Ubuntu Studio install fails from DVD RW but drive seems to work otherwise.
 

I have attempted an install of Ubuntu Studio 9.10 from DVD without success several times. I downloaded the ISO, burned it to DVD and attempted the install. The install proceeds normally through partitioning the drive, but fails at installing base packages. I re-downloaded and reburned two more and also purchased an install DVD from a vendor, but with no change.
I downloaded, burned and installed Ubuntu 9.10 from CD and had no problems using the same drive. Also, the DVDs read OK when mounted when running the 9.10 install. I am at a loss as to why the drive works perfectly for CDs, can read the DVD but returns corrupt file messages during an install attempt. Any Ideas on why and how to proceed to troubleshoot this?
The drive is a Sony DVD RW DRU-820A.
glenn@XXX:/sbin$ lspci returns
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP Controller (rev 02)
00:06.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P Processor to I/O Memory Interface (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV5 [RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro] (rev 15)
02:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
02:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 04)
02:06.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! Game Port (rev 01)
Thanks.

You might have some corruption of the disc image or an error in the burn. Does the DVD have a "media check" option when you boot from it?

Thanks for the reply. Yes, there is an option to check the disk and I've done that with no errors found. I'm convinced that the problem lies with the drive (instead of the media) and I wonder if it is a BIOS issue? Here's why I wonder: The drive works fine for both DVD and CD playback and recording when used from within Debian Etch, but it won't read the DVD beyond the partitioning step in a new install. It works when it has the software provided by the distro, but not when it is is running from the incompletely install system.
It does fine when installing from a CD though. When I use it to read a DVD from an installed distro, it does take a few seconds longer to "find" a newly inserted DVD than a CD, but that isn't a problem for me.
Maybe I just need to buy another drive, but I was hoping there was a manual install step that would help me workaround the problem. Any ideas?

I suggest clean the lens for your optical drive and write to the disc at a low speed like 1X. Sure this will take longer, but the data will be more reliable. It is best to always verify the ISO file with a md5sum or sha1sum like utility.

If you are thinking of a replacement, buy either an ASUS or Plextor optical drive. Other brands have horrible reliability and they do not last as long. My ASUS E608 DVD drive is lasting close to 10 years and it is able to read DVD rewritable discs. ASUS and Plextor still has IDE optical drives.

Thank you. I did write the discs at low speed, but don't know how to use the two utilities you mentioned. But I'm sure I can find a HowTo for one of them. I have been looking for a new drive so your recommendations are especially helpful. I've looked at the HCLs but with relatively few drives with high success rates shown, the choice hasn't been clear. Do you presently use a Plextor drive and if so, what model number, please?

You could get the following and it should work fine with your hardware.

Plextor PX-870A (OEM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827249053

It does not come with all the crap that the manufacture provides. The software that the retail version comes with is for Windows, so the software is worthless in Linux. The OEM version saves you money.

It should work in Linux with out any problems.