> With the USB device, things are more interesting. If you unplug the > device (even while it's not in use), Windows warns you not to do this > without first getting permission by using the "Eject Removable Devices" > button. If you try to press that button while a program has a file open > on the device, Windows says that you can't remove the device right now and > advises you to try again later. So it's inconsistent in behavior, since this isn't how it handles the same thing during resume-from-hibernate ... > However... I put the laptop into Hibernate mode. To be absolutely sure > this was a true snapshot-poweroff-resume cycle, I also unplugged the power > cord and removed the battery. Then I removed and replaced the USB device > and restarted the laptop. Everything worked smoothly; the file remained > open and the program was able to continue reading it, well past the point > where the I/O buffers needed to be refilled. So basically there's a special case somewhere to treat _this_ disconnect differently than other ones. How does real suspend behave (like STR)? How does it handle cases where you plug in a different instance of the same device ... example, different CF card in a CF reader? Or when you move the device to another port? And does XP behave identically? > If Windows ME can do this, Linux should be able to do it too. That argument can be stretched too far! Though from time to time I have indeed wished for something more like a BSOD. An oops hidden in a logfile that never gets flushed to disk, with an X desktop, gives no clues ... :) Linux certainly _could_ try to emulate up all the fault handling of some version of Windows. But whether it _should_ is a different story. - Dave
