I have Knoppix as a distro but I can't get K3B to recognize my cd burner. I tried to change my preferences in the appropriate files, but I can't save the changes.I tried K3B preferences, but that doesn't help either. Any suggestions?

Try running K3b as root once, then launch K3b setup from there. Or, change the "preferences in the appropriate files" after opening the text editor as root.

This may or may not solve the ultimate problem, but it should get you further along in the troubleshooting process.

Hope it helps.

that's just it, when I go into K3B setup, It clearly indicates my cd writer as the selcted writer for the program.But after setting up a burn session, the button that's on the template isn't highlighted so I can't click on it,therefore, I can't burn any cd's.I don't understand why k3b recognizes my writer's brand, yet won't allow me to burn anyting.

Possibly the burner is not desginated as read-write (CD-ROM drives are always read-only unless some form of scsi emulation is enabled by the kernel to allow it to be considered writeable)? What kernel are you using?

If a 2.4-series, do you pass the option hdc=ide-scsi in your bootloader? If a 2.6 series, do you have ide-cd enabled in the kernel, and/or passed as a boot option to the bootloader?

Is the user a member of whatever group is allowed to use such programs as cdrecord (often something like cdwriter or disk)? Does this work as root?

by the way, thanks for your replys. I really appreciate them.
I have a mitusmi cd burner that came with my tower.
Actually, I have cdrecord with my Knoppix distro but the cdrecord has a different brand of CD writer for it's default burner.It says YAMAHA as the brand,while mine is actually a Mitsumi brand.
I don't know how to change the settings for cdrecord's preferences to change it back to Mitsumi.I can access the text files, but I don't know how to establish root privleges in order to save my changes in thsoe files.Can I save the changes in these files via a terminal?
If so, what are the commands?

To enable root privileges in any terminal, do the following (this is the most useful command you will learn, pretty much ever, so pay attention )

Type su and hit Enter.

When prompted, type the root password (this will not be echoed to the screen in any way-- not even with stars-- so type carefully), and hit Enter.

If the password was correctly typed, the prompt should change from a "$" which indicates user access, to a "#" which indicates root access. All commands typed into this terminal window from this point on will be performed as if root had requested them (but only those commands typed into that terminal; commands executed via any other means will still be performed as the logged-in user). If this does not work (and you have correctly entered the root password), the problem is that the user is not a member of the wheel group; go to any user management tool you are familiar with and add the user to that group, then try again.

Don't close the terminal until you're finished your task, btw-- doing so will close the program you called from it as well.

The important thing here is that all commands typed into this terminal window from this point on will be performed as if root had requested them. So you can type name_of_text_editor &, or even name_of_text_editor <path_to_editable_by_root_only_text_file> & (the "&" on the end is to send the command to the background so you can type additional commands in the terminal window if you want), and the text editor (and file) will open with root access. So you can run anything as root-- file managers, text editors, anything-- from a terminal. This is why you should never have to log in as root as long as your user login is not broken. There are even helper programs (for example, kdesu and gnomesu) that will give you a GUI su prompt, so you can make panel shortcuts or menu entries to open specific programs with root privileges.

But for now su to root in a terminal, open a text editor, and edit your files; you should be able to save your changes now. Let us know if that solved the problem.

thanks again,
I did everything you told me to do, but when I write kwrite in the command line after I get the #, it says "cannot connect to x server".
it deosn't allow me acces to the kwrite file. But when I try to change the cdrecord preferences manually in kwrite itself, it says,"this file could not be copied please check if you have write permission."

OK... so what you're saying is you're unable to open kwrite in a root terminal.... so you then open kwrite as a user and try to edit the file?

That won't work, because only root can edit the file in question.

Cannot connect to X server.... are you doing this in Konsole, while logged into KDE (in which case X should be running already), or in a login console where X isn't running? You can't run KWrite without X (there are other text editors that you can run without X, but Kwrite isn't one of them).

Try:
1) Using the full path to kwrite in Konsole (use which kwrite to get the full path to the executable)

2) Going to the KDE main menu and drilling down through (I believe) the System Menu until you find "File Manager (Super User Mode), click that, enter your root password, browse to the file you're trying to edit, select it, right-click it, and choose "Open With.... (Kwrite, Koffice, Kate, whatever). This will open the file with root privileges for editing.

3) Using a different editor in Konsole, or on the true command line (no X). If you have GNOME installed, you can run gedit instead (if X is running), or if X is not running, you can try nano, pico, or vi. Nano and Pico may or may not be installed; Vi definitely is, but vi is rather difficult to use if you have no experience with it.

On the whole, you're better off using a GUI editor at your level of experience, so let's try to stick with that.

