[SOLVED] Ubuntu 10.4 PowerPC install, cdrom drive not recognized after flawless install

sdgalbo · 08-26-2011, 07:45 PM

Hi, I just updated my daughter's ibook G4 1.25 GHz with 1.25 Gb ram from Mac os X 3.9 to Ubuntu 10.4 PowerPc. Install went flawlessly and revolutionized her dated machine : ). It was only afterward when we tried to download a cd of photos that we noticed the cdrom drive did not respond or show up on the desktop. After looking on the web for answers and talking to a couple friends, I found that this has been an issue for several versions of Ubuntu PPC. However, I cannot seem to find a permanent fix. Ubuntu forums said a temporary workaround was to use terminal and enter: sudo udisks --poll-for-media /dev/hdc (which is my cdrom drive). That worked once. I ejected the disk and put it right back in. It was not recognized after the first time (though it spun up and spun down), even with the "poll" command. It is supposed to work until I change drives or reboot etc. That was not the case. Anyway, I am looking for a permanent fix to try and get Ubuntu to recognize the cdrom (which is a superdrive, btw.). Cannot seem to find an answer to this.

Thanks for your help,

sdgalbo

jdkaye · 08-28-2011, 04:55 AM

Does Ubuntu know there's a cdrom drive? Can you post the output of

Code:

sudo lshw |grep -a10 cdrom

If there's no output then it seems your hardware is not recognised.
ciao,
jdk

sdgalbo · 08-29-2011, 08:01 PM

Hi jdk,
Thanks for your response. Sorry to say that my daughter has taken her ibook ppc about 800 miles away. I cannot follow your advice. I guess I could walk her through it, but this is her very first Linux desktop and she has zero experience with terminal. I was looking for a solution so that when I go to visit her and her husband, I could perhaps, fix it. However, in response to your question: "Does Ubuntu know there's a cdrom drive?" No, that is the problem. It spins up and down, but does not appear on the desktop. Neither does it appear in the file manager. Using the terminal command: <sudo udisks --poll-for-media /dev/hdc>, I was able to get the cdrom to show up on the desktop "once." From the various forums I have looked at, it seems that this has been a known problem for quite some time. I am a bit puzzled as to why it has not been fixed or why a fix is not easy to come by. Any suggestions? sdgalbo

jdkaye · 08-30-2011, 12:05 AM

Ok, I guess she's out of luck then. I don't really understand what you're doing.

Quote:

It spins up and down, but does not appear on the desktop.

is hard to understand. You mean the CD drive makes noise? Are you sure the cd drive is /dev/hdc? That seems like a strange place for it. I'm used to /dev/sr0. I don't understand what "show up on the desktop" means or if it's important. I use my cd drive all the time and it never shows up on my desktop. Can you post a link to a forum that you think discusses the same problem?
ciao,
jdk

sdgalbo · 08-30-2011, 02:45 PM

Hi again Jdk,
Thanks for your patience. Sorry to be obscure.
"Show up on the desktop" means this: When I place a cd or DVD in the cdrom drive, an icon ought to appear on the desktop (mount) so I can play it, use a file manager on it etc. But the cdrom is not recognized (mounted), so no icon appears on the desktop. Here is a link describing the problem from Ubuntu Wiki. It is called: PowerPCKnownissues. I am referencing the part called, "Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Linux Cds / Dvds not recognized." Here is the link:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCKnown....04_Lucid_Lynx

Secondly, when I do place a cd in the drive, the computer does "in some way" recognize it, because it physically begins spinning the disk drive. However, after a bit, it spins down and stops. But, no icon appears on the desktop.

Thirdly, concerning the designation for the cdrom drive. The person who wrote the above article used <hdb> to represent his / her device. <hdb> did not work for me. After a little unintelligent consideration, I tried the next letter up... "c" i.e., </dev/hdc> When I issued the command <udisks --poll-for-media /dev/hdc> the icon did appear on the desktop, and I was able to look at the cdrom contents (which was a cd full of photos). Problem was, it only worked once. After pulling the cd out, any other cds placed into the drive were not recognized. I tried reissuing the above <poll> command, but no icon appeared on the desktop.

If I can clarify anything else, please, just ask. I can still fix my daughter's computer, but it will be the middle of September before I see her again. Thanks much, sdgalbo

jdkaye · 08-31-2011, 12:03 AM

Ok, I have a functioning cdrom with no problems at all. When I insert a disk nothing appears on the desktop. I get a notification that a medium is present in that drive from my Device Notifier but nothing stays on my desktop. Clearly a PowerPC works quite differently. Since I have never used one, I am the worst person to offer any advice on the subject. Maybe someone who has a functioning drive on a powerpc can chime in.
Sorry,
jdk

sdgalbo · 08-31-2011, 09:11 AM

Hey jdk,

It's an old machine with obsolete technology. I imagine not too many people are familiar with it nowadays. I appreciate your stopping by and giving me what you had. One more question. I was considering the nature of the temporary fix given in the Ubuntu forum i.e., the command: <udisks --poll-for-media /dev/hdc>. Could it be that there is a difference between recognizing the cdrom drive and recognizing that there is media IN the drive? The command "poll for media" seems to be saying the latter. Do you know of anything that can be done to make the operating system aware of whether or not there is a cd in the drive? If not, that's cool. Just an idea.

