Tag: sandisk

SanDisk Cruzer + Gentoo

Sandisk Cruzer 256MB USB key

I love it when stuff just works. Plug it in, check dmesg to see what it says:

hub.c: new USB device 00:02.2-1.1, assigned address 7
scsi3 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
  Vendor: Generic   Model: STORAGE DEVICE    Rev: 1.02
  Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Attached scsi removable disk sdb at scsi3, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
SCSI device sdb: 512000 512-byte hdwr sectors (262 MB)
sdb: Write Protect is off
 /dev/scsi/host3/bus0/target0/lun0: p1
WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
USB Mass Storage device found at 7

So we know from the /dev/scsi/host3/bus0/target0/lun0: p1
line that the filesystem is at
/dev/scsi/host3/bus0/target0/lun0/part1. Create your
mountpoint as root: mkdir -m777 /mnt/cruzer, then edit
/etc/fstab, and add:

/dev/scsi/host3/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 /mnt/cruzer vfat noauto,user 0 0

Any user can mount the device with mount /mnt/cruzer,
and next time Nautilus starts up, the device can be mounted from the
desktop. Easy!

The hardest part was opening the packaging, but you know what I
have to say about SanDisk packaging …

Dear Mr SanDisk

I just bought one of your SanDisk 256MB CF cards today. Now I’m a big guy, and of at least average strength, but how on earth are we supposed to open your packaging? Ultrasonically welded plastic is almost impossible to open. After several minutes of fighting with it, I ended up having to snip very carefully along the bottom edge, and shake the contents out.

Your packaging is also an environmental horror. The 43×36mm CF card comes in a snug little polypropylene (maybe, or perhaps HDPE) case — inside a double-layer 127×200mm PVC envelope. That’s an unnecessary amount of the worst plastic for the environment.

I do like your products, but if in future I can find an alternative with less irksome packaging, I shall use them instead.