How do I format a DVD-RW?

There are a couple of different options. I think the easiest is:

dvd+rw-format -force=full /dev/sr0

I also think that is the one most commonly already installed on your system. I think there's an option in k3b to blank it for you... Oh, just found it, under tools->format/erase rewritable disk. Back in the day we would just do a dd and write zeros over the whole disk, lol. Good luck!

I had a similar problem. The trick (I found) was to make sure the /dev parameter points to the correct device - which in my case made the command:

dvd+rw-format -force=full /dev/dvdrw1