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Filed under: Mac 101

Mac 101: Get that "stuck" disc out of your Mac

Welcome to another Mac 101 here at TUAW. Mac 101 is our recurring feature where we point out some tips and tricks for folks new to the Mac. Remember, if you're a Mac expert this post isn't for you.

Have you ever tried to unmount a disc in Mac OS X, but it simply wouldn't come out of your Mac's drive? Here are three ways of removing discs from your Mac's drive. If your Mac is currently using the disc you won't be able to eject it, so make sure that isn't the case first. If the disc isn't in use and you still can't eject it, give these a try.

Step 1: Drag the disc to the trash can
Find the disc on the desktop and drag its icon to the Mac OS X trash can. As you start dragging it towards the trash, the icon will change to an eject button, release the mouse button when the disc's icon is directly over the eject button.

Step 2: Try some command line goodness
If you have tried to eject the disc by dragging its icon over the trash bin, then why not try a simple Terminal command to eject the disc. Open Terminal.app (found in /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app; or use Command + Shift + U to in any Finder window to move to the Utilities folder).

Once you have Terminal opened, type (or copy/paste) the following command: drutil eject

Step 3: Restart your Mac while holding mouse button down
If you've tried the other steps to no avail, then why not reboot your Mac while holding down the mouse button. Upon loading the Apple boot screen, your disc should be ejected.

Please note that if you have a disc that is actually physically stuck in the drive, this will not help. Stuck discs may need the assistance of an Apple Genius or certified Apple repair professional.

Filed under: Odds and ends, Flickr Find

Flickr Find: Recreating the OS X Trash Can in real life

Drewm over at Flickr recreated the Mac OS X trash can in real life. It's an absolutely beautiful three-dimensional nod to the OS X dock. It makes you kind of wish he'd recreate the entire dock but searching his account only found 1 result matching "dock".

A blue acrylic clipboard appears to have given him the inspiration. See this earlier picture of his of the same can full of coins. The photo was shot using a Canon digital camera. In terms of visual beauty, this is a big step forward from the OS sculptures Apple used to display at the Apple Campus garden in Cupertino.

Filed under: Features, How-tos, Tips and tricks, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Ask TUAW: Trash in the Sidebar, Mail problems, Books, and More

It's time yet again for Ask TUAW, our weekly questions and answers column. This week we'll be tackling questions from last week about putting the Trash in the Finder sidebar, problems with Mail, keeping track of Books, and more. As always, please leave your own comments, and ask more questions for next week either in the comments to this post or using the tip form. Now let's turn to this week's questions.

Continue readingAsk TUAW: Trash in the Sidebar, Mail problems, Books, and More

Tip of the Day

F11 moves all your windows off the screen so you can quickly glance at your desktop. F10 shows you every open window in an application. F9 shows every open window for every application that isn't hidden or in the dock.


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