Thanks for trying,

sdgalbo

jdkaye · 08-31-2011, 11:00 AM

Yes, you're quite right. In my case the Device Notifier is aware that there's something in the CDrom. Not that it exists. Likewise when I plug something into a usb port the Device Notifier will tell me something is there as suggests things that I can do with it. As I mentioned before,

Code:

udisks --poll-for-media /dev/...

gives me absolutely no response.
Without a disk in the cdrom I get this

Code:

jdkaye@AttilaII:~$ udisks --poll-for-media /dev/sr0
jdkaye@AttilaII:~$

With a disk in the CDrom I get this:

Code:

jdkaye@AttilaII:~$udisks --poll-for-media /dev/sr0
jdkaye@AttilaII:~$

On the other hand
With the --show-info option
I get loads of info

Code:

jdkaye@AttilaII:~$ udisks --show-info /dev/sr0
Showing information for /org/freedesktop/UDisks/devices/sr0
  native-path:                 /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:11.0/host2/target2:0:0/2:0:0:0/block/sr0
  device:                      11:0
  device-file:                 /dev/sr0
    presentation:              /dev/sr0
    by-id:                     /dev/disk/by-id/ata-TSSTcorp_CDDVDW_SH-S223C_@U
    by-path:                   /dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:00:11.0-scsi-0:0:0:0
  detected at:                 sab 27 ago 2011 10:36:40 CEST
  system internal:             0
  removable:                   1
  has media:                   1 (detected at mer 31 ago 2011 17:47:20 CEST)
    detects change:            1
    detection by polling:      1
    detection inhibitable:     1
    detection inhibited:       0
  is read only:                0
  is mounted:                  0
  mount paths:             
  mounted by uid:              0
  presentation hide:           0
  presentation nopolicy:       0
  presentation name:           
  presentation icon:           
  automount hint:              
  size:                        4700372992
  block size:                  2048
  job underway:                no
  usage:                       filesystem
  type:                        iso9660
  version:                     Joliet\x20Extension
  uuid:                        
  label:                       Engrenages
  optical disc:
    blank:                     0
    appendable:                0
    closed:                    1
    num tracks:                1
    num audio tracks:          0
    num sessions:              1
  drive:
    vendor:                    TSSTcorp
    model:                     TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C
    revision:                  SB01
    serial:                    @U
    WWN:                       
    detachable:                0
    can spindown:              0
    rotational media:          Yes, unknown rate
    write-cache:               unknown
    ejectable:                 1
    adapter:                   /org/freedesktop/UDisks/adapters/0000_3a00_3a11_2e0
    ports:
      /org/freedesktop/UDisks/adapters/0000_3a00_3a11_2e0/host2
    similar devices:
    media:                     optical_dvd_plus_rw
      compat:                  optical_cd optical_cd_r optical_cd_rw optical_dvd optical_dvd_plus_r optical_dvd_plus_r_dl optical_dvd_plus_rw optical_dvd_r optical_dvd_ram optical_dvd_rw
    interface:                 scsi
    if speed:                  (unknown)
    ATA SMART:                 not available

I'm afraid that's the best I can do.
Sorry,
jdk

sdgalbo · 08-31-2011, 09:19 PM

Hey jdk,

Actually, what you said above is quite helpful. I think what you are saying is that your cdrom info is found in folder sr0. Correct? I have seen sr0 as the cdrom info location on several other posts as well. I do not know enough about the file structure of linux to understand why the ubuntu forums listed dev/hdb (= my hdc). Might be the powerpc configuration. Actually, I got the same response to <udisks --poll-for-media /dev/hdc> as you did. Nothing actually showed up on the command line, though the icon showed up on the desktop and I was then able to access it (but only once). That leads me to believe that "something" can trigger the operating system to "see" the cd. But I don't have a clue where to look.

I think I'll get my daughter on the phone and walk her through your <udisks --show-info /dev/sr0> on terminal. I can have her cut and paste it to me via email. It may take me a day or two though. She and her husband are moving into a new apartment tomorrow.

Question: How does linux "know" there is media in the drive? Do you know the mechanism? Also, could this be a driver or firmware problem? Is there a line in your above info that could give me a clue?

thanks again, sdgalbo

sdgalbo · 09-01-2011, 09:21 AM

Hey jdk,

I think a found a solution. It doesn't get to the heart of the problem, but it should fix it. Found a post last night that says the problem exists in gnome and xfce, but not kde.

Post says: "This problem disappeared on my G4 PPC iMac when I installed Kubuntu, and set KDE as my default window manager. Under KDE CDs and DVDs mount as they should in multimedia applications and they show in the file browser. However if I switch back to Gnome or Xfce the problem remains.
Cheers"

With this info, at least I can easily fix my daughter's old ibook. Thanks much for your time and energy, jdk. Much appreciated.

sdgalbo

jdkaye · 09-01-2011, 11:02 AM

I'm pleased to have been of service and well done you for having found the workaround. Please mark this thread as [solved] so that other may benefit from your work.
ciao,
jdk