How to undo “Always perform this action” checkbox in Ubuntu?

Question

Every time you plug something in, like camera, iPod or SD card, the box pops up asking you what to do with that media. That box have a checkbox "Always perform this action". But how do I un-tick it?

Answer 1

Launch gconf-editor and got to /apps/nautilus/preferences. The media_auto* control what you're trying to do. more specifically, the media_autorun_x_* have the following meanings:

• media_autorun_x_content_ignore - lists the types of media for which you chose "Do nothing"
• media_autorun_x_content_open_folder - lists the types of media for which you chose to mount and browse
• media_autorun_x_content_start_app - lists the types of media for which you chose to start the associated application (CD player, DVD player, etc)

Removing a value from one of the lists above will make Ubuntu "forget" about what you have chosen.

Also, it's possible to change some of these settings through Nautilus' preferences interface. Access the Edit->Preferences menu, then click in the Media tab. There you can change these attributes in a more user friendly interface.

Answer 2

Much thanks, goedson. I had checked "don't ask again" after adding a new app for burning a DVD disc upon insertion. As you say, most of these settings can be changed through Nautilus' preferences interface, but not this one. While learning to use gconf-editor (nice tool, but no safety net!) I screwed up a few settings, and could not remember what they originally were. I made screen shots of all the prefs in a virgin copy of Ubuntu, and then undid the damage by referring to them.

Related to this, I also wanted to remove an extra app that I had set as one of the preferred apps for inserting a blank DVD disc. This is controlled in ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list which is a simple text file that is easily edited:

[Added Associations]
application/pdf=evince.desktop;
x-content/blank-dvd=brasero-open-image.desktop;
x-content/video-dvd=brasero-copy-medium.desktop;

Just delete or comment out the offending line(s). Or, just delete mimeapps.list