LinuxConfig -

Erasing a CD-RW disk on a Linux system can be as easy as entering one line command using cdrecord utility. The first part of the solution is to find a character device name of our CD/DVD writer. This can be done by a wodim tool:

wodim --devices

OUTPUT:

wodim: Overview of accessible drives (1 found) :
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 0  dev='/dev/scd0'     rwrw-- : 'TSSTcorp' 'CD/DVDW SH-S183L'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the output above we can see a path to a actual character device file which is /dev/scd0 and the model name SH-S183L. Now insert your CD-RW into the drive and for a full blank use issue a following command:

$ cdrecord -v blank=all dev=/dev/scd0

If you wish a fast blank which take considerably less time to erase use:

$ cdrecord -v blank=fast dev=/dev/scd0

In case if you run into some error during the blanking process you may try to include a -force option:

$ cdrecord -force -v blank=all /dev/scd0 

More cdrecord command blanking options:

       all             blank the entire disk
        disc            blank the entire disk
        disk            blank the entire disk
        fast            minimally blank the entire disk (PMA, TOC, pregap)
        minimal         minimally blank the entire disk (PMA, TOC, pregap)
        track           blank a track
        unreserve       unreserve a track
        trtail          blank a track tail
        unclose         unclose last session
        session         blank last session