How to Erase a Rewritable CD in Linux

The CDrecord utility is a Linux command line application used for writing data to CD Roms. The "cdrecord" command requires that you know the location of your CD burner. You can write the location as "/dev/cdrom" or "0,0" depending on your preferences. The "blank" option tells the utility to erase the data. If you set the "blank" option to "all" it will erase the entire CD. If you set the option to "fast" it will only erase enough information to make the disc appear blank to the operating system.

Instructions

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Insert the rewritable CD into the computer's CD burner.

3. Type the command "cdrecord -v gracetime=2 dev=/dev/cdrom -eject blank=all -force" to erase the CD.

4. Remove the CD from the CD burner when it is ejected.

5. Type the command "exit" to close the terminal session.

References

• Berlios: CDrecord Man Page
• Structural Medicine: Instructions for writing a CD
• TXT Linux Commands and Code Snippets: Linux Command to Erase Rewritable CD