While you're surfing around on the command line, could you also do a uname -r and tell us what kernel you're running; a k3b --version and tell us what version of K3b you're running, and which bootmanager you use (LiLO or GRUB)?

Now that I think of it, iirc, Knoppix uses LiLO by default, so could you post the contents of /etc/lilo.conf?

correct, I'm using a Konsole terminal (in root) to try to change my cdrecord preferences which are written in kwrite.
I tried your option number 2 which worked just fine in getting it started.Howerver,after I gained root access in the approproate cdrecord file (written in kwrite),I typed in my cd burner brand which is a MITSUMI CR-48XT9. This was changed from the default brand which was simply "yamaha" in lowercase. (I'm wondering if there is a protocol for making changes in cdrecord) I went back to k3b, and ironically, it still didn't allow me to burn anything.
I typed the command "uname -r " and l got:2.4.21
When I typed your other comand, I got:
Qt: 3.1.1
KDE: 3.1.2
K3b: 0.8.1

You might want to read man cdrecord, but here's what seems relevant:
Near the beginning, it says:
Basically, something is being found, if a device name is being placed in the config file; I suspect changing the name from Yamaha to Mitsumi is irrelevant (it's more than possible that the Mitsumi is a rebranded Yamaha anyway).

So I ask again, is the CD-ROM being designated as read-write in the bootloader via scsi-emulation; what kernel are you using (type uname -r in a terminal to find out if you don't know); and which bootloader are you using?

when I typed in uname-r in a terminal I got 2.4.21
I'm not using a cd-rom only since it's a burner that worked fine when I was still using windows.I also don't understand why k3b is recognizing my burner's brand name but cdrecord is not.Also, when I was using my knoppix distro live cd,my k3b did actually burn cd's fine, but when I installed knoppix to my hard drive, it changed. What happened exactly?

this is the exact text for my cdrecord preferences file, anything wrong?

#ident @(#)cdrecord.dfl 1.4 02/07/07 Copyr 1998 J. Schilling
#
# This file is /etc/default/cdrecord
# It contains defaults that are used if no command line option
# or environment is present.
#
# The default device, if not specified elswhere
#
CDR_DEVICE=MITSUMI CR-48x9TE

#
# The default speed, if not specified elswhere
#
# Note that newer cdrecord versions do not default
# to speed=1. For MMC compliant drives, the default
# is to write at maximum speed, so it in general does
# not make sense to set up a default speed in /etc/default/cdrecord
#
#CDR_SPEED=40

#
# The default FIFO size if, not specified elswhere
#
CDR_FIFOSIZE=4m

#
# The following definitions allow abstract device names.
# They are used if the device name does not contain the
# the characters ',', ':', '/' and '@'
#
# Unless you have a good reason, use speed == -1 and let
# cdrecord use it's intercal drive specific defaults.
#
# drive name device speed fifosize driveropts
#
teac= 1,3,0 -1 -1 ""
panasonic= 1,4,0 -1 -1 ""
plextor= 1,4,0 -1 -1 ""
sanyo= 1,4,0 -1 -1 burnfree
yamaha= 1,5,0 -1 -1 ""
cdrom= 0,6,0 2 1m ""

Sorry, I should have said CD-RW. Obviously it's a burner, or we wouldn't be having trouble with a CD-burning program .

What may have happened is that Knoppix on the CD has set the cdrecord permissions correctly (or you're using it with some sort of root access) that is not copied correctly when you install it, or possibly that the Live CD enables scsi emulation by default, but the install does not.

K3b is nothing but a front-end to cdrecord, so I don't really think that k3b is getting it's information from some mystical knowledge of your CD-RW that cdrecord does not have.

I'm guessing that Knoppix uses LiLO as it's default bootloader; would you please look at (or post the contents of) /etc/lilo.conf, so we can see if hd*=ide-scsi is being passed to the bootup sequence? I'm going to hope that support for scsi emulation is in fact compiled into the kernel, but if necessary, we may have to confirm that as well.

That's a job for another day, though. For now, let's just see if the drive is considered writeable in the first place.

Yes, I would think there are a couple of things wrong with your config file... you said that previously under "device name" it said "yamaha"?

Well, if you look at the bottom of the file, you will see that there are settings for "yamaha" (as there are settings for "panasonic", "teac" and others).

I would presume that this means that several brands of CD-RW can fall under the "panasonic" class, for instance, and therefore would work properly using the "panasonic" settings outlined at the end of the file. A "teac" CD-RW would work with the "teac" settings.

