Not able to use my CD/DVD Drive when using VMware Fusion software

[dkassebaum]

When I have VMWare open, my mac operating system does not show the CD or DVD that is in the drive. It does show up in the Windows XP operating system though. Is there a setting that I need to change? It is a little aggravating when I have to shut down VMware every time I need to read a cd or dvd in the Mac OS.

[WoodyZ]

When I have VMWare open, my mac operating system does not show the CD or DVD that is in the drive. It does show up in the Windows XP operating system though. Is there a setting that I need to change? It is a little aggravating when I have to shut down VMware every time I need to read a cd or dvd in the Mac OS.

VMware is a Company and you can neither open nor shutdown VMware... (They are unstoppable)

You do not need to shutdown Fusion or the XP Virtual Machine in order for Mac OS X to reacquire control over the CD\DVD-ROM Drive. BTW the behavior of only having one OS control access to the optical drive is normal.

When done with the CD\DVD-ROM in XP you would just Disconnect the CD\DVD from the CD\DVD icon on the Status Bar or from the Virtual Machine > CD\DVD menu on the VMware Fusion menu bar. It would then be mounted by OS X. You can remount in XP by Connect CD\DVD.

Note: In theory and most of the time in practice when the CD\DVD is set to use Physical Disk Drive and it is Connected if there is no disc in the drive and you insert one whichever OS (VM or OS X) has the focus it will mount the disc in that OS. So if you have a VM running and you do not want the VM to grab the disk then set focus to the OS X Desktop before you insert the disk. Same apply of the VM if you want the VM to grab the disk the set focus into the VM.

Note: You also can change the CD\DVD Settings to not be connected at start up.

When in doubt... Read the Manual!

Edit: Modified original post to clarify thoughts and added additional content.

[tj_d]

While that tip allows you to eject the CD/DVD, how would you go about closing the drive using Explorer if you're running a Mac Pro? Do you have to disconnect the drive in XP, close it using the keyboard in the Mac OS, and then reconnect the drive to use in XP again?

[WoodyZ]

While that tip allows you to eject the CD/DVD, how would you go about closing the drive using Explorer if you're running a Mac Pro? Do you have to disconnect the drive in XP, close it using the keyboard in the Mac OS, and then reconnect the drive to use in XP again?

Please reread the post I made as I removed the directions to eject the disc as that is not necessary if you just want the Host to have control. However to answer the question re close the tray in XP on a Mac Pro you would have to use a third party utility as XP only has an Eject command for the optical drive or the keyboard. Since I don't have a Mac Pro in front of me at the moment I don't know if it works the same way as on a PC but if you push lightly on the tray it will close on a PC and I assume the same applies on a Mac.

[tj_d]

Right now I disable the drive in XP to regain access to it with OS X, then I close the drive, and then re-enable it in XP. It's a little more cumbersome, but at least it will get it to close this way. I tried pushing the drive back in on my Mac Pro when I first noticed the problem, but the gears don't kick in so it won't close properly. It's not the end of the world, but I wanted to see if there was a simpler way.

[WoodyZ]

Right now I disable the drive in XP to regain access to it with OS X, then I close the drive, and then re-enable it in XP. It's a little more cumbersome, but at least it will get it to close this way. I tried pushing the drive back in on my Mac Pro when I first noticed the problem, but the gears don't kick in so it won't close properly. It's not the end of the world, but I wanted to see if there was a simpler way.

If you want to close the tray from within Windows below is the name of a program that I use when I RDC into a system and need to close the tray when the tray was opened because the backup disc was full and wanted to check the disc before I have a user change it out when they come in the next day. This utility has a bunch of features however I just use in to close the tray at night when the backup disc is full. I don't like leaving it open and if the backup disc is full it ejects the tray and emails me the the backup is full. I log in and close the tray with wizmo and then test the backup disc and the have the office manager remove the used disc and put in a new one when they come in the next morning. The used disc's are then stored off-site in a fireproof safe.

http://www.grc.com/wizmo/wizmo.htm

You can run it from the command line or script it and crate a shortcut to the script on the Desktop or Start Menu, etc.

[tj_d]

Thank you for the advice. I'll look into the program you mentioned more. The nice thing is that I don't need to run the drive often, so this is only an occasional nuisance. Part of it is that I'm just getting things installed on the Mac Pro because it's new, so I'm swapping a lot of disks right now.