[Gllug] Locked in DVD!

[Chris Bell]

On Sun 22 Aug, Sharon Kimble wrote:
> 
> On Sunday 22 Aug 2004 11:17, Richard Jones wrote:
> > On Sun, Aug 22, 2004 at 11:02:45AM +0100, Sharon Kimble wrote:
> > > I have a DVD that has got 'locked in' to my CD/DVD combo drive and is
> > > stubbornly resisting all efforts to unmount it on my Fedora Core 2 box.
> > > I've tried as user and as root, but the drawer still refuses to open. The
> > > 'disk management' GUI shows that it is not mounted, and I'm unable to
> > > mount it either! Its been stuck now for approaching 24 hours, and I need
> > > to use the drive for something else.
> > >
> > > Can anyone give me any idea of how to open the drawer without rebooting
> > > please?
> >
> > What process is using the drive?  As root, do 'fuser /dev/cdrom'
> >
> /mnt/cdrom:           3581
> is the reply, which when I checked in KDE system guard is 'fam'. Presumably 
> then I've got to log off and then log back on again to break this connection?
> Or is there another way?
> 
> Sharon.

   I have had this problem on a box with both CD-ROM and CD-RW drives using
KDE. If I look at a CD while the CD burner software is still running (but
not being used) on another of the desktops I am unable to umount the CD
until I clear the burner software.
   The main reason for apprehension about poking around with a paperclip
with power on is the risk of shorting something inside. The drawer motor is
normally protected against overload, and will probably help by driving the
drawer out once it gets the initial shove. Do not assume that it is safe to
force all motors, some have 4-phase stepper motor drivers which can easily
fail, possibly on the laser trolley drive, also printers.

-- 
Chris Bell

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