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1. could be a hardware failure.... If possible, update the bios on the dvd drive. $15 dollar investment could fix that problem.
2. Update the kernel source and recompile. Could be possible you updated the system that's not compatible with your current configuration.
3. maybe /dev/cdrom needs to be linked to the correct device. This old site explains what I'm trying to say.
http://aplawrence.com/Bofcusm/1827.html
Great minds think alike.Quote:
Originally Posted by nihil
OK, lets step back a minute.
First, we have very little information on the computer:
Is this a desktop ( easier ) or a laptop?
Is this an IDE, SATA, or scuzzy ( SCSI ) drive ( what type hardware chips involved? )
We don't even know if it ever worked under SUSE ( he could have done a network install )
or if it worked then suddenly stopped working.
What I do know is the problems described are typical of an optical drive gone bad.
( I have a stack of them here in my dungeon! )
I have seen it on SUSE, Fedora, Centos, etc.
Hopefully it is a desktop, so the easiest thing to do is try another drive ( borrow one if you have to )
If it is a laptop it is going to be a little more costly and harder to swap out.
Either way you can try as nihil said and try to boot to a windows CD disk.
As gore said, you do not need to add anything to fstab, HAL will take care of mounting.
You can try to gently clean the drive interior and optical lens, but usually if there is hair and dust inside you will get random errors, not complete failure ( you may sometimes get the random errors as the drive is starting to fail. )
As for the Media Check message with no media in, typical, not a factor here.
So, what I am saying,
nihil, see what happens when I try to keep my posts short?Quote:
Try a different CD rom [drive] !
I just wind up posting again!
Gore: I know its trying to check the cdrom for problems, thats what I wanted it to do. It was just strange that it said cannot read medium when there was no medium in the cdrom.
nihil: Setting the cdrom as the first boot option was something I did when I first installed suse on this machine and the boot disc still loads correctly. so thats why I'm saying its not a problem with the cdrom itself so much as a config problem. But I dont know where to go to reconfigure the cdrom. I started googling the model of the cdrom and suse a few days ago and while the suse site says that my particular model is not supported the site also has not been updated in that regard for sometime I would think AND the other models listed from pioneer are almost exaclty like mine. Though almost doesnt always cut it I still say its a config problem and any thoughts on where I can change some settings for my cdrom would be nice because I cant find a dman thing on google that helps out me in this particular situation.
Sorry, forgot to put the hardware info here like iknownot asked for.
dell optiplex desktop 2.8ghz
1.2gb pc3200 ddr
120gb sata hdd
floppy drive
radeon agp dual video'
pioneer cd-rw/dvd-rw dvr-103 (scsi)
it was a iso boot disc that did the install. no suse has never been on this machine before
linen0ise: the /dev/cdrom is pointed at sr0 like it should be. and its not a hw failure because i can still boot from the install disc and recompileing the kerenel is probably not useful since this is opensuse 11.1 and was just installed a few weeks ago.
You're missing my point again:Quote:
Originally Posted by lionhearted2005
It's not checking the CD-ROM DRIVE for problems, it's trying to check the CD-ROM DISK you don't have in there which is why you're getting errors. A CD-ROM DISK is a "media" just as a Tape you'd put in a tape drive is a MEDIA.
That's why it's giving you errors. Put a CD-ROM in an it can check the CD-ROM, but that option you're trying doesn't check the drive.
OK, now we have something to sort of work with. Now, on one of my machines, I have 3 Drives on it for CDs and DVDs. One of them is a pain in the ass to get working in Windows, but on Linux, doesn't matter which one, this is how I would put a disk in:Quote:
Originally Posted by lionhearted2005
Take CD, put in drive, wait a little bit, pop up saying what do you want to do.
Now, for burning an ISO image to disk, I'd simply CLICK on the ISO, open in KDE, it pops up K3B for me, checks the MD5 sum, for me, and then click burn, and it does it. No configuring, nothing
Now, to look at a basic CD-ROM, I'd put that in a drive, and again, it just asks you. Playing with Fstab is no longer needed in new versions, except for Slackware and sometimes Debian, but not SUSE or Mandriva or the other RPM distros.
First, don't be fooled by the scsi bus that SUSE is identifying: all IDE drives are now listed as scsi devices on many Linux distros..
That dvr-103 is an older unit.
Don't know if it will help, but there was a firmware update awhile back ( don't know if it will help!! )
Current version should be 2.0 ??
DVD-R/RW Computer Drives and DVD Recorders Download Page
To find out what version you have, use Yast ( click on the Computer icon in lower left corner, open Yast, then open Hardware Information )
Scroll down to the CD-ROM, then expand it.
It should show you your current firmware version ( Revision ) as well as your driver.
The site cautions you, if you have an OEM version of the drive to go to the distributor of the drive ( in your case Dell ) for the update. You will probably have to use the alternative method to update if needed, as they don't have Linux updates.
It is strange that the same media and drive you used to install SUSE works from boot, but will not work once the system is loaded.
Just for fun, do
lsmod cdrom
lsmod <driver found in Yast>
Then boot to the install disk, select Rescue System, login as root and repeat the above commands to see if the same drivers ( modules ) are being loaded.
( Ctl-Alt-Del to reboot )
If the drivers are the same then it should work ( unless you changed something in permissions?)
Try Computer-More Applications-Authorizations ( under Utilities )
scroll down to hal, storage, and see what the the Authorizations are ( Anyone-no, Console-no, Active Console-yes )
Also under More Applications you can try ( under System ) File Management
check the media tab, and make sure “Browse media when inserted” is checked.
I still think the drive may be going, and given the limited media for that drive you still might be better off getting a new one ( provided permissions are correct. )
.
Hi there lion~,
Thanks for that...............I wanted to eliminate a pure physical hardware problem, as they can happen at any time and confuse issues as a result.Quote:
nihil: Setting the cdrom as the first boot option was something I did when I first installed suse on this machine and the boot disc still loads correctly. so thats why I'm saying its not a problem with the cdrom itself so much as a config problem. But I dont know where to go to reconfigure the cdrom.
Strictly speaking, I do not think that you have a configuration or settings issue as there shouldn't be any.............it should just work.
If this were a Windows environment I would say that the bootable CD is loading generic drivers that are not being loaded with the OS. Or, the OS installation is in some way corrupted. Have you tried a reinstall of Suse?
The first thing I would do is ensure that the Dell BIOS/Firmware are at the latest version.
Your CD/DVD seems to be earlier than your PC, so looking for a firmware update from the manufacturer's site might also be useful. I say that because Dell tend to "do their own thing".
Unfortunately, your drive is rather old, so compatibility is likely to be an
issue. I haven't looked myself, but you might be able to find generic Linux software?
EDIT:
Just out of curiosity, what happens if you boot from the HDD without any USB devices attached, then attach them?