The UDisks.Device.DriveDetach() DBus method will permanently power-down a card *reader*... if you remove the card and insert it again (or insert a different card), nothing happens. The only way to get things working again is to unplug the card *reader* and then plug the card *reader* back in again.
DriveDetach() is what gets called (apparently) when you right click on the Launcher icon for a card and "Safely remove"... same effect, and you have to unplug/replug the card *reader* to get things working again.
This is fundamentally a problem in UDisks, but I feel "Eject" vs "Safely remove" is horrible, horrible UX... this is just forcing the user deal with the fact that UDisks and/or the kernel isn't smart enough to really understand the hardware details. Considering how broken things are, I strongly feel than Unity should only present the "Eject" option. "Safe remove", in my experience thus far, will never do something useful and intuitive for the user. Plus it's just bad branding... Ubuntu lets you perform an "Unsafe remove"? Why should I have to manually pick a "Safe remove"? Why would I ever want anything else?
For what it's worth, this kind of stuff makes it very difficult to present Ubuntu as a viable platform for pro video users. Card readers are standard equipment in pro video (and photo) workflows, and currently things are embarrassingly broken.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: udisks 1.0.4-1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Oct 9 08:02:15 2011
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Beta amd64 (20110921.2)
MachineType: System manufacturer System Product Name
ProcEnviron:
PATH=(custom, user)
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic root=UUID=99836a48-007a-45a5-9adc-2750052761af ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: udisks
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/08/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 2001
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: M4A87TD/USB3
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr2001:bd03/08/2011:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnM4A87TD/USB3:rvrRev1.xx:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer
BTW, this is the card reader I'm currently testing with:
http://
Same behavior whether plugged into USB2 or USB3 port.