Click here to Skip to main content
6,291,124 members and growing! (15,634 online)
Email Password   helpLost your password?
General Reading » Hardware & System » Hardware     Intermediate License: The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

How to Prepare a USB Drive for Safe Removal

By Uwe_Sieber

Shows the link between a drive letter, its disk number, and the disk's device instance.
VC6Win2K, WinXP, Win2003, Vista, Dev
Version:2 (See All)
Posted:18 Apr 2006
Updated:22 Jan 2009
Views:170,220
Bookmarked:162 times
Announcements
Loading...
 
Search    
Advanced Search
printPrint   Broken Article?Report       add Share
  Discuss Discuss   Recommend Article Email
47 votes for this article.
Popularity: 7.74 Rating: 4.63 out of 5
1 vote, 2.1%
1
1 vote, 2.1%
2
3 votes, 6.4%
3
7 votes, 14.9%
4
35 votes, 74.5%
5

Introduction

Removing a USB drive using the Windows tray icon is easy, especially if you single left-click it, but sometimes, it's useful to do it from your program.

Background

There are some samples around, but the ones I saw were searching for the volume and then calling CM_Get_Parent twice to get the USB device to eject. This approach works only with drives which claim to have removable media. Such drives (drive type: DRIVE_REMOVABLE) are handled differently from basic disks (DRIVE_FIXED) under W2K and XP. Removable drives have a one-to-one relation between the volume and the disk, where the disk is the parent device of the volume. This is true for CDROM drives too.

USB drives without removable media are handled like basic disks, so they can have multiple partitions, and the volume's parent device is not the disk! Under Vista, this is the case for removable drives too, but multiple partitions are still not allowed. By the way, there are more differences resulting from the type of the USB disk. Here is some information.

The magic link between storage volumes and their disk is the device number. You can get it via DeviceIoControl called with IOCTL_STORAGE_GET_DEVICE_NUMBER. This call works with handles to storage volumes on one side, and disk, floppy, and CDROM drives on the other side. The device number is unique within a device class only. Dealing with drive letters, we have to distinguish between the device interfaces GUID_DEVINTERFACE_DISK, GUID_DEVINTERFACE_FLOPPY, and GUID_DEVINTERFACE_CDROM. The floppies were not considered here until end of October 2006, so a USB floppy screwed up everything, in theory. In real life, a USB floppy has usually device number 0 while any other USB drive has a higher number, so there were no real problems.

By the way: Under W2K and XP, legacy floppies are not part of the GUID_DEVINTERFACE_FLOPPY enumeration.

The sample

This sample is a simplified version of my command-line tool RemoveDrive. It expects the drive letter to prepare for safe removal as a parameter. It opens the volume and gets its device number:

// "X:\"    -> for GetDriveType
char szRootPath[] = "X:\\";
szRootPath[0] = DriveLetter;

// "X:"     -> for QueryDosDevice
char szDevicePath[] = "X:";
szDevicePath[0] = DriveLetter;

// "\\.\X:" -> to open the volume
char szVolumeAccessPath[] = "\\\\.\\X:";
szVolumeAccessPath[4] = DriveLetter;

long DeviceNumber = -1;

HANDLE hVolume = CreateFile(szVolumeAccessPath, 0,
                    FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE,
                    NULL, OPEN_EXISTING, 0, NULL);
if (hVolume == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
  return 1;
}

STORAGE_DEVICE_NUMBER sdn;
DWORD dwBytesReturned = 0;
long res = DeviceIoControl(hVolume,
                    IOCTL_STORAGE_GET_DEVICE_NUMBER,
                    NULL, 0, &sdn, sizeof(sdn),
                    &dwBytesReturned, NULL);
if ( res ) {
  DeviceNumber = sdn.DeviceNumber;
}
CloseHandle(hVolume);

if ( DeviceNumber == -1 ) {
  return 1;
}

UINT DriveType = GetDriveType(szRootPath);

// get the dos device name (like \device\floppy0)
// to decide if it's a floppy or not
char szDosDeviceName[MAX_PATH];
res = QueryDosDevice(szDevicePath, szDosDeviceName, MAX_PATH);
if ( !res ) {
  return 1;
}

