re: where is /var/log/syslog
 

Hello All:

I'm still looking for my device name for my cdrw, and a poster told me to look in:

/var/log/syslog to look for the device name.

I don't see such a file. Here is the info w/ the copied post + reply. My question is:

what is the equivalent file (/var/log/syslog) in rh (I'm using rh 7.3 w/ kde on the desktop). Please let me know:

Here is my etc/grub.conf relevant stuff:
...
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-3 ro root=/dev/hda2 hdc=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.18-3.img


Here is my etc/fstab:

LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults 1 1
LABEL=/boot /boot ext3 defaults 1 2
none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hda3 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,owner,kudzu 0 0

My problem is that I don't know what my cdrw is in /dev, so I cannot mount it.
It's ludicrous to have to wipe out a hdd and reinstall just so I can have a cdrw. I think it sucks, and certainly is a drawback for linux (hopefully newer versions have fixed this snafu).

Here is the reply:

The instruction in grub;
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.18-3 ro root=/dev/hda2 hdc=ide-scsi
is telling the system to use scsi emulation for the cdrw so hdc is no longer /dev/hdc but probably /dev/scd0.
If you check /var/log/syslog it will probably tell you what it device name it has allocated. You should then amend your fstab so that it mounts at boot time. Mine looks like this;
/dev/scd0 /cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0
and put a # next to /dev/cdrom

Please. If I don't solve this soon I'll be forced to reinstall, which is really crazy.

urgo_sum

try this as root to find your cdrw device.

cdrecord -scanbus

If your cdrw drive isn't found in that list you've got
some other problem.

These cd burning programs will set up your cdrw for automatically
arson
k3b

Most "snafus" in linux result because of a loose nut
between the chair and the keyboard. ;)

Here is the output from your suggestion:

Using libscg version 'schily-0.5'
scsibus0:
0,0,0 0) 'LG ' 'CD-RW CED-8080B ' '1.04' Removable CD-ROM
0,1,0 1) *
0,2,0 2) *
0,3,0 3) *
0,4,0 4) *
0,5,0 5) *
0,6,0 6) *
0,7,0 7) *

Let me reiterate: I don't know what it is (cdrw) in /dev.
There should be something within the distro to tell me what it is--some file or log. I don't think I should be adding stuff to something that's unresolved.

And I'll not get into the politics of one os vs another, but really, some os's find devices so much easier than this. It's mind boggling. Your snafu comment doesn't recognize my criticism, which was towards "ease of use".
I'm looking at a reinstall if I can't get this to work. Blame comes later. Let me get this to work first, then you'll hear/read my observations.

And back to my original question: is there something equivalent to /var/log/syslog in RH?
Is this a file I should have, or is it located somewhere else? I want to find the id of my cdrw. It's there. I know it's using scsi emulation. I need to know what its name is.

Please help!

ergo_sum

I just wanted to see if the device was recognized by the OS
and that you had correctly set up scsi emulation.

You have. So I will re-iterate that arson, and k3b and simplecdrx
will all automatically configure themselves to use that drive.

If you are having problems finding the device try
dmesg | grep -i -A 10 ide-cd

I believe rh ships w/ syslog but doesn't write to /var/log/syslog
but to a few other files.

try ps aux | grep syslog

if that shows syslog is running

lsof | grep syslog

will show you all of the files syslog is writing to


dmesg contians all of the kernel messages so that
may be what you're looking for.

Your 1st suggestion:

[root@localhost elsteamola]# dmesg | grep -i -A ide-cd
grep: ide-cd: invalid context length argument

ps aux | grep syslog got:
root 619 0.0 0.2 1428 560 ? S 17:25 0:00 syslogd -m 0
root 1418 0.0 0.2 1764 608 pts/1 S 17:34 0:00 grep syslog

which I believe means syslog is running--2 processes (I'm a newbie, so I'm not sure anything is what it seems (a true sceptic)).

lsof | grep syslog got me:
bash: lsof: command not found

Is there an equivalent command in RH? Should I go to another shell (I'll ask how later)?
I'm almost there I think,

Looking forward to your reply,

ergo_sum

"dmesg | grep -i -A ide-cd" is not the same command
the -A switch tells grep how many lines to print
grep got confused when you told it "I'm giving you a number"
and then you gave it ide-cd instead

lsof should be on your installation cdroms
I'm sorry I thought it installed by default.

In case it's not here's a link:
ftp://ftp.telus.net/pub/redhat/linux....51-2.i386.rpm

Thank you all for your replies.

My cdrw is scd0!! And I've successfully mounted it.

Now, how do I play music?

ergo_sum

a CD or mp3s Ogg Vorbis wav?

for a cd you need to make sure
that scd0 is world readable

ls -l /dev/scd0
-rw-r--r--
if your output doesn't look like that
chmod +r /dev/scd0
kscd or gtcd

or a similar program

for mp3s and ogg vorbis I reccomend xmms

I get:

brw------- 1 elsteamo disk

What's the 'b' about, burn?

ergo_sum

PS: it should be readable since I'm mounting it w/ iso9660- and the file sys should preclude or rather include readability. Shouldn't it?

ergo_sum

PSS: after 'mount' and 'eject' at the command line, and after putting a data cd on the tray, how do I close the tray.

What's the command.

ergo_sum

The b means it's a block device.
And Linux by default doesn't let
users have raw access to devices.
Linux tries to adhere to the principle of
least privilege.

Right now you can play CDs as root but
root is a bad person to be. You can destroy
your system easily. Try

chmod 644 /dev/scd0

This will inject(?) the tray but not all cdrom drives recognize this command
eject -t