how do i read a cd

I finally got mandrake 10.1 going, this is my first time using linux. How do I get linux to read my data cd and let me copy files?

you have to mount the cd at a mount point. if your cd-rom is /dev/hdc and your mount point is /mnt/cdrom, as root you would do

mount /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom

then you could cd to /mnt/cdrom and read the disc, or open the location with a file manager, etc.

there is a graphical way, but i am not a mandrake user so i can only tell you the console way of doing it.

For the quick fix, as root in a console window type:
mount /mnt/cdrom

this could work , it depends if your cdrom is configured to be mounted in /etc/fstab. The fstab file contains entries on how to mount and who may mount certain file systems. That may sound complex but its easy after a the first time.

There are a bunch of entries in the fstab file. It should look something like this...
/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults 0 0
what this means follows....
"device name" "mount point" "file system type" "options" "priority" "something"
Yeah, i;m a newbie too
So, what you want to look for is a line that points to your cdrom drive ( the easy way to find that is the mount point should be /mnt/cdrom ) and change the options to read
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom /iso9660 user,noauto,owner,ro

This will enable any user to mount a cdrom. so you should be able to do it from knoqueror in kde or what ever you are using.

Just for a final handy tip.. "man <app>" is a usefull command. It is a reffernce to manuals for programs installed. (you should have it installed by default) so for more information try "man fstab" and "man mount"

Best of luck to you.

You need to 'mount' block devices like cd roms under a directory before you actually read them. what i mean is that after mounting a cdrom, it no longer remains a seperate device, but part of your linux filesystem.
Even hard drive partitions are 'mounted' under a directory before you can read them.

to mount, you need to issue a command in the terminal (hope you know what that is)
if you were using Fedora, like I do, you would find it in System Tools in the KDE Menu. (I doubt if you are using text mode, and if you are then, the first thing you see after login is the bash prompt!)

1. type "mount /dev/cdrom" in the terminal
2. if you are lucky, your cdrom device (/dev/cdrom) will get mounted in "/mnt/cdrom" or some such directory inside "/mnt" (check /etc/fstab file to see where the cdrom gets mounted by default)
3. you can then access the cdrom as if it WERE the directory "/mnt/cdrom"

when you are done with using the cdrom, do this to be able to eject it:
ty
1. close all programs using the cdrom (including file browsers)
2. type "umount /dev/cdrom" in the terminal to unmount it (no, its not 'unmount' but 'umount')
3. type "eject /dev/cdrom" in the terminal to eject the cdrom

hope that helps!

oh sick! i just posted that because i didn't see the other posts before i posted. in fact i saw 0 replies when i first opened the thing, but it seems there are a lot of people ready to help