Hi Guys

Red Hat Linux 9.0
Dell Optiplex GX1
Setup two CDROMS on secondary IDE channel
Master and slave
BIOS detects both OK
System log shows that hdd is recognised as a CDROM ok
hdc is not responding.
hdd is mountable and usable from Gnome.

Have checked cdroms :
One at a time as secondary master - both ok.
Swapped for other CDROMs - same problem
IDE cable is pass through. - Faultless.
CDROMS verified as Master and slave.
Yep! Even reversed master and slave.

Always hdc not responding. Never hdd.

Looks like a Red Had problem to me,
since I the system BIOS correctly detects both CDROMs.

Any ideas ?

Chris

Since you say your bios recognizes hdc fine, try to boot with it with an install cd, etc.

HI arrruken

You mean try a fresh install of Red Hat to see if the hardware detection
finds hdc and detects it ok ?

I was trying to avoid another install.
But Iĺl grab another HDD off the shelf and give it a go.

Ie run out of ideas.

Hang on a tick
Ive got a Mandrake Move (no install) CD distro

Iĺl give that a whirl and see if it decects hdc.

Chris

Well this gets stranger and stranger

This time I cabled up a Diamond Data 32x and a 36x
RH 9.0 found doth CDROMs ok.
But it thinks the 32x is a 27x.
I can live with that.
I can access a CD in both drives.

However, when I check the system log
There is a kernel message stating:
cdrom : THis disk doesnt have any tracks that I recognise!

Given that it appears to work. Should I be worried about the kernal message ?

Also

When I use that 27x as master alone.
The CDROM is recognised but the same kernel message is in the log ?

Maybe there is a problem with the no-name CDROM I was using
paired with the 32x yesterday.

Any help gratefully accepted.

Note: No CD in either CDROM drive on system startup.

Regards

Chris

I didnt mean reinstall, simply boot off the cd-rom in question to see if it would work before the os gets to it. As long as it worked, I really wouldnt worry about the error message. Sounds like that cdrom you were using was bad. Also, one stupid thing that I must ask since you have had problems with a couple of drives, have you tried using a different cable or does the cable you are using look to be in good shape?

Hi

Yep.

No. Its not a stupid question.
I checked the cable out visually.
Then substituted it on a machine with two hard drives. All ok.
Even replaced it with anoither known working spare cable.
Just to be paranoid !

All I can think of is that one of the CDROMs I tried in the first place
is possible a bit funny. But it works ok on its own though.

Is there any where I can look up the kernel message that the x32
CDROM generated on system startup ?

I wonder why it would identify the CDROM drive type ok but botch
the speed identification.

It reads data from a CD ok.
But Im still a bit curious.

Sounds like its a problem with the CDROMS rather than Linux
doesn't it.

Regards

Chris

PS Is there any third party application that you know of that I could run
to identify the CDROM type and speed. I would like to rule out a fault
with RHs distro source.

ttfn C

Hi

Followup :

I solved this ages ago.
I seem to remember that I tracked it down to the noname
CD-ROM being incompatible.

That CDROM worked on a number of other machines,
but not on the DELLs for some mysterious reason.
I have since seen a number of similar problems.

Regards

Chris