Ejecting Stuck Disks
Once in a while, the Finder will refuse to eject discs, claiming they’re still “in use,” even though you may have no programs or files open and accessing it. I’ve tried quitting all open applications, closing all windows, and making sure no files were open (such as a disc image on the disc itself) — nothing will convince the Finder that the disc not in use. Then I ran across the Terminal command:
hdiutil eject -force [volume]
where [volume] is the volume name or Unix device (i.e. /dev/disk3, attainable by doing df first). After hitting Return, the drive pops open.
hdiutil is a great little tool Apple provides with OS X, and it can do many things besides eject stuck discs — create and resize images, burn .dmg files, mount and unmount them, all from the command line using a very simple syntax.
And, for the record, my position on the disk/disc naming scheme is this: If it’s magnetic media, it’s “disk.” And if it’s optical, it’s “disc.” It doesn’t really matter, but I make the distinction anyway.
August 30th, 2005 at 2:14 am
I try to avoid Terminal as much as possible but something that has worked for me is to start iDVD and then burn whatever opens which will eject the disc so you can insert a blank one. For what it’s worth.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:20 am
The Terminal is to be emraced, not avoided! -;o)
You can also use Sloth to determine which program and file is to blame.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:55 pm
I definitely agree with the disk/disc thing. Besides, “disk” feels so 80s to me.
September 10th, 2005 at 4:33 pm
I’ve noticed that the eject button in iTunes seems to force discs to be ejected.
I’ve tried this when the Finder refuses to eject a disc, iTunes spits it right out.