SDS100/SDS200: New SDS100 First Time Using Sentinel, Confusing message

[bucks83]

When I was finished updating the scanner, Sentinel popped up a message "UNMOUNT SCANNER BEFORE DISCONNECTING". Not sure of the exact wording but I searched my SDS100 PDF Manual and no "UNMOUNT" came up, so I disconnected anyway after turning scanner off.
UNMOUNT, how do you "UNMOUNT" the scanner ???

 

[dave3825]

It means to safely disconnect.

Safely Ejecting External Storage Devices

How important is it to safely eject your external storage devices? It is not always easy to tell whether your computer is still accessing or writing files to the external storage devices we use. Pulling a memory card out of its reader or removing an external drive out of the USB port could cause...

www.itg.ias.edu

 

[AvidHiker]

It's generally not necessary with Windows 10, but always good practice - in the bottom right corner is the system "tray" (you might have to unhide the contents using the ^ icon), you should see a little USB plug icon. Hover over it and it should say "Safely remove hardware...". Right-click and select "eject storage device". You might get denied on the first try - just wait 30 seconds and try again. The process is similar for all versions of windows best I can recall (e.g., Win95 is also bottom right but the tray expand arrow points to the left).

 

[bucks83]

OK thanks, I was NOT thinking about the USB. I thought there was something in the SDS100 I needed to do. Thanks !
I guess I was just NOT thinking.

 

[wa8pyr]

It's generally not necessary with Windows 10, but always good practice - in the bottom right corner is the system "tray" (you might have to unhide the contents using the ^ icon), you should see a little USB plug icon. Hover over it and it should say "Safely remove hardware...". Right-click and select "eject storage device". You might get denied on the first try - just wait 30 seconds and try again. The process is similar for all versions of windows best I can recall (e.g., Win95 is also bottom right but the tray expand arrow points to the left).

It wan't generally considered necessary with Windows 7 either, but I know several people using Win 7 or Win 10 who have had data drives corrupted because they unplugged before they unmounted the drive (including one who lost some critical financial data).

After I migrated to Mac in 2006 I got used to unmounting drives very quickly, and carried it over to the few Windows boxes I still have to use.

Even so, I lost an SD card on a TRX1 because I forgot to unmount the thing before I unplugged it; fortunately I had a complete backup handy and was able to restore the scanner after I reformatted the card.

Here's a couple of images of what you're looking for to unmount (on Windows 7). Click the little "Show Hidden Icons" up arrow on the System Tray and you'll see the USB connector with a green check mark. Click that and it will show the dialog box; just select the device under Eject Mass Storage, and a "safe to remove" box will show up.

 

[mc48]

I connect at least one of my radios to my PC daily and have never unmounted anything, I just pull the USB cable and they are good to go.

 

[dave3825]

It's generally not necessary with Windows 10, but always good practice

I think I will continue to go with what Microsoft recommends but would love to see it printed that its not necessary in Win 10.

Safely remove hardware in Windows 10

Follow these steps to safely remove hardware from your Windows 10 device.

support.microsoft.com

.

 

[wa8pyr]

I connect at least one of my radios to my PC daily and have never unmounted anything, I just pull the USB cable and they are good to go.

I used to do that too, until I lost data. Up to you.

I think I will continue to go with what Microsoft recommends but would love to see it printed that its not necessary in Win 10.

Good call. You just never know.

I have yet to see an OS which does not recommend unmounting drives before you unplug them.

 

[BobInABox]

I fear this will be an endless conversation but here goes. This is straight from M$ themself: Removal Policy for External Storage

I have built hundreds of Windows 10 boxes and the default for all of them for USB drives has been 'Quick removal'. Now, with that said I have been in IT for 30+ years and it's habit to 'Safely Remove' them, however, I have also just removed them when in a hurry and have never lost any data. It's really a personal preference at this point

 

[donc13]

It all depends on how quickly after you write to the drive that you remove the drive. Windows (ALL recent versions) delays writes to drives in order to make it look like it's faster. It then waits for a bit when not much else is going on, and then does the actual write.