DEVINST DevInst = GetDrivesDevInstByDeviceNumber(DeviceNumber,
                  DriveType, szDosDeviceName);
if ( DeviceNumber == -1 ) {
  return 1;
}

Then, it enumerates all disks, floppies, or CD-ROMs — depending on the drive type and the DOS device name — using the setup API. The disk's device numbers are matched with the device number mentioned above in order to get the device instance:

//---------------------------------------------------------
DEVINST GetDrivesDevInstByDeviceNumber(long DeviceNumber,
          UINT DriveType, char* szDosDeviceName)
{

  bool IsFloppy = (strstr(szDosDeviceName,
       "\\Floppy") != NULL); // is there a better way?

  GUID* guid;

  switch (DriveType) {
  case DRIVE_REMOVABLE:
    if ( IsFloppy ) {
      guid = (GUID*)&GUID_DEVINTERFACE_FLOPPY;
    } else {
      guid = (GUID*)&GUID_DEVINTERFACE_DISK;
    }
    break;
  case DRIVE_FIXED:
    guid = (GUID*)&GUID_DEVINTERFACE_DISK;
    break;
  case DRIVE_CDROM:
    guid = (GUID*)&GUID_DEVINTERFACE_CDROM;
    break;
  default:
    return 0;
  }

  // Get device interface info set handle
  // for all devices attached to system
  HDEVINFO hDevInfo = SetupDiGetClassDevs(guid, NULL, NULL,
                    DIGCF_PRESENT | DIGCF_DEVICEINTERFACE);

  if (hDevInfo == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)  {
    return 0;
  }

  // Retrieve a context structure for a device interface
  // of a device information set.
  DWORD dwIndex = 0;
  BOOL bRet = FALSE;

  BYTE Buf[1024];
  PSP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DETAIL_DATA pspdidd =
     (PSP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DETAIL_DATA)Buf;
  SP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DATA         spdid;
  SP_DEVINFO_DATA                  spdd;
  DWORD                            dwSize;

  spdid.cbSize = sizeof(spdid);

  while ( true )  {
    bRet = SetupDiEnumDeviceInterfaces(hDevInfo, NULL,
           guid, dwIndex, &spdid);
    if ( !bRet ) {
      break;
    }

    dwSize = 0;
    SetupDiGetDeviceInterfaceDetail(hDevInfo,
      &spdid, NULL, 0, &dwSize, NULL);

    if ( dwSize!=0 && dwSize<=sizeof(Buf) ) {
      pspdidd->cbSize = sizeof(*pspdidd); // 5 Bytes!

      ZeroMemory((PVOID)&spdd, sizeof(spdd));
      spdd.cbSize = sizeof(spdd);

      long res =
        SetupDiGetDeviceInterfaceDetail(hDevInfo, &
                                        spdid, pspdidd,
                                        dwSize, &dwSize,
                                        &spdd);
      if ( res ) {
        HANDLE hDrive = CreateFile(pspdidd->DevicePath,0,
                      FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE,
                      NULL, OPEN_EXISTING, 0, NULL);
        if ( hDrive != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE ) {
          STORAGE_DEVICE_NUMBER sdn;
          DWORD dwBytesReturned = 0;
          res = DeviceIoControl(hDrive,
                        IOCTL_STORAGE_GET_DEVICE_NUMBER,
                        NULL, 0, &sdn, sizeof(sdn),
                        &dwBytesReturned, NULL);
          if ( res ) {
            if ( DeviceNumber == (long)sdn.DeviceNumber ) {
              CloseHandle(hDrive);
              SetupDiDestroyDeviceInfoList(hDevInfo);
              return spdd.DevInst;
            }
          }
          CloseHandle(hDrive);
        }
      }
    }
    dwIndex++;
  }

  SetupDiDestroyDeviceInfoList(hDevInfo);

  return 0;
}
//---------------------------------------------------------

The parent device of the disk, floppy, or CD-ROM is the USB device to eject. CM_Request_Device_Eject shall be used for devices which have the SurpriseRemovalOK flag only. Otherwise, CM_Query_And_Remove_SubTree shall be used. See MSDN here and here.

