External optical disk drive (CD/DVD) not showing in Dolphin file manager (doesn't work with different USB ports)

So I have a an external optical disk (CD/DVD) drive that connects via USB. It does not show in Dolphin. It does show under the following first two commands (as sr0 and on bus 005 Device 004), respectively:

[jr@fm ~]$ lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda           8:0    0 931.5G  0 disk 
├─sda1        8:1    0 633.4G  0 part 
└─sda2        8:2    0 298.1G  0 part 
sdb           8:16   1  14.6G  0 disk 
├─sdb1        8:17   1   2.9G  0 part 
├─sdb2        8:18   1     4M  0 part 
└─sdb3        8:19   1   4.7G  0 part 
sr0          11:0    1     2K  0 rom  
nvme0n1     259:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   300M  0 part /boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0 112.3G  0 part 
├─nvme0n1p3 259:3    0  69.2G  0 part [SWAP]
├─nvme0n1p4 259:4    0 111.6G  0 part /
└─nvme0n1p5 259:5    0  69.3G  0 part 
[jr@fm ~]$ lsusb
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 004: ID 0e8d:1887 MediaTek Inc. Slim Portable DVD Writer
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bc2:231a Seagate RSS LLC Expansion Portable
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0000:0538   USB OPTICAL MOUSE
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 413c:2107 Dell Computer Corp. KB212-B Quiet Key Keyboard
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0781:5567 SanDisk Corp. Cruzer Blade
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
[jr@fm ~]$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for jr: 
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 465.76 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Disk model: Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB          
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: C023AF04-BE3D-E240-8173-AC89C5E198E2

Device             Start       End   Sectors   Size Type
/dev/nvme0n1p1      4096    618495    614400   300M EFI System
/dev/nvme0n1p2    618496 236138495 235520000 112.3G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p3 831646038 976768064 145122027  69.2G Linux swap
/dev/nvme0n1p4 236138496 470228407 234089912 111.6G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p5 686237696 831645695 145408000  69.3G Linux swap

Partition table entries are not in disk order.


Disk /dev/sda: 931.51 GiB, 1000204885504 bytes, 1953525167 sectors
Disk model: Expansion       
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x7a0c9a3c

Device     Boot      Start        End    Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1             2048 1328381951 1328379904 633.4G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       1328381952 1953523711  625141760 298.1G 83 Linux


Disk /dev/sdb: 14.59 GiB, 15669919744 bytes, 30605312 sectors
Disk model: Cruzer Blade    
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device     Boot   Start      End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1  *         64  6077687 6077624  2.9G  0 Empty
/dev/sdb2       6077688  6085879    8192    4M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
/dev/sdb3       6086656 15853567 9766912  4.7G 83 Linux
[jr@fm ~]$ 

Also, in case it helps:

[jr@fm ~]$ inxi -Fxxx
System:
  Host: fm Kernel: 5.4.67-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc 
  v: 10.2.0 Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.19.5 tk: Qt 5.15.1 wm: kwin_x11 
  dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro Linux 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: TUF B450M-PLUS GAMING v: Rev X.0x 
  serial: <superuser/root required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1002 
  date: 03/07/2019 
CPU:
  Topology: 8-Core model: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Zen+ rev: 2 L2 cache: 4096 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 118208 
  Speed: 1941 MHz min/max: 2200/3700 MHz boost: enabled 
  Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2510 2: 1817 3: 1984 4: 1982 5: 1997 6: 2193 
  7: 2194 8: 2194 9: 1932 10: 2031 11: 2043 12: 2213 13: 2195 14: 2191 
  15: 2579 16: 1977 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU104 [GeForce RTX 2080] vendor: ASUSTeK 
  driver: nvidia v: 440.100 bus ID: 07:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1e82 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: nvidia 
  resolution: 1: 1920x1080~60Hz 2: 1920x1080~60Hz s-dpi: 93 
  OpenGL: renderer: GeForce RTX 2080/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 440.100 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU104 HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 07:00.1 chip ID: 10de:10f8 
  Device-2: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 09:00.3 chip ID: 1022:1457 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.67-1-MANJARO 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 bus ID: 05:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full 
  mac: 40:b0:76:5c:8c:4c 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.38 TiB used: 52.34 GiB (3.7%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB 
  size: 465.76 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: S4EVNG0M116780W 
  rev: 1B2QEXM7 scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sda type: USB vendor: Seagate model: Expansion 
  size: 931.51 GiB serial: NA8GPRR8 rev: 0707 scheme: MBR 
  ID-3: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer Blade 
  size: 14.59 GiB serial: 4C530000260908100104 rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 109.37 GiB used: 23.45 GiB (21.4%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p4 
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 69.20 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) 
  priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.6 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 34 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 20% 
Info:
  Processes: 445 Uptime: 39m Memory: 62.81 GiB used: 10.77 GiB (17.1%) 
  Init: systemd v: 246 Compilers: gcc: N/A Packages: pacman: 1235 
  Shell: Bash v: 5.0.18 running in: konsole inxi: 3.1.05
[jr@fm ~]$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a device; this may
# be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices that works even if
# disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system>             <mount point>  <type>  <options>  <dump>  <pass>
UUID=7B0E-8148                            /boot/efi      vfat    umask=0077 0 2
UUID=1e8aecd0-e0c4-4dd2-8320-8a8dd8df66c6 /              ext4    defaults,noatime 0 1
[jr@fm ~]$ 

As a separate issue, and for context, Manjaro Linux is installed on a second partition, because I was using it on that partition, until it stopped working after an update, so I installed it on another partition, which is now the one I am using.

How can I get Dolphin to automatically show the optical drive when I connect it via USB?

I don’t know if this helps:

[jr@fm ~]$ lsusb -s 5:4 -v

Bus 005 Device 004: ID 0e8d:1887 MediaTek Inc. Slim Portable DVD Writer
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x0e8d MediaTek Inc.
  idProduct          0x1887 Slim Portable DVD Writer
  bcdDevice            0.00
  iManufacturer           1 Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc
  iProduct                2 Portable Super Multi Drive
  iSerial                 3 K51I75H1640         
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x0020
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          4 Default
    bmAttributes         0xa0
      (Bus Powered)
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass         8 Mass Storage
      bInterfaceSubClass      2 SFF-8020i, MMC-2 (ATAPI)
      bInterfaceProtocol     80 
      iInterface              5 6238--Storage
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      1
can't get debug descriptor: Resource temporarily unavailable
Device Status:     0x0000
  (Bus Powered)

I think I need to include it in /etc/fstab

You could try to mount it using systemd to avoid messing with fstab as there is less risk if it goes wrong.

and

or you may be able to auto mount it via settings > automount like a usb drive

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This sounds like KDE - am I right? I don’t know much about KDE.

No - that shouldn’t be necessary.

Some file managers can be configured to not show empty drives - so the first level of troubleshooting would be to insert a disk while drive is attached to the system.

Then check the configuration for removable devices.

Yeah, KDE.

There is already a disk in the drive. I don’t know whether it’s blank or not. I took it out and put another disk in, which is apparently the Manjaro 18.04 iso, as it shows in the file manager. So it seems to have worked, and other disks are recognized when I insert them too. :man_shrugging:

Before I realized above - it has confused me as well.

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