lshal gives the results underneath. Note that volume.disc.capacity = 735051776 (0x2bd00000) (uint64) , while the empty disc has no space according Nautilus/Brasero/ aso... what goes wrong ? udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_1106_571_scsi_host_0_scsi_device_lun0_0' info.linux.driver = 'sr' (string) info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_1106_571_scsi_host_0' (string) info.product = 'SCSI Device' (string) info.subsystem = 'scsi' (string) info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_1106_571_scsi_host_0_scsi_device_lun0_0' (string) linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2) (int) linux.subsystem = 'scsi' (string) linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:07.1/host1/target1:0:1/1:0:1:0' (string) scsi.bus = 0 (0x0) (int) scsi.host = 1 (0x1) (int) scsi.lun = 0 (0x0) (int) scsi.model = 'CD-RW GCE-8320B' (string) scsi.target = 1 (0x1) (int) scsi.type = 'cdrom' (string) scsi.vendor = 'HL-DT-ST' (string) udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_CD_RW_GCE_8320B' block.device = '/dev/sr1' (string) block.is_volume = false (bool) block.major = 11 (0xb) (int) block.minor = 1 (0x1) (int) block.storage_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_CD_RW_GCE_8320B' (string) info.addons = {'hald-addon-storage'} (string list) info.capabilities = {'storage', 'block', 'storage.cdrom'} (string list) info.category = 'storage' (string) info.interfaces = {'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage', 'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage', 'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage.Removable'} (string list) info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_1106_571_scsi_host_0_scsi_device_lun0_0' (string) info.product = 'CD-RW GCE-8320B' (string) info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_CD_RW_GCE_8320B' (string) info.vendor = 'HL-DT-ST' (string) linux.hotplug_type = 3 (0x3) (int) linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:07.1/host1/target1:0:1/1:0:1:0/block/sr1' (string) org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage.method_argnames = {'extra_options', 'extra_options'} (string list) org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage.method_execpaths = {'hal-storage-eject', 'hal-storage-closetray'} (string list) org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage.method_names = {'Eject', 'CloseTray'} (string list) org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Storage.method_signatures = {'as', 'as'} (string list) storage.automount_enabled_hint = true (bool) storage.bus = 'pci' (string) storage.cdrom.bd = false (bool) storage.cdrom.bdr = false (bool) storage.cdrom.bdre = false (bool) storage.cdrom.cdr = true (bool) storage.cdrom.cdrw = true (bool) storage.cdrom.dvd = false (bool) storage.cdrom.dvdplusr = false (bool) storage.cdrom.dvdplusrdl = false (bool) storage.cdrom.dvdplusrw = false (bool) storage.cdrom.dvdplusrwdl = false (bool) storage.cdrom.dvdr = false (bool) storage.cdrom.dvdram = false (bool) storage.cdrom.dvdrdl = false (bool) storage.cdrom.dvdrw = false (bool) storage.cdrom.hddvd = false (bool) storage.cdrom.hddvdr = false (bool) storage.cdrom.hddvdrw = false (bool) storage.cdrom.mo = false (bool) storage.cdrom.mrw = true (bool) storage.cdrom.mrw_w = true (bool) storage.cdrom.read_speed = 1411 (0x583) (int) storage.cdrom.support_media_changed = true (bool) storage.cdrom.support_multisession = true (bool) storage.cdrom.write_speed = 5634 (0x1602) (int) storage.drive_type = 'cdrom' (string) storage.firmware_version = '1.04' (string) storage.hotpluggable = false (bool) storage.lun = 0 (0x0) (int) storage.media_check_enabled = true (bool) storage.model = 'CD-RW GCE-8320B' (string) storage.no_partitions_hint = true (bool) storage.originating_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer' (string) storage.partitioning_scheme = '' (string) storage.removable = true (bool) storage.removable.media_available = true (bool) storage.removable.media_size = 2048 (0x800) (uint64) storage.removable.support_async_notification = false (bool) storage.requires_eject = true (bool) storage.size = 0 (0x0) (uint64) storage.vendor = 'HL-DT-ST' (string) udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/volume_empty_cd_r' block.device = '/dev/sr1' (string) block.is_volume = true (bool) block.major = 11 (0xb) (int) block.minor = 1 (0x1) (int) block.storage_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_CD_RW_GCE_8320B' (string) info.capabilities = {'volume.disc', 'volume', 'block'} (string list) info.category = 'volume' (string) info.interfaces = {'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume', 'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume'} (string list) info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_CD_RW_GCE_8320B' (string) info.product = 'Volume' (string) info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/volume_empty_cd_r' (string) linux.hotplug_type = 3 (0x3) (int) linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:07.1/host1/target1:0:1/1:0:1:0/block/sr1/fakevolume' (string) org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.method_argnames = {'extra_options', 'extra_options'} (string list) org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.method_execpaths = {'hal-storage-eject', 'hal-storage-eject'} (string list) org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.method_names = {'Eject', 'Eject'} (string list) org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.method_signatures = {'as', 'as'} (string list) volume.block_size = 0 (0x0) (int) volume.disc.capacity = 735051776 (0x2bd00000) (uint64) volume.disc.has_audio = false (bool) volume.disc.has_data = false (bool) volume.disc.is_appendable = false (bool) volume.disc.is_blank = true (bool) volume.disc.is_rewritable = false (bool) volume.disc.type = 'cd_r' (string) volume.fstype = '' (string) volume.fsusage = '' (string) volume.fsversion = '' (string) volume.is_disc = true (bool) volume.is_mounted = false (bool) volume.is_mounted_read_only = false (bool) volume.is_partition = false (bool) volume.label = '' (string) volume.linux.is_device_mapper = false (bool) volume.mount_point = '' (string) volume.num_blocks = 4 (0x4) (uint64) volume.size = 2048 (0x800) (uint64) volume.uuid = '' (string)