The actual brand name of the CD-RW is, thus, not relevant. There are in fact only about 5 different types of CD-RW, and the various manufacturers buy or make one type, than brand it with their own name, whereas these classes mark significant differences in the type of drive itself (a TEAC drive is not the same as a Plextor drive, and although you may have bought an LG drive, the drive's innards conform to the Plextor standard, not the TEAC standard).

So please put "yamaha" back where it was. If it was detected as a yamaha class drive, then the likelihood is that it is one, and the phrase "MITSUMI CR-48x9TE" is meaningless to cdrecord.

K3b is a GUI program; cdrecord is not. So K3b probably has an additional field along the lines of "Display Name", gathered from the information that the drive sends when being probed, that is not used by cdrecord (as it does not need to display the make and model of the drive for its operation), but is used by K3b (because users that like a GUI like little touches like that). Which explains why K3b shows the correct make and model whereas cdrecord does not.

(this is answering both posts at the same time)
1.I re-typed "yahama" in lower case back where it was.
2. my contents of my lilo file are as follows:

# /etc/lilo.conf - See: `lilo(8)' and `lilo.conf(5)',
# --------------- `install-mbr(8)', `/usr/share/doc/lilo/',
# and `/usr/share/doc/mbr/'.

# +---------------------------------------------------------------+
# | !! Reminder !! |
# | |
# | Don't forget to run `lilo' after you make changes to this |
# | conffile, `/boot/bootmess.txt', or install a new kernel. The |
# | computer will most likely fail to boot if a kernel-image |
# | post-install script or you don't remember to run `lilo'. |
# | |
# +---------------------------------------------------------------+

# Support LBA for large hard disks.
#
lba32

# Overrides the default mapping between harddisk names and the BIOS'
# harddisk order. Use with caution.
#disk=/dev/hde
# bios=0x81

#disk=/dev/sda
# bios=0x80

# Specifies the boot device. This is where Lilo installs its boot
# block. It can be either a partition, or the raw device, in which
# case it installs in the MBR, and will overwrite the current MBR.
#
boot=/dev/hda

# Specifies the device that should be mounted as root. (`/')
#
root=/dev/hda3

# Enable map compaction:
# Tries to merge read requests for adjacent sectors into a single
# read request. This drastically reduces load time and keeps the
# map smaller. Using `compact' is especially recommended when
# booting from a floppy disk. It is disabled here by default
# because it doesn't always work.
#
# compact

# Installs the specified file as the new boot sector
# You have the choice between: bmp, compat, menu and text
# Look in /boot/ and in lilo.conf(5) manpage for details
#
install=/boot/boot-menu.b

# Specifies the location of the map file
#
map=/boot/map

# You can set a password here, and uncomment the `restricted' lines
# in the image definitions below to make it so that a password must
# be typed to boot anything but a default configuration. If a
# command line is given, other than one specified by an `append'
# statement in `lilo.conf', the password will be required, but a
# standard default boot will not require one.
#
# This will, for instance, prevent anyone with access to the
# console from booting with something like `Linux init=/bin/sh',
# and thus becoming `root' without proper authorization.
#
# Note that if you really need this type of security, you will
# likely also want to use `install-mbr' to reconfigure the MBR
# program, as well as set up your BIOS to disallow booting from
# removable disk or CD-ROM, then put a password on getting into the
# BIOS configuration as well. Please RTFM `install-mbr(8)'.
#
# password=tatercounter2000

# Specifies the number of deciseconds (0.1 seconds) LILO should
# wait before booting the first image.
#
delay=20

# You can put a customized boot message up if you like. If you use
# `prompt', and this computer may need to reboot unattended, you
# must specify a `timeout', or it will sit there forever waiting
# for a keypress. `single-key' goes with the `alias' lines in the
# `image' configurations below. eg: You can press `1' to boot
# `Linux', `2' to boot `LinuxOLD', if you uncomment the `alias'.
#
# message=/boot/bootmess.txt
# prompt
# single-key
# delay=100
# timeout=100

# Kernel command line options that apply to all installed images go
# here. See: The `boot-prompt-HOWO' and `kernel-parameters.txt' in
# the Linux kernel `Documentation' directory.
#
# append=""
append="hda=scsi hdb=scsi hdc=scsi hdd=scsi hde=scsi hdf=scsi hdg=scsi hdh=scsi noapic apm=power-off"

# Boot up Linux by default.
#
default=Linux

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.21
label=Linux
initrd=/boot/initrd.gz
read-only
# restricted
# alias=1

image=/vmlinuz.old
label=LinuxOLD
read-only
optional
# restricted
# alias=2

# If you have another OS on this machine to boot, you can uncomment the
# following lines, changing the device name on the `other' line to
# where your other OS' partition is.
#
# other=/dev/hda4
# label=HURD
# restricted
# alias=3