Recommendations? CD/DVD RW for AMD64

rickh · 06-20-2006, 12:42 AM

I looked thru the HCL and found lots of rave reviews for these units, but some (like my current drive, a Plextor 716A) have notes in the fine print about problems on AMD64 hardware. Mine has write errors about 90% of the time. I have the same problems with Windows, 32-bit Debian, and 64-bit Debian, so I've come to the conclusion that it has to be a hardware incompatibility.

If you have a cd/dvd writer that works perfectly on an AMD64 ... one that I can go out and buy ... please tell me what it is.

Bruce Hill · 06-20-2006, 01:46 AM

I have two that work great, and I'll show you my hardware.

Code:

mingdao@silas:~$ ./hwinfo.static
10: PCI 00.0: 0600 Host bridge
  [Created at pci.273]
  Unique ID: qLht.1cu6J81bcc1
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:00:00.0
  Hardware Class: bridge
  Model: "ASUSTeK VT8385 [K8T800 AGP] Host Bridge"
  Vendor: pci 0x1106 "VIA Technologies, Inc."
  Device: pci 0x3188 "VT8385 [K8T800 AGP] Host Bridge"
  SubVendor: pci 0x1043 "ASUSTeK Computer Inc."
  SubDevice: pci 0x80a3
  Revision: 0x01
  Memory Range: 0xf0000000-0xf7ffffff (rw,prefetchable)
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

11: PCI 01.0: 0604 PCI bridge (Normal decode)
  [Created at pci.273]
  Unique ID: vSkL.CP+qXDDqow8
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:00:01.0
  Hardware Class: bridge
  Model: "VIA VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800 South]"
  Vendor: pci 0x1106 "VIA Technologies, Inc."
  Device: pci 0xb188 "VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800 South]"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

16: PCI 0f.0: 0104 RAID bus controller
  [Created at pci.273]
  Unique ID: _+Pw.AqAlZIPn4NA
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0f.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:00:0f.0
  Hardware Class: storage
  Model: "ASUSTeK A7V600 motherboard"
  Vendor: pci 0x1106 "VIA Technologies, Inc."
  Device: pci 0x3149 "VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller"
  SubVendor: pci 0x1043 "ASUSTeK Computer Inc."
  SubDevice: pci 0x80ed "A7V600 motherboard"
  Revision: 0x80
  Driver: "sata_via"
  I/O Ports: 0xe400-0xe407 (rw)
  I/O Ports: 0xe000-0xe003 (rw)
  I/O Ports: 0xd800-0xd807 (rw)
  I/O Ports: 0xd400-0xd403 (rw)
  I/O Ports: 0xd000-0xd00f (rw)
  I/O Ports: 0xc800-0xc8ff (rw)
  IRQ: 16 (48162 events)
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: sata_via is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe sata_via"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

17: PCI 0f.1: 0101 IDE interface
  [Created at pci.273]
  Unique ID: rKvl.JdZNg8yX184
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0f.1
  SysFS BusID: 0000:00:0f.1
  Hardware Class: storage
  Model: "ASUSTeK A7V600 motherboard"
  Vendor: pci 0x1106 "VIA Technologies, Inc."
  Device: pci 0x0571 "VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE"
  SubVendor: pci 0x1043 "ASUSTeK Computer Inc."
  SubDevice: pci 0x80ed "A7V600 motherboard"
  Revision: 0x06
  Driver: "VIA_IDE"
  I/O Ports: 0xfc00-0xfc0f (rw)
  IRQ: 16 (48162 events)
  I/O Ports: 0x1f0-0x1f7 (rw)
  I/O Port: 0x3f6 (rw)
  I/O Ports: 0x170-0x177 (rw)
  I/O Port: 0x376 (rw)
  IRQ: 14 (20 events)
  IRQ: 15 (20 events)
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

26: PCI 18.0: 0600 Host bridge
  [Created at pci.273]
  Unique ID: fiDB.ptk_g9XAN03
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:18.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:00:18.0
  Hardware Class: bridge
  Model: "AMD K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration"
  Vendor: pci 0x1022 "AMD"
  Device: pci 0x1100 "K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

31: IDE 00.0: 10602 CD-ROM (DVD-R)
  [Created at block.192]
  Unique ID: Fffu.UpHJxsNGt75
  Parent ID: rKvl.JdZNg8yX184
  SysFS ID: /block/hda
  SysFS BusID: 0.0
  SysFS Device Link: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0f.1/ide0/0.0
  Hardware Class: cdrom
  Model: "PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-109"
  Vendor: "PIONEER"
  Device: "DVD-RW DVR-109"
  Driver: "VIA_IDE", "ide-cdrom", "ide-cdrom"
  Device File: /dev/hda
  Device Number: block 3:0
  Features: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R
  Size: 0 sectors a 512 bytes
  Drive status: no medium
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #17 (IDE interface)
  Drive Speed: 40

