what makes a disk icon appear on the desktop in Xfce?

Skaperen · 10-11-2020, 03:06 PM

what makes a disk icon appear on the desktop in Xfce? some process has be doing this. if i create a .desktop file with the appropriate settings in it in my ~/Desktop directory then those icons get added to the desktop (i've added over 200, some auto-generated). i'm curious how the icons for mountable disk space are handled.

sgosnell · 10-11-2020, 03:35 PM

That's a configurable setting. Right-click on any unoccupied space on the desktop, select Desktop Settings, the Icons tab, and at the bottom there is an area called Default Icons. Tick the box of the ones you want displayed, uncheck the ones you don't.

Skaperen · 10-11-2020, 07:41 PM

went there. it shows these: Home, Filesystem, Trash, Removable Devices. all appear to be selected and i do want these 4. i'm more asking about a particular removable device. i want to know what makes each of these show up. does it scan for devices or is a message sent to it? and where does it keep all the details about each device so that it knows what to do when a mount is requested by someone who is authorized? what about devices like plug-in devices, as opposed to permanent devices, as seen by non-sudo users?

sgosnell · 10-11-2020, 08:04 PM

When a device is connected, an entry is made in /dev, which is the directory for devices. Disks are identified in /dev/disk. Explore your /dev directory and you may find more interesting details.

Skaperen · 10-12-2020, 05:36 PM

Code:

lt2a/skaperen /home/skaperen 30> sudo rls +b-l /dev
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            7,0 2020-10-10.06:41:14 /dev/loop0
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            7,1 2020-10-08.16:11:01 /dev/loop1
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            7,2 2020-10-08.16:11:01 /dev/loop2
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            7,3 2020-10-08.16:11:01 /dev/loop3
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            7,4 2020-10-08.16:11:01 /dev/loop4
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            7,5 2020-10-08.16:11:01 /dev/loop5
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            7,6 2020-10-08.16:11:01 /dev/loop6
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            7,7 2020-10-08.16:11:01 /dev/loop7
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            8,0 2020-10-12.18:23:33 /dev/sda
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            8,1 2020-10-12.18:23:33 /dev/sda1
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            8,2 2020-10-12.18:23:33 /dev/sda2
brw-rw----   1 root     disk            8,4 2020-10-12.18:23:33 /dev/sda4
brw-rw----   1 root     disk           8,16 2020-10-12.18:23:33 /dev/sdb
brw-rw----   1 root     disk           8,17 2020-10-12.18:23:33 /dev/sdb1
brw-rw----   1 root     disk           8,18 2020-10-12.18:23:33 /dev/sdb2
brw-rw----   1 root     disk           8,32 2020-10-12.18:23:33 /dev/sdc
brw-rw----   1 root     disk           8,33 2020-10-12.18:23:34 /dev/sdc1
brw-rw----   1 root     disk           8,34 2020-10-12.18:23:34 /dev/sdc2
brw-rw----   1 root     disk           8,36 2020-10-12.18:23:34 /dev/sdc4
lt2a/skaperen /home/skaperen 31>

i assume type c devices don't matter as file systems, so i used my rls program to list all the type b devices.

sgosnell · 10-12-2020, 06:29 PM

I don't know what rls is. What OS/distro is that from? The prompt is also unfamiliar to me. If you're running something other than mainstream Linux, I have no idea how things are done on your system.

Skaperen · 10-12-2020, 08:28 PM

rls is a program i created to list recursively in an easier way than ls or find. the +b option tells it to list only block devices.

Code:

lt2a/forums /home/forums 63> rls -h

rls version 0.9.0

syntax:
        rls  [options]  [names]

single letter options may be combined in a single command line token:
        -0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 maximum depth
        -a      append '/' to directory names
        -b      show blocks allocated
        -d -D   show date (-d for local, -D for UTC)
        -g -G   show group name (-G for group number)
        -h -H   show this help and quit
        -i      show inode
        -l      show long format
        -L      show number of links
        -m      show mode
        -n      append nanoseconds to time (if available)
        -N      append nanoseconds to time (if available)
        -p      show where link points to
        -q      output nothing
        -s      show size
        -S      show time/date as raw seconds
        -t -T   show time and date (-t for local, -T for UTC)
        -u -U   show user name (-U for number)
        -V      show version number and quit
        +a      select directories (ascending)
        +b      select block devices
        +c      select character devices
        +d      select directories (descending)
        +h +H   show this help and quit
        +f      select regular files
        +l      select symlinks
        +p      select pipes
        +s      select sockets
        +V      show version number and quit

assignment options must be in separate command line tokens:
        cd=<directory>  change to this directory (multiple)
        maxdepth=<num>  maximum recursion depth

lt2a/forums /home/forums 64>

ondoho · 10-13-2020, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skaperen

what makes a disk icon appear on the desktop in Xfce? some process has be doing this.

One word:
gvfs (and the desktop manager - xfdesktop in your case).
Well, that's not the whole explanation but it's as good a starting point as any.

Skaperen · 10-13-2020, 12:52 PM

so how does it get this information and how does it know which one if there is a request to mount it?