What does the upper-right-most key on MBP keyboards do?

I mean the key right to F12, with an "eject" icon on it. What's its function? How does it work? I'm simply curious Curiosity kills the cat though I'm afraid one day I happen to tap on it at the wrong moment and end up destroying hard drive, losing data or something... So please tell me! Thx

ZhimingWang said:

with an "eject" icon on it.

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You answered your own question.

It's used to eject optical media (to be specific).

vansmith said:

You answered your own question.

It's used to eject optical media (to be specific).

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Oh, so that's how it is... Optical media... No wonder I can't eject a chosen USB drive by pressing that button. Thank you!

Oh I can see the next killer feature of the next generation Macs, a spring loaded ejection mechanism that can spit out USB flash drives when they are ejected..that'd be so cool..

I thought it was like the ejection seat on jet aircraft. You know, you press the button and there you go flying thru the air..... ;P

Using the word "eject" I actually mean "unmount"... But it would be cool if USB drives are literally ejected!

The eject button DOES INDEED unmount USB drives that are selected. Also camera SD cards and all other types of removable media.

It is REALLY IMPORTANT to properly unmount USB drives if you expect to ever use them again.

chas_m said:

The eject button DOES INDEED unmount USB drives that are selected. Also camera SD cards and all other types of removable media.

It is REALLY IMPORTANT to properly unmount USB drives if you expect to ever use them again.

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at least with their data intact.

I seem to do that all the time with a usb thumb drive, forget to eject it that is, I've maybe done it 20 times to the same drive. The operating system always chastises me but I have yet to hurt the drive or the data on the drive. Maybe I'm just lucky. LOL

I'm not advocating doing it the wrong way, I try now to eject properly, but I just have not had an issue thus far is all. It took me while to get used to it.

PatM said:

I seem to do that all the time with a usb thumb drive, forget to eject it that is, I've maybe done it 20 times to the same drive. The operating system always chastises me but I have yet to hurt the drive or the data on the drive. Maybe I'm just lucky. LOL

I'm not advocating doing it the wrong way, I try now to eject properly, but I just have not had an issue thus far is all. It took me while to get used to it.

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My 8-year-old cousin likes to play with my G-Drive and he has unplugged it without unmounting three times. That's a headache... :Blushing: It won't be great lost if my 4GB U disk breaks down, but as for a 750 GB system backup disk... Well, better be safe than sorry.

Btw, I myself was careful since I started using my first U disk ten years ago!

Very Cautious

I hear what you are saying. I have data that is irreplaceable. And I mean that in a literal sense. My whole life is digital. Financial records, pictures, movies etc. I PDF ALL receipts etc and keep them in digital format. (Obviously I keep some originals if need be but these are in my safe. 3500 lbs bolted to a concrete floor, It's secure.)

My time machine drive is a 1 TB drive that currently has 70 GB free and the oldest backup is from August 16, 2011. I am very cognizant of the state of this drive. Once it reaches 2 years old I will relegate it to the safe, mark it with backup dates and I will replace it with a new drive.

I also use real time back up of all my data via Dropbox so I have it all at my fingertips whether I am on the IPhone or my IPad.

In addition I use Super Duper once per week as a failsafe and a Super Duper sandbox anytime the operating system has updates. I don't like to take any chances. I think my backup routines are pretty solid. I spend a little money on the process but it's well worth the price. Hard drives are inexpensive compared to the alternatives. (Losing data is not an option!)

But I just don't worry too much about thumb drives and the like. Some people may call it overkill but I don't care. It's the safest way I have found to have data security.

chas_m said:

The eject button DOES INDEED unmount USB drives that are selected. Also camera SD cards and all other types of removable media.

It is REALLY IMPORTANT to properly unmount USB drives if you expect to ever use them again.

Click to expand...

I did not know that the ejcect button does that. But I use Alfred to eject drives.

chas_m said:

The eject button DOES INDEED unmount USB drives that are selected. Also camera SD cards and all other types of removable media.

It is REALLY IMPORTANT to properly unmount USB drives if you expect to ever use them again.

Click to expand...

Chas, you are saying the Eject key on the keyboard ejects Flash USB drives? If so is there any other key to press as I tried it here and nothing.

dtravis7 said:

Chas, you are saying the Eject key on the keyboard ejects Flash USB drives? If so is there any other key to press as I tried it here and nothing.

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It doesn't work with me either... But that's not big deal right? Go to Finder and press on the eject icon isn't complex work.

ZhimingWang said:

It doesn't work with me either... But that's not big deal right? Go to Finder and press on the eject icon isn't complex work.

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Doesn't work for me either. Not on USB or external hard drive. Not a big deal but......

PatM said:

I seem to do that all the time with a usb thumb drive, forget to eject it that is, I've maybe done it 20 times to the same drive. The operating system always chastises me but I have yet to hurt the drive or the data on the drive. Maybe I'm just lucky. LOL

I'm not advocating doing it the wrong way, I try now to eject properly, but I just have not had an issue thus far is all. It took me while to get used to it.

Click to expand...

It's all about whether or not the drive is writing to the directory at the time you pull it or not. If its inactive, you will "get away" with just pulling it. But why take the risk? If you do pull it out when the directory is being written to, goodbye data.

ZhimingWang said:

My 8-year-old cousin likes to play with my G-Drive and he has unplugged it without unmounting three times. That's a headache... :Blushing: It won't be great lost if my 4GB U disk breaks down, but as for a 750 GB system backup disk... Well, better be safe than sorry.

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You need to smack that kid. I'm completely serious.

He needs to learn sooner rather than later that a) that crap has real consequences and b) to respect stuff that isn't his. Eight years old? He should have learned that by five, max.

chas_m said:

He needs to learn sooner rather than later that a) that crap has real consequences and b) to respect stuff that isn't his. Eight years old? He should have learned that by five, max.

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Yeah, he should have... But he simply want to have a close look at EVERYTHING that seems cool. Naughty boys always damage stuffs... Well, that's an old story

I encourage curiosity, but with respect.

This is why I don't have kids. I was raised in museums, so I learned this lesson EARLY.

chas_m said:

I encourage curiosity, but with respect.

This is why I don't have kids. I was raised in museums, so I learned this lesson EARLY.

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This explains a lot. LOL