# Trhing to diagnose cause of CD-ROM drive

## LIsLinuxIsSogood

I am almost 100% confused with the hardware and why it doesn't work.  Yesterday I did something not so great to try and burn a DVD, I think that it was a "bad" license of a microsoft, and now my CD rom drive seems fried.

Here's what I'm getting anytime I try to load a disc:

```
mount: /mnt/cdrom: no medium found on /dev/sr0.

```

What I didn't see when looking it up on google was some way to diagnose if it is a hardware issue from within linux.  The BIOS on my machine is very limited, manufacturer locked, so I can't tell but another tell-tale sign is that even some UEFI bootable CD's won't load up at boot screen.

Should I remove the CD drive and work on fixing or replacing it with a new one?  Thanks!

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## NeddySeagoon

LIsLinuxIsSogood,

Using it won't damage it, even if you burn a copy of Windows  :)

As its a DVD drive, I guess it can also work with CDs.

To rule out issues with -R or -RW media, test with a couple of pressed CDs and a couple of pressed DVDs

Be aware that if you use CD Digital Audio CDs, you can't mount them. The player software controls the drive directly. 

For that to happen, you need to be in the cdrom group.

What do you see in dmesg after a failed mount?

CDs and DVDs use different lasers. So its possible for one laser to fail but not the other, then the drive only works for one media type.

WARNING!!

Optical drive lasers are not eyesafe.  The CD laser is infra red, so you certainly cannot see it.

The DVD laser is right at the red limit of human sight.

Either will damage your sight.

On no account operate the drive with any covers removed.

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## LIsLinuxIsSogood

 *Quote:*   

> As its a DVD drive, I guess it can also work with CDs. 
> 
> 

 

Neddy, thanks for suggesting but I don't see a difference either when using either, I've tried pressed and blank of both CD and DVD, along with CR-RW. It makes no difference whatsoever, and even my software that is meant for burning cd's (which is brasero) doesn't recognize the media either in the drive.  It could be a loose connection or else I am thinking the hardware is failed.  It happened right after I used it, which is why I sort of disagree with your statement that using it won't damage it.  As far as I can think of that is the most common way it would fail, given the many different moving parts there are when its in use and the likelihood is at that time for it to malfuntion or break is more likely than when I'm not using it.  Do you agree with that statement?

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## NeddySeagoon

LIsLinuxIsSogood,

Put a DVD in the drive.

Shut the system down and power off.

Wait a few seconds,

Reboot without opening the drive.

Is the media detected now?

Do not use blank media for this, you would need to try to write on it.

It could be the software that handles the media changed signal not doing its stuff.

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## LIsLinuxIsSogood

Should it matter if it is a DVD or CD that I put in there, I will wait to hear back before attempting but it would appear that maybe you are correct about some software aspect since I can also not get reading the same information off CD or DVD on both computers now, desktop and laptop and I had them working at some point that much I know.

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## LIsLinuxIsSogood

Ok, Neddy did it, here's what I got...

1) No immediate luck with recognizing the medium

2) However when I look through dmesg this is what I get...

[    1.866460]  sda: sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4

[    1.868338] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk

[    1.892414] sr 1:0:0:0: [sr0] scsi3-mmc drive: 24x/24x writer dvd-ram cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray

[    1.893948] cdrom: Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20

[    1.895629] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0

[    1.895797] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 5

[    1.897812] ALSA device list:

so what do you make of it, I  can't recall ever seeing the sg1 type 5 line in the past, but then again I was never looking for it there any ideas?  Could it be kernel related...I have to check but this could have all started following a change of kernel.  In the mean time I will try and load the old kernel if I have a copy.

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## LIsLinuxIsSogood

 *Quote:*   

> What do you see in dmesg after a failed mount? 
> 
> 

 

Nothing, but not sure if that is part of the problem or not.  What I will need to do is look around online and see what other linux tools there are to check on the status of the drive.

Might there be another way to the cdrom rather than through /dev/sr0 or /dev/cdrom, like maybe it got remapped, idk is that possible even

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## NeddySeagoon

LIsLinuxIsSogood,

You can try both a CD and a DVD.

/dev/sr0 is the block device for data transfer

/dev//sg1 is the character device for controlling the drive directly.

