Disable write caching to external drives in Linux, so you don't need to safely eject

setup_usb_direct_write.sh

#!/bin/bash

# Script to enable direct writes for USB drives in Linux Mint
# This uses udisks2 configuration instead of udev rules

echo "=========================================="
echo "USB Direct Write Setup Script (v2)"
echo "=========================================="
echo ""
echo "This script will configure udisks2 to write directly to USB drives"
echo "without caching, similar to modern Windows behavior."
echo ""
echo "Trade-off: Slower copy speeds, but no need to wait after copying."
echo ""

# Check if running as root
if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then 
    echo "This script must be run as root. Please run with sudo."
    exit 1
fi

# Confirm with user
read -p "Do you want to continue? (y/n): " -n 1 -r
echo ""
if [[ ! $REPLY =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
    echo "Setup cancelled."
    exit 0
fi

echo ""
echo "Creating udisks2 configuration..."

# Create udisks2 config directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p /etc/udisks2

# Create the configuration file
CONFIG_FILE="/etc/udisks2/mount_options.conf"

cat > "$CONFIG_FILE" << 'EOF'
# Mount options for USB drives - enable sync for direct writes

[defaults]
# Default mount options for removable devices
vfat_defaults=sync,uid=$UID,gid=$GID,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush
exfat_defaults=sync,uid=$UID,gid=$GID,iocharset=utf8,errors=remount-ro
ntfs_defaults=sync,uid=$UID,gid=$GID,windows_names
ext4_defaults=sync
ext3_defaults=sync
ext2_defaults=sync
EOF

if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "✓ Configuration file created at $CONFIG_FILE"
else
    echo "✗ Failed to create configuration file"
    exit 1
fi

echo ""
echo "Restarting udisks2 service..."

# Restart udisks2 to apply changes
systemctl restart udisks2

if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "✓ udisks2 service restarted successfully"
else
    echo "⚠ Warning: Could not restart udisks2 service"
    echo "  Changes will apply after reboot"
fi

echo ""
echo "=========================================="
echo "Setup Complete!"
echo "=========================================="
echo ""
echo "Next steps:"
echo "1. Unplug any currently connected USB drives"
echo "2. Plug them back in"
echo "3. All USB drives will now use direct writes (sync mode)"
echo ""
echo "To verify, after plugging in a USB drive, run:"
echo "  mount | grep /media"
echo ""
echo "You should see 'sync' in the mount options."
echo ""
echo "To UNDO this change, run:"
echo "  sudo rm $CONFIG_FILE"
echo "  sudo systemctl restart udisks2"
echo ""