -- Robert A. Heinlein > > Bought a 4 GB thumb drive on sale for $25 at Radio Shack (cheaper than > > their 2 GB drive). [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > http://www.u3.com/smart/default.aspx A little further in, at <http://www.u3.com/support/> it states: "3.How do I uninstall U3 from my flash drive? Most U3 smart drives come with an uninstall utility that converts the U3 smart drive into a regular USB flash drive. This utility can be accessed from the U3 Launchpad. Open the U3 Launchpad and click on Settings, then select U3 Launchpad Settings and click on the Uninstall tab. Some devices have a link to the Uninstall utility under Help and Support." If you can not find the uninstall utility on your U3 smart drive you can download it from the following locations: SanDisk Devices All Others." I had one of these drives once and the partition holding the U3 info was, IIRC, partitioned as if it were a CD and thus was NOT eraseable or reformattable on a Mac with 'Disk Utility.' You will either have to use a PC, or take it back for exchange or refund. Signature________B___a___r___b___a___r___o___s___s___a________ Wayne B. Hewitt Encinitas, CA whewitt@ucsd.edu > Most U3 smart drives come with an uninstall utility that converts > the U3 smart drive into a regular USB flash drive. This utility [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > U3 info was, IIRC, partitioned as if it were a CD and thus was > NOT eraseable or reformattable on a Mac with 'Disk Utility.' that was my experience as well. disk utility would *not* let me erase or repartition it, no matter what i tried (and i tried a lot). i had to plug it into a pc and dig for the menu option that removes it. > Bought a 4 GB thumb drive on sale for $25 at Radio Shack (cheaper than > their 2 GB drive). [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > use this thumb drive to carry data from the MacBook to Windows machines, > and don't want to screw up that function.) I saw the same thing with a thumb drive I bought from Costco a year or so ago. FWIW, the U3 CD icon stopped showing up when I upgraded my computers to Leopard. SignatureDave Fritzinger Honolulu, HI |
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