The kernel can see the drive.

When you put a disk is the drive and close it, there should be a few seconds of drive activity as the drive works out what it is.

Does that happen?

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## bunder

 *Quote:*   

> On no account operate the drive with any covers removed.

 

I used to do this all the time...  cleaning and adjusting PS2s can take an entire afternoon.  (Do not look into laser with remaining eye.   :Laughing:  )

 *Quote:*   

> To rule out issues with -R or -RW media, test with a couple of pressed CDs and a couple of pressed DVDs

 

My repertoire used to consist of a data CD, an audio CD, (burned -RW's, burned -ROMs), a silver DVD, a blue DVD, and a black DVD (and I guess burned DVD media here too of each type).  Each medium has their own quirks in terms of reading, and getting the laser just right takes "picking fly crap out of pepper" accuracy.

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## LIsLinuxIsSogood

sorry, but i don't have any flipping clue what you guys are telling me to do.  what's a ps2, is it a Sony gaming device, or something inside the CD Drive.  Sounds like maybe just replacing it would be a good idea, maybe, yes or no?

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## NeddySeagoon

LIsLinuxIsSogood,

bunder is reminiscing. A PS/2 was a whole computer system.

All that's left of it today is the vanishing PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports that almost nobody uses.

He has some valid points about different media, which I was going to skip.  Different media has different reflectivities.

What matters is the difference between a shiny bit and a dark bit because that's how the drive tells them apart.

Commercially mass produced disks are the best in this respects, so test with these.

Put a disk in the drive.  You should hear the drive spin up and some head movement when the drive registers the disk.

This is all controlled by the drive firmware.  If the drive has an active light, this should come on for a few seconds.

After that has happened, the drive signals the system that there has been a media change.

If there is no activity when you put a disk in the drive, its either power to the drive or the drive itself.

If the media changed signal is missing/not being seen, the system may work at power up only.

To test this, put a disk in the drive, shut the system down and turn it on again.

Repeat with a CD and DVD.

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## Tony0945

Let me interject a bit of software here, although your problem is probably hardware.

Do you have files /lib64/udev/rules.d/60-cdrom_id.rules and /lib64/udev/rules.d/75-cd-aliases-generator.rules  ?

If so, can you post them? They shouldn't be too big. Here's mine:

```

X3 ~ # cat /lib64/udev/rules.d/60-cdrom_id.rules

# do not edit this file, it will be overwritten on update

ACTION=="remove", GOTO="cdrom_end"

SUBSYSTEM!="block", GOTO="cdrom_end"

KERNEL!="sr[0-9]*|xvd*", GOTO="cdrom_end"

ENV{DEVTYPE}!="disk", GOTO="cdrom_end"

# unconditionally tag device as CDROM

KERNEL=="sr[0-9]*", ENV{ID_CDROM}="1"

# media eject button pressed

ENV{DISK_EJECT_REQUEST}=="?*", RUN+="cdrom_id --eject-media $devnode", GOTO="cdrom_end"

# import device and media properties and lock tray to

# enable the receiving of media eject button events

IMPORT{program}="cdrom_id --lock-media $devnode"

KERNEL=="sr0", SYMLINK+="cdrom", OPTIONS+="link_priority=-100"

LABEL="cdrom_end"

```

and 

```
X3 ~ # cat /lib64/udev/rules.d/75-cd-aliases-generator.rules

# these rules generate rules for the /dev/{cdrom,dvd,...} symlinks

# the "path" of usb/ieee1394 devices changes frequently, use "id"

ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="block", SUBSYSTEMS=="usb|ieee1394", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{GENERATED}!="?*", \

  PROGRAM="write_cd_rules by-id", SYMLINK+="%c", GOTO="persistent_cd_end"

ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{GENERATED}!="?*", PROGRAM="write_cd_rules", SYMLINK+="%c"

LABEL="persistent_cd_end
```

Also: 

```
X3 ~ # ls -l /dev/sr0

brw-rw---- 1 root cdrom 11, 0 Dec 26 14:57 /dev/sr0

```

This was just in case something funky got into your udev.

Can't help with brasero. I use Imgburn under Wine.

Sorry if this was a red herring.

