Mac OS X: Blank disc may not appear in the Finder

Products Affected

Mac OS X 10.2, Mac OS X 10.3, Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6

Symptoms

Follow the steps in this article if a blank disc (such as a CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD-R) does not appear on the desktop or in the Finder after you insert it. 

Resolution

When you insert a blank disc, your CDs & DVDs preference setting will determine what happens next. If it is set to Ignore, then nothing happens in the Finder.  Follow these steps to change the setting:

  1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
  2. From the View menu, choose CDs & DVDs.
  3. From the "When you insert a blank CD" and "When you insert a blank DVD" pop-up menus, choose any action other than Ignore, such as "Open Finder".
  4. Quit System Preferences. 

The next time you insert a disc, it should appear as expected. 

Additional Information

Note: Applications such as iTunes, iDVD, and Disk Utility, can still access the disc even if it doesn't appear on the desktop or in the Finder.

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