How do i autorun .command files from a USB drive when I plug it in

terminalusb

I've made two .command files, "lock" and "unlock". The first hides hidden files with: defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE, then refreshes finder with killall Finder. The second does the opposite, I simply replaced TRUE with FALSE, in the first command.

I'd like to copy these over to a USB thumb drive in such a way that when I plug this USB into my laptop, it automatically executes the "unlock" file, and as soon as I unplug it, the "lock" file is executed.

I don't know to what extent this is possible and what drawbacks/problems it may entail, but any help or input is very much appreciated. I'm also only doing this for fun, so I'm perfectly okay with experimenting!

Best Answer

A launchd service supports the WatchPaths option, which launches a program when the contents of a folder are changed:

WatchPaths <array of strings> This optional key causes the job to be started if any one of the listed paths are modified.

By watching /Volumes, a shell script can be created which would check whether your external disk is mounted or not° and run the appropriate commands°°.

° The simplest way would be checking for the presence of a /Volumes/disk-name/ folder, but it would also be the simplest to fool with by renaming the partition or having another one with the same name, causing the mount point to be modified.

°° It would be appropriate to use a temporary file storing the result of the last execution to avoid killing the Finder if another disk was to be [un]mounted.

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You need to remove the auto launch job with the launchctl command.

For example, in my case I have already installed a modem manufactured by ZTE. So I searched for LAUNCHD listings using the launchctl list command and grepped for those modem strings.

launchctl list | grep -i zte

Showing:

5681    -   cn.com.zte.usbswapper.plist

If you do not find your app, then output all the jobs to a file. This awk command tries to overcome the chance that you may have spaces in your launchd job name.

launchctl list 2>/dev/null | awk '
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' > launchList.txt

Open launchList.txt. The name of the launchd job will be shown in "..." above the {} block where you hopefully find a "Mobile Partner" or "AutoOpen" string.

Perhaps inspect the item to be more confident before removal. Surround by "" if there are spaces in the job name.

launchctl list "cn.com.zte.usbswapper.plist"

Then just remove it. This is the command to stop the auto load. Be very sure you are removing the correct agent or deamon.

launchctl remove "cn.com.zte.usbswapper.plist"

Add it again if you want, using the full path of the PLIST file.

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You need to copy those documents to a windows machine. After that you need to format a USB stick MS-DOS (FAT32). Formatting USB drive as MS-DOS (FAT32) will alow you to use the USB on Windows and OS ! Will not alow you to write files bigger then 4 GB i think or 2.

Best Answer

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