Trying to use an external DVD drive

pshootr · May 14, 2026, 9:00am

I used search, and found similar issues but was unable to find a clear solution. Please forgive me, if I overlooked it.

I can see it in "Disks", but I am unable to mount it. If I click the gear icon for the "volume", I only have the option to "edit mount options". (Not versed enough to change options here). There is a DVD disk in the drive, and it seems to be spinning up when the disk is inserted, and when the device is plugged in.

After some searching on the net, I tried "sudo mkdir -p /mnt/dvd
sudo mount /dev/sr0 /mnt/dvd" and got this result.

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/dvd
sudo mount /dev/sr0 /mnt/dvd
[sudo] password for pshootr: ***********
mount: /mnt/dvd: no medium found on /dev/sr0.
dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call.

Below is the result of "ls /dev"

ls /dev
autofs nvme0n1p2 tty54
block nvme0n1p3 tty55
bsg nvme0n1p4 tty56
btrfs-control nvram tty57
bus port tty58
cdrom ppp tty59
char psaux tty6
console ptmx tty60
core pts tty61
cpu random tty62
cpu_dma_latency rfkill tty63
cuse rtc tty7
dbc rtc0 tty8
disk sda tty9
dma_heap sda1 ttyprintk
dri sda2 ttyS0
drm_dp_aux0 sda3 ttyS1
drm_dp_aux1 sdb ttyS10
drm_dp_aux2 sdb1 ttyS11
drm_dp_aux3 sdb2 ttyS12
drm_dp_aux4 sg0 ttyS13
ecryptfs sg1 ttyS14
fb0 sg2 ttyS15
fd shm ttyS16
full snapshot ttyS17
fuse snd ttyS18
gpiochip0 sr0 ttyS19
gpiochip1 stderr ttyS2
hidraw0 stdin ttyS20
hidraw1 stdout ttyS21
hidraw2 tpm0 ttyS22
hidraw3 tpmrm0 ttyS23
hidraw4 tty ttyS24
hidraw5 tty0 ttyS25
hidraw6 tty1 ttyS26
hidraw7 tty10 ttyS27
hidraw8 tty11 ttyS28
hpet tty12 ttyS29
hugepages tty13 ttyS3
hwrng tty14 ttyS30
i2c-0 tty15 ttyS31
i2c-1 tty16 ttyS4
i2c-10 tty17 ttyS5
i2c-11 tty18 ttyS6
i2c-12 tty19 ttyS7
i2c-13 tty2 ttyS8
i2c-14 tty20 ttyS9
i2c-15 tty21 udmabuf
i2c-16 tty22 uhid
i2c-17 tty23 uinput
i2c-2 tty24 urandom
i2c-3 tty25 usb
i2c-4 tty26 userfaultfd
i2c-5 tty27 userio
i2c-6 tty28 vcs
i2c-7 tty29 vcs1
i2c-8 tty3 vcs2
i2c-9 tty30 vcs3
initctl tty31 vcs4
input tty32 vcs5
kfd tty33 vcs6
kmsg tty34 vcsa
kvm tty35 vcsa1
log tty36 vcsa2
loop0 tty37 vcsa3
loop1 tty38 vcsa4
loop2 tty39 vcsa5
loop3 tty4 vcsa6
loop4 tty40 vcsu
loop5 tty41 vcsu1
loop6 tty42 vcsu2
loop7 tty43 vcsu3
loop-control tty44 vcsu4
mapper tty45 vcsu5
mcelog tty46 vcsu6
mem tty47 vfio
mqueue tty48 vga_arbiter
net tty49 vhci
ng0n1 tty5 vhost-net
null tty50 vhost-vsock
nvme0 tty51 zero
nvme0n1 tty52 zfs
nvme0n1p1 tty53

swarfendor437 · May 14, 2026, 9:23am

Hi. Have you tried it in a different USB port?

pshootr · May 14, 2026, 9:29am

Yes I Tried another USB port 3.0 (blue) Nothing has changed. Same as when its plugged in to the front port on my case (black).

Forpli · May 14, 2026, 9:35am

I'm not sure if that can help:

DavidA · May 14, 2026, 10:12am

Ubuntu Restricted Extras?
"a software package that enhances the user experience on Ubuntu desktops by providing a set of important utilities and codecs that are typically not included in the standard installation."
Just a thought...

pshootr · May 14, 2026, 10:37am

I tried all three

sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras
sudo apt install libdvd-pkg
sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg

I still have no option to mount the drive in "Disks"

It is visable in "Disks", but still not in nemo. (same as before)

When I Open "Disks" and use gear icon on the Volume, then choose "Edit Mount Options" It looks like this.

DavidA · May 14, 2026, 11:05am

This may be a total red herring, but is the DVD disc blank or populated? Maybe try a commercial DVD if you have one just to check that it's not a blank disc causing nothing to be seen?

pshootr · May 14, 2026, 11:12am

This is a DVD from RedBox. Which was a rental company, so pretty sure the DVD is a legit "Commercial" DVD

pshootr · May 14, 2026, 11:21am

Get this.

I put in a DVD which was given to me a long time ago "I assume it is a rip", and it mounts, and plays using VLC.

Maybe I need to retrace my steps, to get the "Legit" DVD to work.. (Scratches head)

Edit:
Noticing now, that the problem DVD is Blue-Ray. It is very likely my DVD drive is not Blue-Ray capable. (confirmed)

As described here:
No , the PLDS DVD+-RW DS-8A8SH cannot play Blu-ray discs.

This drive is a standard DVD writer that supports CD and DVD formats (including DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW) but lacks the necessary blue laser hardware required to read Blu-ray data. Blu-ray discs use a different physical structure with smaller data pits and higher density that standard DVD drives are not designed to recognize.

Supported Formats: CD, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, DVD-RAM.
Unsupported Formats: Blu-ray (BD), Ultra HD Blu-ray.
Hardware Limitation: It uses a red laser (650nm), whereas Blu-ray requires a blue-violet laser (405nm).

Thanks a lot for the help "all of you". I should be better situated after going through these steps!