Dismount is a small extension that implements a handy hot key for unmounting floppy disks in the Finder. When Dismount is installed, simply press command-option-E, and floppy disks in the internal and external floppy drives will be ejected and unmounted (the icon will disappear from the desktop).
Version 1.2 also lets you specify a specific drive number. Command-option-1 unmounts the floppy in the internal drive (drive 1), and command-option-2 unmounts the floppy in the external drive (drive 2). These are extensions of Apple’s standard FKEYs for ejecting disks with command-shift-1 or 2.
---Why?---
This utility is for those of you who are tired of having to physically select floppy disks and drag them to the trash in order to unmount them. Back in the dark ages of System 6, you could unmount disks using command-option-E from the Finder. (Sometimes you need to hold down command and option for a second or two.) Alas, the people writing System 7 left out this handy feature. Under System 7, you can still press command-E to eject disks without selecting them first, but it still leaves their icons on the desktop. You can also use command-Y, but you still have to select the disks. Now, Dismount re-implements the old System 6 feature, so you can unmount your floppies much more quickly.
---System Requirements and Compatibility---
Dismount requires System 7 or later. It is 32-bit clean.
Dismount is a very simple hack and fairly thoroughly tested, so I don’t anticipate bugs or compatibility problems.
---Installation---
Just drag it to your System Folder and allow the Finder to place it into the Extensions Folder; then restart.
---Distribution---
Dismount is freeware. You may freely give away copies and upload it onto bulletin boards, but you may not sell Dismount or bundle it with anything that is sold (including shareware) without written permission. If you give Dismount away or upload it, you MUST include this document with it.
---Version notes---
Version 1.2 includes the ability to unmount the disk from a specific drive using command-option-1 or 2. These are extensions of Apple’s standard FKEYs letting you eject disks using command-shift-1 or 2.
Dismount 1.2 also manages memory much more nicely. For techies, it loads its patch into high RAM instead of fragmenting the system heap, and it uses static RAM for its variables instead of growing the stack.
Dismount 1.2 supersedes version 1.1, which was mistakenly released before debugging was complete. Version 1.2 fixes a bug that caused some machines to crash with an address/bus error if command-option-1 or 2 was attempted before the first use of command-option-E.
---Any Questions?---
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, bug reports, or if you just want someone to write to, feel free to contact me. Unfortunately, I have no E-mail address, so you’ll have to use the plain old US postal service.
Daniel Azuma
1449 Belleville Way
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
---And finally…---
Thanks to Steve Kalkwarf for his wonderful hack ideas.
