bunch o'questions
 

Here's some more dumb questions so I can get my system going..

#1 I have a SanDisk ImageMate flash card reader-the systems sees it (it is USB and supposedly supported), but I don't know how to get to it and use it.

#2 I have a USB scanner that is supported (again supposedly), I can see it as well, but have no idea how to get to it. I have read the SANE docs from their site, but in this case, I am totally clueless.

#3 I have been trying to install additional packages off of my disks, and thought there was a quality issue with one of the disks because it wouldn't start when placed in cdrom. It worked fine at original install, so I wasn't sure what was going on. I emailed the vendor (mandrake) and they gave the return info, etc. I decided to check other disks for 'damages', and guess what? They are doing the same AND not wanting to eject from the cdrom drive-I have to reboot system to get them out!!

Any suggestions on any of the above is appreciated
:confused:

I am not an expert on USB, not a fan either, but regarding #3, have you tried to unmount cdrom first? the command is
umount /dev/cdrom (or whatever it is according to /etc/fstab file)
also eject command works as well
eject cdrom
If the above commands give you Permission denied warning, do it as root
become root with
/bin/su
You'll be promted to eneter password, eneter password for root account and perform aforementioned actions with umount and/or eject

#3 - You must also make sure that you're not trying to access anything that's on the CD at the time. For example, if you have Konqueror running, and you're viewing the files on the CD, you must first close Konqueror.

#1 / #2 - Presumably you've been to www.linux-usb.org. They're generally pretty good.

I had tried this already, but unfortunately it didn't work....

Re: bunch o'questions
 

#3
In Mandrake, don't you just run drakconf and use the software manager to install rpms? It will open the cdrom and ask you to put in the right cd.

To eject cd, have you tried 'eject' command in the console?

hope this will help...

Try this
 

log in a terminal as SU.
then type "chmod a+rwx /mnt/cdrom"
reboot and you should be able to handle your cdrom(s).
at least it worked for me.

I was using the rpms to load-my cdroms just die at that point and won't come out...




:newbie:

I dont know if u have tried this earlier but mount a good cdrom into the drive (by good i mean a cdrom that you are confident is reliable), and then try unmounting it. if that succeeds then it is ur cdrom disk that may be defective. otherwise it is something else

I thought of that, and when in Windows, it works fine....don't know if that means a whole lot, but some Linux stuff confuses me... :newbie:

no that does not mean a lot though. but it once happened to me that a cd was being refused by win98, but opened nice in linux. so it may also be the other way round sometimes i guess.

to me it seems that there is some h/w prob with the cdrom. get ur cdrom drive serviced. by the way there is another work around that works with my drive. if a cd does not run properly, take it out and wash it under clean flowing water. then dry it completely with a clean soft cloth. then try. it really works, serious

If you're happy with installing RPMS with something other than Software Manager, then you could copy the RPM files from the CD onto your harddrive under Windows. Boot back into Linux and install from the harddrive.

Also, here's a cheeky method for ensuring that Software Manager install OK from the CD - don't use it. If you have the original ISO files still on your harddisk (or on some computer magazine's cover DVD) then:

Open a console.
Run Software Manager.
When it asks for the CD in '/dev/cdrom', do the following:
mount /mnt/win_c/disk-1.iso -o loop /mnt/cdrom and click on the OK button.

I know it asks for the CD in /dev/cdrom, but it actually installs the files from /mnt/cdrom, so if you mount the ISO image in its place (/mnt/cdrom), then it won't know the difference.

Obviously you should change the /mnt/win_c/disk-1.iso part to suit. Oh, and when it asks for any other CDs (if it asks), just do the same, but remember to [/b]umount /mnt/cdrom[/b] first.