Unable to mount or eject DVD+RW

[UpNorth]

Copy the files off to a USB thumb drive.\

Before jumping to that ledge, you can try to see if the problem is resolved in a live instance. Boot to the Linux Mint USB and then check to see if the CD/DVD player cooperates in that session. If it doesn't, then doing a fresh installation is unlikely to resolve your problems.

Good ideas. I will try both tonight.

 

[Condobloke]

Thats a good idea ^^^^^......go for it.

 

[UpNorth]

My Linux computer recognizes the external drive now. I didn't do anything. Maybe it just needed a reboot to see it?

I still might reinstall Mint just for the experience and peace of mind that I did it right this time. I've been reading up on partitions. I tend to try to fix stuff that ain't broken just to create more headaches. That's my learning process.

 

[Condobloke]

I tend to try to fix stuff that ain't broken just to create more headaches. That's my learning process

You are definitely not alone in that regard. We have a vast number of 'tinkerers' here, who do the same thing....myself included.

 

[KGIII]

Heh... A long time ago my motto was more along the lines of, "If it ain't broke, tweak it!"

This was pretty educational but far more effort than I'll put into it today. I limit my tweaking and value stability more than I did back then. I still do plenty of tweaking, but I no longer push things to the point of breaking - most of the time. It was fun to learn how the underpinnings worked but I even use a LTS distro these days.