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## LIsLinuxIsSogood

That's fine if it is a red herring, but also I understand the need to eliminate some other things from the table before determiing the hardware is 'lost"

As for the files, I will check what is there and post back.

As for the use of a specific CD, event though I mentioned that I was burning something (using the burner) just prior to that the last thing I did was to install some software from it.  I would think that the use again with the same CD that previously worked to install from CD would be enough to test functioning.  No?

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## LIsLinuxIsSogood

So only 1 of the 2 udev files exist (the first one). Here is it in its entirety...

```

Machine_West /home/jonathan # cat /lib64/udev/rules.d/60-cdrom_id.rules 

# do not edit this file, it will be overwritten on update

ACTION=="remove", GOTO="cdrom_end"

SUBSYSTEM!="block", GOTO="cdrom_end"

KERNEL!="sr[0-9]*|vdisk*|xvd*", GOTO="cdrom_end"

ENV{DEVTYPE}!="disk", GOTO="cdrom_end"

# unconditionally tag device as CDROM

KERNEL=="sr[0-9]*", ENV{ID_CDROM}="1"

# stop automatically any mount units bound to the device if the media eject

# button is pressed.

ENV{ID_CDROM}=="1", ENV{SYSTEMD_MOUNT_DEVICE_BOUND}="1"

# media eject button pressed

ENV{DISK_EJECT_REQUEST}=="?*", RUN+="cdrom_id --eject-media $devnode", GOTO="cdrom_end"

# import device and media properties and lock tray to

# enable the receiving of media eject button events

IMPORT{program}="cdrom_id --lock-media $devnode"

# ejecting a CD does not remove the device node, so mark the systemd device

# unit as inactive while there is no medium; this automatically cleans up of

# stale mounts after ejecting

ENV{DISK_MEDIA_CHANGE}=="?*", ENV{ID_CDROM_MEDIA}!="?*", ENV{SYSTEMD_READY}="0"

KERNEL=="sr0", SYMLINK+="cdrom", OPTIONS+="link_priority=-100"

LABEL="cdrom_end"
```

----------

## LIsLinuxIsSogood

```
Machine_West /home/jonathan # ls -l /dev/sr0

brw-rw----+ 1 root cdrom 11, 0 Dec 29 02:50 /dev/sr0

```

no problems here, I don't think unless the slight difference of the file access control list.  so thanks for reminding me of these checks, but the most confusing aspect is the "noise" test that was discussed, I think what happened very well could have been a failure of the DVD drive during burning due to the excessive jumping around and overuse of the motor that places the laser.  Right when the problems started it was making some noises that led me to cancel the burning (it kept saying something like Preparing the drive for burning).  As I mentioned it was a bad download maybe which I've since deleted.

Anyway, if the hardware isn't working fine, I'm inclined to do away with the use of it altogether, maybe not even replace it, and my notebook will then start tending towards the Mac, which I think had been without a cdrom drive for really many years now!  Thanks once more, and unless there is anything else to try I will mark this thread solved (with defective hardware as the problem source).

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## NeddySeagoon

LIsLinuxIsSogood,

There is one last test.  Can you try the drive in another system?

The simple answer is probably 'no' as it will have miniature IDE/SATA connectors that will require adaptors to fit a desktop.

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## Tony0945

```
brw-rw----+ 1 root cdrom 11, 0 Dec 29 02:50 /dev/sr0 
```

That "+" bothers me. I've never seen it and it isn't mentioned in "man ls".

They do die, but I've got a stack of IDE CDROM/DVDROM drives in the basement that work. Does a livecd or sysrescuecd recognize it?

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## NeddySeagoon

Tony0945,

 *google wrote:*   

> The "+" means that there are some ACLs applied to that files (or devices in your case)

 

That could be an issue if it wasn't deliberate.

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## Tony0945

Thanks, Neddy.  All my machines have general USE flag "-acl" so that's probably why I don't recognize it. For five years I've been the sole user of my computers so I have no need for access control lists or policykit. I log in as a regular user (part of wheel group, audio, video etc.) to do e-mail, web surf, play videos and the like. I log in as root to do system work. That's fine-grained enough for me. The fine-grained stuff is for business applications or households with small kids IMHO.

man page should be updated

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## NeddySeagoon

Tony0945,

I work much like you.  I don't use ACLs either.

----------

