How to Disable the Auto-Launch “feature” for SD Cards
So, you’ve been using your Treo and you accidentally pop the SD Card out of its slot. Now you’ll be forced to lose what you’ve been working on once you mount (insert into the SD slot) the card, as the Palm OS will automatically send you to the Home screen with the SD Card contents displayed. Additionally, some programs are automatically (my nemesis is the TomTom Navigator) slated to start up every time the SD Card is inserted into the Treo. Now, not only do you lose what you were previously doing, you have to wait for the program to load itself. Then you have to wait as you close the program, and only then can you finally get back to what you were doing.
This may not be a frequent inconvenience to most users, but if you’re prone to slippery hands or just have an SD Card that seems to have legs, this can certainly get very annoying, very quickly. Luckily for us less than coordinated folks, there are a few options available, all of which are (you guessed it) free!
A very small program that is extremely straightforward, LaunchThis! prevents the Palm OS from auto-launching the SD Card when it is mounted, and it also prevents the OS from switching itself out of the application currently being used and then opening up the launcher screen for the SD Card. If you are at the normal Home screen when you mount the SD Card, the focus will change from the screen you were on to the screen detailing the contents of the SD Card.
On the download page that I’ve linked to, there is a note that states that this program may not work on all Treos, but I can say that it has worked on my Treo 700p and my Treo 650 (both are Verizon branded) with no problems.
NoMountSwitch is another program that offers the same benefits as LaunchThis!, except with a slight twist. You don’t have to check any boxes or anything else to enable to program. As a matter of fact, you don’t have to do anything. As long as the program resides in your internal memory, it will always disable auto-launching the SD Card and auto-switching out of your current program when you mount the card. When you no longer want this functionality, simply delete NoMountSwitch from your program list. A very simple to use program, even for the most novice of users.
This program also has mixed reviews on the linked download page, but again, it worked flawlessly on my Treo 650 and 700p.
NotifyMe! is a program that offers much more than just disabling the auto-launch feature. The application alerts you when your SD Card is ejected/inserted and it can also alert you when your SD Card ejects without your knowledge by automatically checking the status of the SD Card at predetermined intervals. You can choose your alert sounds from the built-in humorous sounds or from the midi sounds already stored on your Treo. NotifyMe! can also utilize the vibrate function of your Treo as an additional alert. This feature can be found under Preferences.
To have NotifyMe! disable the auto-launch and auto-switching features, simply open the menu, click Preferences, and then check the applicable boxes.
This program, just like the previous two, also has mixed user reviews on the link that I’ve provided. In my personal experience, this is the only program of the 3 that I have had problems with. Both my Treo 650 and my 700p would every now and then fall into reset loops, with the only solution being to reset the phone in safe mode and delete NotifyMe!, then reinstall it. There were also times when I was unable to disable the program, and a few times the Eject alert would not sound.
An additional compatibility problem I’ve encountered with only the 700p is that if the SD Card has not been taken out of the Treo before you reset for any reason, the phone will fall into a reset loop. Again, the only fix to this is to reset the phone into safe mode, delete NotifyMe!, and then reinstall the program.
It would be my suggestion to all users looking to add this functionality that they try out each of these 3 programs separately, as all of the programs listed here have received mixed reviews from MTDN users. Who knows why some people have success with certain programs and not with others? Yet, as Treo owners, we all know how fickle our individual phones can be. Hopefully, one of these programs will work for you!
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TomTom has also been a headache for me, and has actually prevented me from removing my sd card to add pictures or music on more than one occasion, just to avoid the hassle!
Thank you for these options that I didn’t even know existed.
If it’s just a program (e.g. TomTom) auto-launching that bugs you, you can just rename the PRC on the card from start.prc to something else (tomtom.prc or whatever).
Conversely, if you want an app to run when you put the card in, rename it to start.prc.
You’re welcome Alli! And to rollo: I had no idea you could do that without messing up how the program would function.
Still, these programs can be very helpful to 700p users, as the 700p will randomly act as though your card has been ejected even if it hasn’t moved.
Well to be fair it’s something you need to be careful with. The apps don’t care what filenames they have, but the ’start.prc’ has to reside in the /PALM directory for autolaunch to work - so if you move it out of /PALM/LAUNCHER where memory card apps usually live, it may not be able to find the files it needs unless you move those too.
But it is a documented behaviour:
http://www.palmsource.com/about/events/expo/2002/pdf/260L.pdf
btw my old 600 used to act as if the card had been ejected quite often, but the 650 doesn’t seem nearly as bad.
If I may, I also have a free program to disable card auto-launch:
http://www.taenarum.com/software/
It doesn’t have all the features of NotifyMe!, but it’s pretty lightweight, and AFAIK it’s pretty stable. (I’ve been running it for years on various Palm OS devices.)
Stickboy - I’ll try out your program and post my thoughts here
rollo - very interesting link…seems to be the most problem free way to solve the problem, if you’re brave enough ;)
Stickboy - that really is a great application! It intergrates itself directly into the Preferences of your Treo (much like FieldPlus or Hilighter), and it works perfectly. This will definitely be the anti-launching solution that I use going forward.
I tried all four (including the one in the comments) and none work for me :(
Another simple way to prevent auto-launch is to open the ‘Media’ app before inserting the SD card. This doesn’t require installation of any third-party apps.
I have a very heavily used Treo 700p with some 100 programs on it — I LOVE Stickboy’s program for card autolaunch. It works perfectly.
BUT be sure that you go into Prefs/General/CardAutorun to set things. Check Prompt or Never under the first prompt and do NOT check “Show card contents” under “If no default applications”.
Thanks, Stickboy! I didn’t know I needed this until I found your program. ;-)
Stickboy’s CardAutorun is now available in the mytreo.net downloads section. Thank you stickboy for such a great and useful application
Download:
http://mytreo.net/downloads/details-1055.html