# Cannot find the right CD-ROM configuration instruction



## Bront_in_Hood (Jan 18, 2014)

I have FreeBSD 9.2 x64. I use KDE 4. I faced this problem: k3b doesn't see any optical devices. I keep searching for configuration instructions in Google. I tried several instructions. But still no success.

There are too many articles about configuring devices for k3b, and they are very different, and I don't understand why they are so old?!!. It makes me think that they are all outdated. I'm afraid optical drives drive me mad.

Please help me. Could anyone give me actual, bright and effective instruction how to make k3b see my optical device??!


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## Deleted member 9563 (Jan 19, 2014)

I love k3b and was hoping for an answer to this too. As I recall, k3b puts up a long note about permissions when you install it. I decided to put that on the back burner. Looking around later, the instructions (as you found) seem to be complicated and varying. So, I still haven't fixed that. (sigh)

Then I had an urgent need to write a CD and was stuck for time. So I found the much simpler instructions for how to do it on the command line. In case you are also in a hurry, then put the files to burn in a single directory and do this:


```
# mkisofs -J -o YourFilename.iso /path/to/the/directory
```
Then:

```
# cdrecord dev=1,0,0 YourFilename.iso
```

To find the proper setting for `dev=`, use:

```
# cdrecord -scanbus
```

Funny how the command line sometimes turns out to be orders of magnitude easier than a GUI. k3b will have to wait.


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## wblock@ (Jan 19, 2014)

cdrecord(1) will automatically look for a device if you omit the dev= option.


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## Bront_in_Hood (Jan 20, 2014)

Thank you very much for replies!
I reinstalled k3b and read post-install instructions. But I did not try them yet.
Also I tried `cdrecord` operation. I see that it is very powerfull. Thank you again!
But.. I found myself executing `cdrecord` as root. It is natural to work as root in command promt. But why I can not run k3b from root?! I can! And I ran `kdesu k3b` (_Why I did not find this way by myself?_). This time k3b found optical device. There is a bug in exploring through file system. But I wrote cd successfully!
Administrator is allowed to do everything. Thereby we can say *FreeBSD is administrator-oriented system*. But what if my girlfriend will need to write cd? She is not skilled in command promt. She needs k3b or some other gui interface. Also she don't know root password... And we can say that FreeBSD is not *girlfriend-oriented* system yet.. But I love FreeBSD and I'm ready to learn patiently this system. FreeBSD is able to be a desktop platform is my gospel!


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## Deleted member 9563 (Jan 20, 2014)

Bront_in_Hood said:
			
		

> And I ran `kdesu k3b` (_Why I did not find this way by myself?_). This time k3b found optical device. There is a bug in exploring through file system. But I wrote cd successfully!



Actually I didn't know that command. It could be useful. Thanks!


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