I have a DVD burner in an external USB enclosure.

It works fine for reading CDs and DVDs, and for burning DVD-R and CD-R discs, but I can't get it to write to any CD-RW discs, and rarely DVD-RW. (The DVD-RW has worked maybe 3 or 4 times out of dozens of attempts, and only using K3B)

I have also had the same problem burning CD-RWs in a CD burner in a different USB enclosure.

Brasero almost always displays 'No disc available' if a rewriteable disc is in the drive - sometimes after a couple of minutes it will display the correct volume label, but if I try to write to it, either blanking it or writing files to it, it goes back to displaying the 'No disc available' again.

K3B finds the disk and displays the volume label without any problem, but when I try to write to it K3B complains that it can't unmount the volume and fails, then ejects the disc.

Gnome CD Master can't even find the burner regardless of the disk type!

I'm baffled as to why this would be happening like this. All I can think of is that it's either an obscure permissions issue, or a USB issue.

I have given myself every remotely relevant permission I can think of, but maybe there's some other security setting I don't know about.

The drive and mounted disc usually show up in file managers, but I have noticed that sometimes the drive will suddenly disappear from the mounted drive list, and become unresponsive. The only thing that gets the drive working again is to reboot the computer - just switching the drive off and back on again doesn't fix it - so I suspect maybe my Mint 9 installation (Gnome with KDE additions, but the problem has existed since I first installed it as pure Gnome) has some issues with the USB connections, but that's just a wild guess, and I've never had a problem using USB flash drives.

I have used a variety of disc brands with no difference.

Dare I say it, but Windows has no problems with any of this - any of these discs can be read, written, blanked and rewritten effortlessly in Windows. Sigh.

Any ideas? I'm stumped.

At the risk of providing too much information I'm going to follow the advice from the Linux Mint forum, and include outputs for lsusb and lspci.

lsusb output:

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 152d:2338 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. JM20337 Hi-Speed USB to SATA & PATA Combo Bridge
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 056a:0011 Wacom Co., Ltd Graphire 2
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 192f:0616 Avago Technologies, Pte.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0409:005a NEC Corp. HighSpeed Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:0808 Logitech, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

lsusb -v output for the USB DVD burner:

Bus 001 Device 007: ID 152d:2338 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. JM20337 Hi-Speed USB to SATA & PATA Combo Bridge
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x152d JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp.
idProduct 0x2338 JM20337 Hi-Speed USB to SATA & PATA Combo Bridge
bcdDevice 1.00
iManufacturer 1 JMicron
iProduct 2 USB to ATA/ATAPI Bridge
iSerial 5 222222222222
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 32
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 4 USB Mass Storage
bmAttributes 0xc0
Self Powered
MaxPower 2mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk (Zip)
iInterface 6 MSC Bulk-Only Transfer
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
bLength 10
bDescriptorType 6
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
bNumConfigurations 1
can't get debug descriptor: Connection timed out
Device Status: 0x5301
Self Powered


lspci output:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82915G/P/GV/GL/PL/910GL Memory Controller Hub (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82915G/P/GV/GL/PL/910GL PCI Express Root Port (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev d3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FR (ICH6/ICH6R) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FR/FRW (ICH6R/ICH6RW) SATA Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G92 [GeForce 9800 GT] (rev a2)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5789 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 11)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5789 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 11)
05:01.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Atheros AR5001X+ Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
05:02.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
05:02.4 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] (rev 05)

Phew... hope that means something to somebody :-D

What is the brand and model number of the external drive?

Thanks for the quick response.

Sorry, I should have included the drive info in my post <slaps own forehead>.

Both the DVD burner and CD burner are LG drives - the DVD burner model is GH22NS30 (SATA interface in a SATA/IDE to USB enclosure) and the CD burner model is GCE-8160B (IDE interface in a IDE to USB enclosure).

I decided to try taking the DVD burner out of the USB enclosure and putting it in the computer with a direct SATA connection to see if that would help to narrow down the cause of the problem. I tested it with a CD-RW disc because they have always been the most problematic - I used a disc that has never been writable in the USB enclosure in Linux, but works perfectly in Windows.

As I expected, the OS detects and mounts the drive without a problem.

Brasero now detects the drive and writes to it without difficulty, either blanking or burning data. This suggests to me that Brasero has a problem with the USB/Sata interface in the enclosure.