If it's been, say a minute after all activity on the drive is reported as done... It's safe to remove without unmounting (safely removing).

It's not just Windows, all modern operating systems do the same thing.

 

[AvidHiker]

I think I will continue to go with what Microsoft recommends but would love to see it printed that its not necessary in Win 10...

Google can find that for you very quickly, but now it's also been posted, so there you go (that news actually goes back to at least 2019). Like I said, generally not considered necessary in Windows 10 (due to the update which made "quick removal" the default), so just trying to put the OP's mind at ease. And, like I said, the option is still there and it doesn't hurt - it's simple and hardly takes any time once you've gotten used to doing it - so not attempting to discourage anyone from following the directions in Sentinel.

 

[dave3825]

In a perfect world all would be good. But not everyone does updates. I have a pc with win 10 that is just used for sdr and sdrtrunk that has never been updated. It just does sdr related stuff and files or put onto it via thumb drives because it has no internet access. Also seen to many threads where dongles stop working after windows updates.

All in all, it only takes a few seconds to safely remove usb devices or in this case, just power down the scanner. My sd card went bad when the wire was pulled. Scanner was running and proscan was logging. The charger I was using did not have enough power and the batteries drained. So when I pulled the wire, it was the same as removing a battery without powering down. I have since upgraded the charger for my 436 and there is no more drain.

It is interesting that Microsoft has two different views on the topic listed on there site.

 

[AvidHiker]

Heh, well, last I heard, Windows 10 does not make it simple to decline updates. It's pretty much mandatory. I think it's safe to assume that someone unfamiliar with the unmount function is unlikely to be someone capable of circumventing forced updates. Anyway, all this is irrelevant since the OP is obviously interested in following the directions, and we've given him all the tips needed to get it done. I think the points have been made and we can move on.

Again, nobody has instructed the OP not to use the unmount function. The fact that the option still exists for an external drive, despite the default setting, could suggest that it has some utility.

 

[ofd8001]

This isn't a Windows issue. Rather an update to the firmware has been sent to the scanner. You have to go through the unmount process, which the scanner detects when you do, so the scanner will begin/complete the firmware update process. It does not want you writing something to it while it is going through the firmware update process creating havoc.

Since firmware updates are rare, you only see this message rarely.

As far as regular disconnecting goes, yeah you usually can just disconnect the cable and get away with it but every now and then there is a problem.

 

[jonwienke]

I've corrupted drives and lost data by pulling the plug on a USB storage device without unmounting it first. Yeah, you can get away with just pulling the plug most of the time, but that doesn't make doing so prudent.

 

[rcool101]

I've pulled the "plug" when updating Sentinel (favorite list) before and ten min. later had to add something else. I could not get Sentinel to see my radio chip id. When that happens I have to restart Win10. This happened about 6 times. I don't know when or if Win10 updated this. Need less to say I always unmount....(sigh)...

 

[JoeBearcat]

The scanner is connected in mass storage mode. Are you re-entering that mode when the scanner reboots (when you disconnect)?

 

[bucks83]

The scanner is connected in mass storage mode. Are you re-entering that mode when the scanner reboots (when you disconnect)?

No

 

[JoeBearcat]

No

That explains why Sentinel isn't seeing it. The scanner has to be in mass storage mode for Sentinel to connect to it.

 

[ofd8001]

Going back to the original post:

When I was finished updating the scanner, Sentinel popped up a message "UNMOUNT SCANNER BEFORE DISCONNECTING". Not sure of the exact wording but I searched my SDS100 PDF Manual and no "UNMOUNT" came up, so I disconnected anyway after turning scanner off.
UNMOUNT, how do you "UNMOUNT" the scanner ???

I believe that only appears after there is an update to the firmware. Other times, this specific message does not appear. Still "Unmounting" means to use Windows Explorer, right click on the drive letter for the scanner and click when it says "Eject". (Be kinda nice if Uniden and Windows used the same wording for the same task.)