openSUSE-Dokumentation Chapter 2. Working with Your Desktop / 2.4. Inserting or Connecting External Devices
	2.3. Moving Text between Applications		2.5. Using Virtual Desktops

Inserting or Connecting External Devices

FIXME: describe how to connect/insert media, add section about media handling (where we could also cover the device notifier - Fate #302545) , for file management, refer to Dolphin chapter

Inserting or Connecting Removable Media

If you insert or connect removable media to your computer (such as CD-ROMs, digital cameras, or USB sticks), these are usually automatically detected. In KDE, a dialog appears, showing the medium type detected and offering several options of what to do with the new medium. The list of options depends on the type of medium inserted.

Figure 2.1. Automatic Detection of a USB Stick in KDE

To view the data with a file manager, select Open in New Window and click OK. The Konqueror file manager appears, showing the contents of the removable device.

Figure 2.2. Viewing the Contents of a USB Stick

For the same action to be performed every time you insert a removable medium of that type, activate Always do this for this type of media in the detection dialog before clicking OK.

If you insert or connect a removable medium to the system that has been encrypted with LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup), KDE recognizes this and prompts for the password as shown in Figure 2.3, “Automatic Detection of an Encrypted USB Stick”. Enter the password to access the encrypted medium.

Figure 2.3. Automatic Detection of an Encrypted USB Stick

For information about encrypting removable media, refer to Abschnitt „Verschlüsseln des Inhalts von Wechselmedien“ (Kapitel 36, Verschlüsseln von Partitionen und Dateien, ↑Referenz).

Procedure 2.3. Configuring Removable Media Handling

In the autodetection dialog, you can also configure how KDE should handle several types of removable media. For example, if you know that a certain type of medium that you use often always contains photos, you can configure it to open an image viewer application automatically:

In the autodetection dialog, click Configure.
A configuration dialog appears, showing a list of all available actions.
Click the Medium types drop-down list and select the type of medium for which to configure a certain action. The list of available actions now only shows actions applicable to the medium type selected.
Select the action to apply and click Toggle as Auto Action.
Figure 2.4. KDE Configuration Dialog for Removable Media
Click the Advanced tab and make sure Enable medium application autostart after mount is selected.
Click OK to apply the changes and close the configuration dialog. Now every time you insert a medium of this type, the configured action is executed automatically and the autodetection dialog does not appear any more.

Procedure 2.4. Restoring Default Media Handling Options

To reset the action assigned to the type of medium and restore the default options, proceed as follows:

Start the KDE control center from the main menu by selecting Favorites+Configure Desktop (Personal Settings).
In the left-hand navigation bar, click Peripherals+Storage Media. The configuration dialog appears on the right.
Click Default and Apply. The next time you insert a medium, the autodetection dialog appears again, leaving you the choice of what to do with the medium.

Accessing Removable Media

KDE offers several ways to access removable media at any time. Clicking My Computer on the desktops opens a view as shown in Figure 2.5, “My Computer”.

Figure 2.5. My Computer

If you start Konqueror as a file manager (see Chapter 4, Managing Folders and Files with Konqueror) and click Storage Media on the start window or enter media:/ in the location bar, Konqueror displays the storage devices as shown in Figure 2.6, “Displaying Media in Konqueror”.

Figure 2.6. Displaying Media in Konqueror

You can also name removable devices, such as USB sticks, with Konqueror. Right-click the USB stick in Konqueror and select Properties. On the General tab, enter a name in the input field and click OK. When inserting the stick the next time, Konqueror displays the name of the stick.

A small green arrow indicates that a medium has been mounted (integrated into your file system, which is necessary to access the data on the medium). In openSUSE, you normally do not have to care about mounting removable devices because this is done automatically by default.

	Removing Media Safely
If you want to remove or disconnect a medium from your computer, make sure that the data on the medium is currently not accessed by any application or user. Otherwise, you risk a loss of data. To safely remove the medium, proceed as follows: Open a view that displays all removable media. Right-click the medium to remove and select Safely Remove or Eject. Safely Remove unmounts the medium after which you can disconnect the medium from your computer. Eject automatically opens the CD or DVD drive of your computer.

Removing Media Safely

If you want to remove or disconnect a medium from your computer, make sure that the data on the medium is currently not accessed by any application or user. Otherwise, you risk a loss of data. To safely remove the medium, proceed as follows:

Open a view that displays all removable media.
Right-click the medium to remove and select Safely Remove or Eject. Safely Remove unmounts the medium after which you can disconnect the medium from your computer. Eject automatically opens the CD or DVD drive of your computer.