How do I disable this message: "the disk was not ejected properly"?

Question

Is there any way to disable the "the disk was not ejected properly" message?

I use a KVM and need to switch between two systems and have a memory stick that is in the KVM. The problem is that it's very annoying to get the message every time I switch from one computer to the other. I know, I can unmount it (and probably should), but I switch all the time, so it's a inconvenience to unmount, and there is nothing sensitive on the memory stick.

Answer 1

updated new better method

As mentioned by Russel in comments:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.DiskArbitration.diskarbitrationd.plist DADisableEjectNotification -bool YES && sudo pkill diskarbitrationd

Answer 2

This applescript will close them for you. Paste it into Script Editor and then Save as an application. Then grant access to that application in (System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Accessibility) Then you can use an application like ControlPlane https://www.controlplaneapp.com/ to run the application on wake thus closing them all automatically! ** Note: You will need to grant Accessibility access to ControlPlane as well.

tell application "System Events"
tell process "NotificationCenter"
    set numwins to (count windows)
    repeat with i from numwins to 1 by -1
        tell window i
            set temp to value of static text 1
        end tell
        if temp contains "Disk Not Ejected Properly" then
            click button "Close" of window i
        end if
    end repeat
end tell
end tell

---

Update as of March 2023

@Zev Eisenberg: The above script does not work with macOS Ventura. Here is one that would:

tell application "System Events" to tell process "Notification Center"
    repeat with notificationWindow in windows
        tell notificationWindow
            set entireContents to entire contents
            repeat with content in reverse of entireContents -- iterate backwards so we close bottom notifications first, if that matters
                if class of content is group then
                    set groupStaticTexts to static texts of content
                    repeat with staticText in groupStaticTexts
                        set foundText to false
                        if value of staticText is equal to "Disk Not Ejected Properly" then
                            set foundText to true
                            exit repeat
                        end if -- text is the text we want to find
                    end repeat -- staticTexts in group
                if foundText then
                    -- We'd like to look for buttons in the group called "Close", but recent macOS versions hide the Close button until you hover over the notification, and there's apparently no way to hover in AppleScript. Instead, we inspect the actions of the group, and look for the one called "Close".
                    -- actions trick via https://github.com/Ptujec/LaunchBar/blob/master/Notifications/Dismiss%20all%20notifications.lbaction/Contents/Scripts/default.applescript via https://www.reddit.com/r/applescript/comments/ycilyr/comment/iu5m3q5/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

                    repeat with groupAction in actions of content
                        if description of groupAction is equal to "Close" then
                            perform groupAction
                            exit repeat
                        end if
                    end repeat
                end if
            end if -- if class of content is group
        end repeat -- entire contents of window
    end tell -- notificationWindow
end repeat

end tell

Answer 3

Certainly not an elegant answer but, you can disable UserNotificationCenter.app found in /system/library/coreservices - replace it with another app or file with the same name. It will stop any warnings popping up (including that your drive is full) so watch out for that, but in my experience it does what you are looking for.

I actually did this to my mac a long time ago, and forgot about it until you asked you question. Credit to Macpadawon at http://macosx.com/forums/mac-os-x-system-mac-software/297194-disable-device-removal-message.html for the answer - same place I found my answer a couple of years back.

Answer 4

This can be done by changing the type of this system notification from alert to banner. Sadly, it can't be done using the GUI but can be done with a script. gist

The crux of the script is to clear the alert bit & ~0b00010000 and set the banner and modified bits | 0b01001000 of _SYSTEM_CENTER_:com.apple.DiskArbitration.DiskArbitrationAgent in file ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ncprefs.plist

After this modification, the notifications will still appear but will disappear after a few seconds of their own accord.

Taken from: adafruit blog and tested successfully on macOS 12.6 Monterey.

