Remove the Removable Media Icon
CONVENTIONS USED

There are two new features in Mandrake 9.0 that some users may really like a lot. I really hate them. So, I found a way to disable them. This tutorial will cover removing the Removable Media icon that reappears on your desktop every time you start KDE.

Open a console. Type in su and hit Enter.

Now you will be asked for the root password, so put it in and hit Enter.

Next, using your favorite editor (I'll assume Kate, as it's got a nice easy-to-use GUI about it) you must edit a config file. So, type in kate /usr/bin/kdesktop-links and hit Enter.

Go to line 17 or so, and you'll see something like this:

if [ ! -e $HOME/Desktop/.directory ]; then
        cp -f /usr/share/mdk/kde/directory-desktop $HOME/Desktop/.directory
fi

# Removable media

If you see that, then great. You're editing the right file. Now, add in these lines that are in red:

if [ ! -e $HOME/Desktop/.directory ]; then
        cp -f /usr/share/mdk/kde/directory-desktop $HOME/Desktop/.directory
fi

# Set MDKXP_DISABLE_DYNAMIC:
#
# 0 - Enable Removable Media icon
# 1 - Disable Removable Media icon

MDKXP_DISABLE_DYNAMIC=1

if [ $MDKXP_DISABLE_DYNAMIC == 0 ]; then # START MDKXP IF STATEMENT

# Removable media

So as you can see, if you set that variable to zero (MDKXP_DISABLE_DYNAMIC=0), then you would have the Removable Media icon when you restart KDE. But if you set it to 1, then the icon won't reappear once you delete it.

We need to make one final edit.

Scroll down to about line 134 or so. You should see something like this:

fi

if [ ! -e $HOME/Desktop/.md5sumetcfstab ]; then
        md5sum /etc/fstab > $HOME/Desktop/.md5sumetcfstab

Now, add in this extra line that is in red:

fi

fi # END MDKXP IF STATEMENT

if [ ! -e $HOME/Desktop/.md5sumetcfstab ]; then
        md5sum /etc/fstab > $HOME/Desktop/.md5sumetcfstab

Save the file and exit.

Delete the Removable Media icon from the desktop.

Restart KDE, and that annoying Removable Media icon won't come back to life.

One thing to be noted is that the line numbers are as found in the KDE version included with Mandrake 9.0 by default. If you upgrade KDE, the line numbers may change, and the icons will come back. You will need to do this tutorial again if you install a newer KDE version, and you will have to find the proper lines yourself.


© D. Olson 2001-2003 -- Originally found on The Mandrake eXPerience