Quick Tip - When Linux Won’t Give Your CD Back

April 2, 2008 | By: UbuntuLinuxHelp
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Just a quick tip I wanted to pass on today. Have you ever had the issue where you want to eject your CD, but it will not eject; no matter how many times you press the eject button? Annoying isn't it? I remember when I first started using Linux, years ago, (my OS was RedHat then), I actually would reboot the system just to get the CD out! Obviously, that's not too smart.

One of my friends (a brand new user) just ran into this issue. He phoned me because he thought it was a bug. (It's not). For any new users out there. Here is a quick fix to force the CD to eject:

sudo umount /media/cdrom0/ -l

Just run the above command in a terminal, and you'll get your CD back.

Easy!

Oh... and if you want to mount it and see any hidden files on it:

sudo mount /media/cdrom0/ -o unhide

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Comments

12 Comments so far

Tara on April 2, 2008 12:02 pm
You know, I’m glad you posted this. I get this a few times and I just leave the cd until I bot up again. Or if I really need it I was rebooting just to get it.
Thank you for the tip.
UbuntuLinuxHelp on April 2, 2008 12:08 pm
@ Tara - I’m glad it was useful to someone. Thanks!
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rick on April 3, 2008 2:09 pm
You can straighten out a paper clip and push it into the little hole on the front of any CD or DVD drive. Best done with the power off and be sure to push it in straight. You will meet some resistance, keep pushing and the mechanical part of the drawer will move it open.
menachem on April 4, 2008 12:25 am
Don’t forget the “eject” command, which will not only unmount the CD, but eject the tray as well.

sudo eject
UbuntuLinuxHelp on April 4, 2008 8:09 am
@menachem - Argh!! I’m a dope! Hee hee hee… I forgot about sudo.
Nice comment! At least one of us know’s what we’re doing, and that’s obviously you. Thanks.
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HowtoMatrix » Quick Tip - When Linux Won’t Give Your CD Back on April 6, 2008 11:27 am
[...] Just a quick tip I wanted to pass on today. Have you ever had the issue where you want to eject your CD, but it will not eject; no matter how many times you press the eject button? Annoying isn’t it? I remember when I first started using Linux, years ago, (my OS was RedHat then), I actually would reboot the system just to get the CD out! Obviously, that’s not too smart. Read more at Ubuntu Linux Help [...]
kuratkull on April 8, 2008 7:47 am
Thanks, I have this problem when my K3B burn fails. I just can’t get the failed cd out without a reboot
Thanks!

http://www.fsdaily.com/Beginne.....ur_CD_Back
Stephan Beal on April 8, 2008 10:53 am
When this happens, it is often (but not always) because you have some process (e.g. a file browser or a terminal) which is opened to that dir (e.g. open an xterm and cd /media/cdrom0). As long as that’s the case, the directory is “busy” and cannot be unmounted without extra effort. When this happens, first make sure you haven’t got a file or dir open on the drive, or that you aren’t running some process which holds the device open (e.g. k3b). Then try the “eject” command. Don’t use the paper-clip trick on a running system unless you have no other choice.
UbuntuLinuxHelp on April 8, 2008 12:20 pm
@Stephan Beal - You are totally correct. A case in point, last week I used the paper clip method and created a coaster out of my CD. I didn’t realize it was still spinning when I forced it open and the noise alone made me think I damaged the CD burner. The CD itself was scratched up like it had been spinning on sandpaper. So, common sense, I should have carefully listened first!
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Vadim P. on April 15, 2008 11:49 pm
Imo it should tell you at least that some program (preferably *which*!) is using the CD drive, so you actually know…
pedobear on July 1, 2008 1:53 pm
thanks for the tip.