However, CM_Query_And_Remove_SubTree doesn't work for restricted users, it returns CR_ACCESS_DENIED in these cases while the non-suggested CM_Request_Device_Eject works fine for restricted users. Surprisingly, CM_Request_Device_Eject does not work in a service or a GINA, here CM_Query_And_Remove_SubTree is the right choice.

When using CM_Query_And_Remove_SubTree, we have to add the flag CM_REMOVE_NO_RESTART because otherwise the just-removed device may be immediately redetected. This happens under Vista, but is also reported to happen under W2K and XP sometimes. Even though documented as "Windows XP and later versions of Windows", the flag works under W2K with SP4 too.

I take the easy way, and now use CM_Request_Device_Eject exclusively in this sample.

Discussion

If you use it for PATA drives, then both master and slave drives are removed! However, both can be brought back with a DEVCON RESCAN.

If the functions are called with NULL/0 for the veto parameters, then XP shows the "it's safe now" balloon tip, W2K shows a message box, and Vista shows nothing. As McCoy once said: "I know engineers. They love to change things."

I remember that I've seen CM_Query_And_Remove_SubTree and CM_Request_Device_Eject returning CR_SUCCESS even when the call failed with a veto under XP. I cannot reproduce it, but I'm sure I've seen this, maybe it was under XP RTM or SP1. Therefore, it seems to be better to check the veto values the functions return.

Under Windows 2000, the ANSI versions of both functions are not implemented. They return CR_CALL_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, so we use the Unicode versions instead.

Both functions may take several seconds until they return, so it's a good idea to put them into their own thread. However, I didn't do that in this simple example of removal:

ULONG Status = 0;
ULONG ProblemNumber = 0;
PNP_VETO_TYPE VetoType = PNP_VetoTypeUnknown;
WCHAR VetoNameW[MAX_PATH];
bool bSuccess = false;

// get drives's parent, e.g. the USB bridge,
// the SATA port, an IDE channel with two drives!
DEVINST DevInstParent = 0;
res = CM_Get_Parent(&DevInstParent, DevInst, 0);

for ( long tries=1; tries>=3; tries++ ) {
// sometimes we need some tries...

  VetoNameW[0] = 0;

  res = CM_Request_Device_EjectW(DevInstParent,
          &VetoType, VetoNameW, MAX_PATH, 0);

  bSuccess = (res==CR_SUCCESS &&
                    VetoType==PNP_VetoTypeUnknown);
  if ( bSuccess )  {
    break;
  }

  Sleep(500); // required to give the next tries a chance!
}

It's often seen that the removal fails on the first attempt but works on the second attempt. Therefore, I just try it three times.

What makes the removal fail

The preparation for safe removal fails as long as there is one open handle to the disk or to the storage volume. And, of course, you cannot run this EXE from the drive to remove. To do that, you would need a temporary copy on another drive. ProcessExplorer is great for discovering which process holds an open handle to a drive. Press Ctrl+F and enter the drive letter, like U:. I've often seen that it cannot resolve drive letters, so you have to search for the DOS device name of the drive. It should be something like \Device\Harddisk4\DP(1)0-0+11. A significant part, such as 'disk4', is usually good enough. On occasion, however, even the driver-driven ProcessExplorer isn't able to find the nasty handle.

Reactivate an USB drive after safe removal

When prepared for safe removal, an USB device cannot be reactivated. The only way is to deactivate and then reactivate the USB hub which it is connected to. This works with both standard hubs and root hubs. Of course, this cycles all USB devices attached to this hub.

The demo project

The demo project is made with VS6. It requires LIBs and headers from the Microsoft Windows Platform SDK. The latest version that integrates and works perfectly with VS6 is from February 2003. It's called Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 Build 3780.0, and is still available for download from here.

Unfortunately, the CFG.h file is still missing in pre Vista SDKs. You can take it from the Vista Platform SDK, or from any DDK/WDK since build 2600.