Answer 5

Works with macOS Big Sur

This AppleScript dismisses all notifications about the disk not being ejected properly.

tell application "System Events"
    tell process "Notification Center"
        set group_index to 1
        repeat
            try
                set the_window to group group_index of UI element 1 of scroll area 1 of window "Notification Center"
                set notification to value of static text of the_window
                set notification_title to item 1 of notification
                if notification_title = "DISK NOT EJECTED PROPERLY" then
                    set the_actions to actions of the_window
                    repeat with the_action in the_actions
                        if description of the_action is "Close" then
                            tell the_window
                                perform the_action
                            end tell
                        end if
                    end repeat
                    # Wait for the notification to disappear so that the indexes of the remaining notifications are updated accordingly.
                    delay 0.25
                    # Do not increment `group_index` because all remaining notifications have their index decremented by 1 since this notification was dismissed. We do not need to worry about the notifications before the one just dismissed because we already know that they are not notifications about disk ejection.
                else
                    # This is not a disk ejection notification, so skip it and look at the next notification.
                    set group_index to group_index + 1
                end if
            on error error_message
                # There are no more notifications to process.
                exit repeat
            end try
        end repeat
    end tell
end tell

---

You can run this AppleScript every 10 seconds with the launchd PLIST below. Be sure to modify it to work with your own setup. Then place the PLIST in ~/Library/LaunchAgents and run launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/file.plist (replacing file.plist with the name of the file) in Terminal.

What's really cool about launchd is that if a job does not run because the computer is asleep (e.g., when your laptop is closed), launchd will run the job as soon as the computer wakes up again (and if the job was supposed to run multiple times while the computer was asleep, the multiple runs will be coalesced into one run upon wakeup). This is really useful when unplugging a closed laptop from a home dock with a hard drive attached and then using the laptop on-the-go.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.YourName.DismissNotifications</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
      <string>osascript</string>
      <string>/path/to/script</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>10</integer>
  </dict>
</plist>

Answer 6

UPDATE!

OMG! QuantumG is a genius! Here is a hack (and I mean a real life hack) for disabling just this annoying message and leaving the rest of the notification system intact...

http://quantumg.blogspot.com/2015/04/disabling-os-x-device-removal-warnings.html

Warning: This is a pro-tip and not for the faint of heart! It requires hacking your Mac OSX system files and could result in you breaking your Mac.

Edited for clarity.

The issue with flash drives or other USB drives is this; whenever you write data to a drive... ANY drive on your system, the data is first written to a buffer in memory. Later, when the computer gets around to it, it will flush the buffers to the device (hard drive, SSD, or any USB device). That may be instantaneous (at least to us mere mortals) or it may take a few seconds. The possible delay means that if you yank a USB device before the buffers have flushed you may end up with a corrupted drive, or a set of corrupted files on the drive.

If you only read from a device, then there is NO NEED to flush the write buffers before you yank to your heart's content because they are empty and don't need to be flushed to the device.

So... The annoying MAC OS X warning is most probably NOT relevant. It is only important to do so if you have recently written to the device, and haven't given it enough time to flush the buffers (a few seconds, max). It is NEVER necessary to wait for the buffers to flush if you are only reading from the USB device.

Therefore Apple NEEDS to provide a way to disable individual messages for power users. Don't treat everyone as a n00b who can't be relied on to know how their computer works.

And to those who complain that I'm wrong, and there is a way to disable the messages by disabling the ENTIRE NOTIFICATION SUBSYSTEM are just plain wrong. Disabling the entire notification subsystem isn't an acceptable solution, just as removing the battery from your cell phone is NOT an acceptable solution to receiving too many telemarketing calls. The notification subsystem is important and shouldn't be disabled just because the OP finds one of the many myriad of messages to be annoying.

This is a problem that can only be adequately solved by Apple providing a way for users to opt out of specific messages.

Answer 7

your answer is here. Just replace a file with the one mentioned at the end of this article and jobs done. Nothing has changed in Sierra or High Sierra.

Disabling OS-X Device Removal Warnings In Yosemite