I have two cd-rom drives on my pc;

One is just a cd-rom, mountpoint /media/cdrom
The other is a cd/dvd/read/writer, mountpoint /media/cdrecorder.

I'm using a brand-new installation of fedora core 3, and my linux experience is minimal.

The distro was installed from a DVD, so obviously I used the dvd drive.

My cd drive gave a "drive error" when I tried to play an audio cd with the cd player, so I popped in a cd that contained just random back-up files from a few years ago; still nothing.

When I put the data disc in my dvd drive, everything was fine, but it won't read an audio disc. I tried a second audio disc, that one didn't work either.

the error message said to ensure I have proper permissions, I have turned on all permissions for all users (there's only one).

Basically I have no ideas what's going on.

it occured to me that perhaps the dvd drive works because I installed from it?

thanks for the help

What exactly is the message? Did you try as root (just incase it really is a problem with perms.)? And is the drive error a { Drive Seek Error }? What program are you using to play the audio files?

--S.A.K.

When I insert an audio disc into the cd-rom, I get an icon on the desktop lebelled "CD-ROM Disc" . Clicking on it brings up a window itled "CD/DVD Creator", which looks like a normal file browser window. It's strange that it would be called a creator since that drive is not a burner

If I insert that audio disc into the DVD/CD burner, I get an icon on the desktop labelled "Audio Disc", and the cd player window opens. In the player display, where it should have track title and length, etc.., it simply says "Drive Error".

I haven't seen anything about "Drive Seek"

If I open a file browser window on either of these drives when an audio cd is inserted, it shows no contents. Likewise, the command "ls /media/cdrecorder" or "ls /media/cdrom" give no output

A data disc in the cd-rom drive is unreadable, in file browser or terminal

A data disc in the DVD/CD burner reads in the file browser, and from the command "ls /media/cdrecorder" gives output "travis Travis 2", which is the correct names of the two folders on the disc.

in short, audio discs are completely unreadable, data discs are readabe in the DVD/CD burner but not in the cdrom

Sorry, I know it's hard to help a newb, thanks for your reply

just to add to that, I figured maybe I'd try the option "show hidden files" in the file browser, but it didn't help

So, your cd's are being noticed and read.

Little confusing there and sorry for me re-iterating this.

CD:
Can not read audio or data files.

DVD:
Can not read audio but can read data files.

Anyways, if this is the case, try a different audio player such as:

xmms: (http://www.xmms.org/download.php)

I'm not sure what the problem really is here but if your audio gets fixed, then something might be wrong with the actual drives. Have you tried, or have they ever been tried in another operating system?

--Abid Kazmi

Your re-listing is correct.

The cd drive (the one that won't do anything) has been used without error with Windows XP, SuSE 9.1, Red Hat 9 (I think), for the last two years, so there's nothing physically wrong with it.

I may be wrong on this, but when I list the contents of an audio disc should I not see something like:

Track01.cda
Track02.cda
Track03.cda
...?

I know I do in windows.

The DVD drive is a newly purchased (a week old) cheap model, but it should be okay too.

I just remembered that during installation, there was a step to "test media", so I went back and did that. It said my disc failed, but I don't see how that really relates to my problem. I suppose I could burn a new one and re-install.

Yes, .cda is a Compact Disc Audio format. Is that drive supported by Linux? Check it in the HCL on linuxquestions.org, Hardware Compatibility List.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/index.php

--SAK

Yes, I've used this drive with red hat, SuSE.

Hmm....you said that this was only a week+ old drive. It could be defective and you can get a rma on it. But it is most likely your ide cable that is the culprit. I've had this happen to me in the past when installing fc3. I tried a different cdrom with no success.
Then tried a different ide cable, voila; everything worked fine. Media Test passed also. I say get a new ide cable, prefrebaly a 40/80 side.

--SAK

the week-old drive is not the drive in question, that one seems to be working better. I just thought of one more thing - when installing a cd-rom, you have to connect that sound line from the drive to the mainboard. I could check that that's working. I could also try a different cd player. Can xmms play from cd's?

Better?

You don't have to but you can if you want to. But your cd drives should still list the files that are located in the cd/dvd rom. Try a different cd player as said.

Yes, it can play them perfectly.

--SAK

You said it was a permissions problem... what did you set the permissions of?
it may vary on your system, but for me, I have `/dev/cdrom` as a link to `/dev/hdc`. /dev/cdrom has permissions for everyone to do everything, but if the permissions to /dev/hdc are bad, then I still won't be able to read the drive. check the permissions of /dev/hdc (or whatever your drive is named) with `ls -l /dev/hdc` (or something other than hdc, depending). I don't have a DVD drive, but I imagine it would be handled similarly.

Maybe someone else who knows this stuff better can step in...

I altered permissions of /media/cdrom.
I guess I'll go back and alter permissions on /dev/hdc or hdd, i think it is.

type in:

ls -l /media/cdrom

See where the symlink is linked to: ie.

Type:
ls -l /media/cdrom

Result:
/media/cdrom permissions.. date...etc... then --> /dev/hdX where x is your drive.

--SAK