This is a Linux only problem which happens to me on all computers I run Linux on.

Sometimes, if a process accessing a CD/DVD drive crashes or is exited (for instance, cancelling a CD burn part way through) the drive will continue reading. Even though the original process is no longer functioning, it will still be available through ps -A . I normally end up rebooting my computer to be able to open the drive.

I was wondering, how do you force a drive to stop functioning temporarily, or how do you cause this problem not to occur?

hi
first pass the following command
"fuser –mv /mnt/cdrom"
now note down the pid & use the kill command
"kill -<pid>"

Alright, I'll post back next time it happens and tell you whether or not it works. Thx for the info