K3B again failed to blank the disk with the same errors as before, reporting that it could not unmount the drive, and ejecting the disc. This sounds like K3B (or something used by K3B) does not support this drive model for rewriteable discs (and I have no idea how it could work for CD-R but not for CD-RW), or there is a permissions issue in K3B.

Gnome CD Master still couldn't find the drive at all, suggesting that Gnome CD Master is a waste of hard drive space.

I ran dmesg, and this info re the DVD burner was reported:

[ 0.727637] ata4.00: ATAPI: HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GH22NS30, 1.00, max UDMA/100
...
[ 0.810554] scsi 3:0:0:0: CD-ROM HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NS30 1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[ 0.814270] sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 48x/48x writer dvd-ram cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray
[ 0.814274] Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
[ 0.814391] sr 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0

So now I'm thinking there are different problems here depending on which burning software I'm using <groan>.

I am surprised that K3B can not write to the CD-RW discs.
Have you tried using Gnomebaker instead of Brasero? Gnomebaker has always worked better for me in Ubuntu than Brasero.

Thanks, I'll give GnomeBaker a try - although at the moment I'm just glad I've finally got something to write CD-RWs - now if only I could do it in the USB enclosure, which I use because I've got 4 computers and I didn't see the point in having a DVD burner in each.

I'm also surprised about K3B, especially that it doesn't work even when the DVD burner is plugged directly into the computer via SATA. I've always read that K3B was much better than Brasero, and in terms of configurability it is, but that doesn't count for much if it can't write to the CD-RW discs.

K3b ought to be usable. Are they some odd old slow disks?

Guess the burner could be off.

Try another burner.

I agree.

The particular disc I tested with on this occasion is a Verbatim 700 Mb CD-RW disc. I have used a variety of different CD-RW and DVD-RW discs over many months with the same problem each time. I don't see why the disc's rated speed would make a difference - any decent burning software can cope with speeds down to 1x cd speed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by genogebot I used a disc that has never been writable in the USB enclosure in Linux, but works perfectly in Windows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by genogebot Brasero now detects the drive and writes to it without difficulty, either blanking or burning data.

If the disc works perfectly in Windows and in Brasero then it should work perfectly in K3B - if it doesn't then logically that's a limitation of K3B, not the disc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by genogebot It works fine for reading CDs and DVDs, and for burning DVD-R and CD-R discs ...

I have used 2 different burners with the same problem each time:

Quote:

Originally Posted by genogebot I have also had the same problem burning CD-RWs in a CD burner in a different USB enclosure.

So I think I've already performed the tests in a sufficiently rigorous manner to exclude your suggestions as possible causes. Thanks anyway.

Ok, I eventually found the solution.

It seems that the burning programs that are packed with many linux distros - and that are used by K3B and Brasero in different ways - are old, buggy and unmaintained (and the story of why they haven't been replaced reads like a soap opera of dysfunctional personalities ).

I found the solution at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1336278&page=2

I installed cdrtools and mkisofs and now everything works. I can write to rewriteable discs in external usb enclosures without any problem.

To install these programs I added the following to my synaptic sources:

then did
and
Then I set cdrecord and mkisofs as default programs in K3B.

I then tried erasing a cd-rw in a burner an external usb enclosure, and then writing to it, using K3B. It worked flawlessly. Woohoo.

Now if I can just get the distro packagers to include these programs by default...

Debian, and also Ubuntu, replaced cdrecord with wodim a while back because wodim is more free (as in freedom) than cdrecord. The problem is that wodim has never worked as well as cdrecord in my experience. Distros that still use cdrecord, like Slackware, do not have this problem.
Anyway, glad you got that fixed. I did not know that there was a PPA repo for the old cdrtools package.

That is one of the points of dispute that I read about - there are claims that the supposed lack of 'freedom' of the original cdrtools is bogus, that the campaign to discredit cdrtools on that basis was motivated by personal reasons, and that the decision to remove cdrtools was made without due diligence to see if the claims were correct.

The thread at Ubuntu forums linked to above details some of this saga.

Well, this would not be the first time that Debian was accused of being a little bit too political. Unfortunately, some of that politics has carried over into Ubuntu.
Debian is still a great distro though; and Debian is still the base of countless derivative distros like Ubuntu. Debian also runs much faster and uses fewer resources than Ubuntu in my 5 years of using both Debian and Ubuntu.
Every distro has it's little issues though.