Hello.


I have a problem, and I'm sure someone here can help me.

I recently installed Mandrake 10.1 on an old machine i got from one of my friends. I am totally new to linux, but i have to start somewhere. :)

My problem is. I simply don't understand how to gain access to my DVD drive. I think i figured out it has something to to with "mounting"?

I can use the drive when installing packages from the package management thingie ( I got the mandrake power pack). It simply asks me to put a certain CD in the drive, i do that, press OK, and it works.

But how do i gain access manually? If say, i wanted to read a document on the cd, or copy over some files?

I know this is a dumb question, but all pro's started as newbies :)


Since its not originally my computer, i cant tell you much about the drive.
It says on the front:

"Pioneer DVD-ROM Drive, Laser-memory"

well, the cd should show up on the desktop and file manager. have you looked there?

you will need to insert the CD and mount the filesystem on the CD to a directory. I believe mandrake has gui tools for this, or you can always use a terminal and the "mount" command.

for a total newbie, I recommend taking a look at the excellent Mandrake documentation here:

http://www1.mandrivalinux.com/en/fdoc.php3

Ohh i love you.

I'll have a look at that, and report back.

By default, Mandrake mounts optical drives at "/mnt/cdrom" (and "/mnt/cdrom2" if there is a second one). If the DVD drive was in the machine when you installed mandrake, it found it and configured it. Stick a CD in the drive, and after a moment, you should see a CD icon on your desktop. double-click it, and you should see the files on the CD.