If you don't want to download a whole DDK for a single file, then you can use the CFG.h from the ReactOS project, which is at least compatible for this demo. Change the include line in CFGMGR32.h to this file in that case.

History

  • 15 Jan 2007 - Updated download.
  • 27 Jan 2007 - Updated article and download, CM_Query_And_Remove_SubTree isn't used anymore.
  • 16 May 2007 - Updated article and download; removed SetupDiEnumInterfaceDevice because it's just a define for SetupDiEnumDeviceInterfaces which has been called some lines before.
  • 7 Nov 2007 - Fixed the hints about the required SDK for using VS6.
  • 21 Jan 2009 - Some minor changes to the article.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

About the Author

Uwe_Sieber


Member

Occupation: Software Developer
Location: Germany Germany

Other popular Hardware & System articles:

Article Top
You must Sign In to use this message board.
FAQ FAQ 
 
Noise Tolerance  Layout  Per page   
 Msgs 1 to 25 of 103 (Total in Forum: 103) (Refresh)FirstPrevNext
GeneralFlaw -- according to Microsoft Pinmembercodeproject4sba4:28 22 Jun '09  
GeneralRe: Flaw -- according to Microsoft PinmemberUwe_Sieber7:09 22 Jun '09  
GeneralRe: Flaw -- according to Microsoft Pinmembercodeproject4sba7:56 22 Jun '09  
GeneralRe: Flaw -- according to Microsoft PinmemberUwe_Sieber9:41 22 Jun '09  
QuestionVisual Studio 2008 link error PinmemberAkaPaul3:52 2 Jun '09  
AnswerRe: Visual Studio 2008 link error PinmemberUwe_Sieber8:59 5 Jun '09  
GeneralRe: Visual Studio 2008 link error PinmemberAkaPaul9:28 5 Jun '09  
GeneralHelp me compile error!! Pinmemberwabole15:48 14 Mar '09  
GeneralRe: Help me compile error!! PinmemberUwe_Sieber21:38 14 Mar '09  
GeneralRe: Help me compile error!! Pinmemberwabole18:05 18 Mar '09  
GeneralRemove Usb Disk Device Failed PinmemberGrantFei6:37 12 Mar '09  
GeneralRe: Remove Usb Disk Device Failed PinmemberGrantFei19:37 12 Mar '09  
GeneralRemoving a disk without removing the drive Pinmembersupercat97:40 22 Jan '09  
GeneralRe: Removing a disk without removing the drive PinmemberUwe_Sieber2:43 23 Jan '09  
GeneralDevice_Eject versus Remove_SubTree Pinmemberwraithdu7:07 29 Oct '08  
GeneralRe: Device_Eject versus Remove_SubTree PinmemberUwe_Sieber7:53 2 Nov '08  
GeneralAvoid the Windows XP popup on inserting a USB device PinmemberAlexEvans22:13 14 Jul '08  
GeneralRe: Avoid the Windows XP popup on inserting a USB device PinmemberUwe_Sieber7:42 21 Jul '08  
GeneralRe: Avoid the Windows XP popup on inserting a USB device PinmemberAlexEvans12:43 21 Jul '08  
GeneralRe: Avoid the Windows XP popup on inserting a USB device PinmemberUwe_Sieber12:04 22 Jul '08  
GeneralRe: Avoid the Windows XP popup on inserting a USB device PinmemberAlexEvans13:07 22 Jul '08  
Generalflush to usb disk PinmemberJimmyO14:03 30 Dec '07  
GeneralRe: flush to usb disk PinmemberUwe_Sieber7:35 21 Jul '08  
Questionlink error "LNK2001" when build release version Pinmembertungshan hsieh16:19 6 Nov '07  
AnswerRe: link error "LNK2001" when build release version PinmemberUwe_Sieber22:08 6 Nov '07  

General General    News News    Question Question    Answer Answer    Joke Joke    Rant Rant    Admin Admin   

PermaLink | Privacy | Terms of Use
Last Updated: 22 Jan 2009
Editor: Smitha Vijayan
Copyright 2006 by Uwe_Sieber
Everything else Copyright © CodeProject, 1999-2009
Web09 | Advertise on the Code Project