How to Mount DVDs and CD-Roms Using Ubuntu

In this guide, you will be shown how to mount a DVD or CD using Ubuntu Linux. The guide shows multiple methods in case one way doesn't work for you.

The Easy Way

In most cases when you insert a DVD you just have to be a little bit patient whilst the DVD loads. You will then see a screen similar to the one shown in this guide.

The messages you will receive will vary depending on the type of media you have inserted.

For example, if you have inserted a DVD from the front of a magazine, which contains software designed to run automatically, you will see a message saying that the software wants to run. You can then choose whether to run that software or not.

If you insert a blank DVD you will be asked what you want to do with the DVD such as create an audio DVD.

If you insert an audio CD you will be asked whether you want to import the music into your audio player such as Rhythmbox.

If you insert a DVD you will be asked whether you want to play the DVD in Totem.

You will be asked what to do when you insert this DVD again in the future. The examples include:

• ask what to do
• do nothing
• open the folder in the file manager
• choose another application

You may wonder what the point is to a guide showing how to do something so simple but sometimes things don't go to plan and you will want to use the command line to mount the DVD.

Mount a DVD Using the File Manager

You can see if a DVD has mounted by using the file manager. To open the file manager click on the filing cabinet icon on the Ubuntu Launcher which is usually the 2nd option down.

If the DVD is mounted it will appear as a DVD icon at the bottom of the Ubuntu Launcher.

You can open the DVD in the file manager by clicking on the DVD icon as well.

If you are lucky you will see the DVD in the list on the left side of the file manager screen. You can generally double click on the DVD's name (with a DVD symbol) and the files that are on the DVD will appear in the right panel.

If the DVD hasn't automatically mounted for some reason you can try right-clicking on the DVD and choosing the mount option from the context menu.

How to Eject a DVD Using the File Manager

You can eject the DVD by right-clicking on the DVD and choosing the Eject option or by clicking on the eject symbol next to the DVD.

How to Mount a DVD Using the Command Line

A DVD drive is a device. Devices in Linux are treated in the same way as any other object and therefore they are listed as files.

You can navigate using the cd command to the /dev folder as follows:

cd /dev

Now use the ls command and the less command to get a listing.

ls -lt | less

If you step through the listing you will see the following two lines:

cdrom -> sr0

dvd -> sr0

What this tells us is that both CD-ROM and DVD link to sr0 so you can mount either a DVD or cd using the same command.

To mount a DVD or CD you need to use the mount command.

First of all, you need somewhere to mount the DVD to.

To do this navigate to the /media/ folder using the following command:

cd /media

Now create a folder to mount the DVD into

sudo mkdir mydvd

Finally, mount the DVD using the following command:

sudo mount /dev/sr0 /media/mydvd

The DVD will be mounted and you can navigate to the media/mydvd folder and perform a directory listing within the terminal window.

cd /media/mydvd

ls -lt

How to Unmount the DVD Using the Command Line

To unmount the DVD all you have to do is run the following command:

sudo umount /dev/sr0

How to Eject a DVD Using the Command Line

To eject the DVD using the command line use the following command:

sudo eject /dev/sr0

Summary

In most cases, you will use the graphical tools to navigate and play the contents of DVDs but if you find yourself on a computer without a graphical display then you now know how to manually mount a DVD.