32: IDE 02.0: 10602 CD-ROM (DVD-R)
  [Created at block.192]
  Unique ID: 90A1.doGb0i5F283
  Parent ID: rKvl.JdZNg8yX184
  SysFS ID: /block/hdc
  SysFS BusID: 1.0
  SysFS Device Link: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0f.1/ide1/1.0
  Hardware Class: cdrom
  Model: "TSSTcorpCD/DVDW TS-H552U" <-- this is a Samsung
  Vendor: "TSSTcorpCD/DVDW"
  Device: "TS-H552U"
  Driver: "VIA_IDE", "ide-cdrom", "ide-cdrom"
  Device File: /dev/hdc
  Device Number: block 22:0
  Features: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R
  Size: 0 sectors a 512 bytes
  Drive status: no medium
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #17 (IDE interface)
  Drive Speed: 48

I'm running:

Code:

mingdao@silas:~$ cat /etc/slackware-version
Slackware -current (notice it's 32-bit not 64-bit)

mingdao@silas:~$ uname -a
Linux silas 2.6.17 #1 Tue Jun 20 10:43:20 CST 2006 i686 athlon-4 i386 GNU/Linux

And I do most of my burning from command line, though K3B does work.

What are your specific problems/errors?
Are you writing as root, or normal user?
Do you set the switch for burnfree?

Here are some of the commands I use:

Code:

To erase a CD-RW:
cdrecord -v dev=/dev/hda blank=fast

To blank a DVD+RW
su -c "growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero"
dvd+rw-format -force -lead-out /dev/dvd

To burn an image of a CD to the hd
dd if=/dev/hda of=namethecd.iso

To make a CD from the iso image
cdrecord -v -eject driveropts=burnfree dev=/dev/hda /path/to/file.iso

CDs

gzip < /dev/cdrom > cdrom.iso.gz
save copy of data cdrom

mkisofs -r dir | gzip > cdrom.iso.gz
create cdrom image from directory

mount -oloop cdrom.iso /mnt/dir
mount the cdrom image at /mnt/dir (for viewing/editing)

cdparanoia -B
rip audio tracks from CD to wav files in current dir

cdrecord dev=/dev/cdrom -audio *.wav
make audio CD from all wavs in current dir

oggenc --tracknum='track' track.cdda.wav -o 'track.ogg'
make ogg file from wav file

To burn an iso to DVD

growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/hd*=image.iso
/usr/bin/growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/hdb=slackware-current-install-dvd.iso

To copy from one drive to another:
(This will copy a VCD)
cdrdao copy --device /dev/hda --source-device /dev/hdc

To enable BurnProof when using cdrecord (Jörg Schilling turns it off in cdrecord):
You can enable it with driveropts=burnfree.
Another useful option is fs=<number>m, which sets the
buffer size to <number> megabytes.

I run 2 SATA hard drives, and these two IDE ATAPI burners.

rickh · 06-20-2006, 08:47 AM

Thanks for the effort that went into your reply, Chinaman. Since k3b was not reporting any errors during the write process, only when verifying the checksum, I thought I would use your terminal commands to see if errors would print out there.

First, tho, I elected to try a firmware upgrade as described here. My problem was actually solved based on a tip in the follow-up discussion. I had to turn off DMA on the cd-writer. Not sure if this is a Plextor specific problem or not, but it worked for me.

Now I need to figure out how to make "hdparm -d0 /dev/hdc" survive a Debian reboot. I suppose that should go in /usr/share/initscripts/default.rcS?

Bruce Hill · 06-20-2006, 09:09 AM

Very interesting reading. IMO, the simpliest and safest way to disable DMA for the drive would be in the kernel, since that's where it's initially enabled in the first place.

These are the options I'm using now:

Code:

bash-3.1$ cat kernel/linux-2.6.17/.config | grep -i dma
CONFIG_GENERIC_ISA_DMA=y
CONFIG_ISA_DMA_API=y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA_PCI=y
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA_FORCED is not set
CONFIG_IDEDMA_PCI_AUTO=y
# CONFIG_IDEDMA_ONLYDISK is not set
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA=y
# CONFIG_IDEDMA_IVB is not set
CONFIG_IDEDMA_AUTO=y
# CONFIG_SCSI_PDC_ADMA is not set

and in the kernel's configuration help:

Code:

Enable DMA only for disks (IDEDMA_ONLYDISK)

This is used if you know your ATAPI Devices are going to fail DMA
Transfers.

Perhaps if you recompile your kernel with that option, you'll avoid the DMA issues with this particular ATAPI device. You will have to enable "Use PCI DMA by default when available (IDEDMA_PCI_AUTO)" to get that option in the first place.

Perhaps someone more knowledgable than I will come along...

As for error messages, you can use the "-v" switch with most, if not all, of the commands I posted. Just issue "man <command>" and see what it says. K3B has a log which you can enable, and that will tell you probably all you need to know about what it did.

Sorry I can't tell you where to put that in Debian. I used it for a couple months when I first started with Linux, but don't remember their location. In Slackware you'd use /etc/rc.local -- should be well documented for Debian -- perhaps do a Google <Linux> search for 'Debian startup scripts' or something more intelligent.