linux error: am I screwed??

[eXtremist]

After linux boots up, I can log in using X and use the computer perfectly.

However, when I go to console mode (by pressing ctrl-alt-F1) it's impossible to do anything because this error pops up:

ATAPI Device hdc:
Error: Not ready -- (sense key=0x02)
(reserved error code) -- (asc=0x3a, ascq=0x01)
The failed "Read Cd/Dvd Capacity" packet command was:
"25 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00"

The error just pops up on screen, with no prompt or pause. It happens about once a second, making any type of typing impossible.

I tried loading pico to see if I could get it to stop, but it just keeps popping up. Is it an error that maybe got directed to standard output? Is there a way that I can make it stop?

Maybe I should note that this didn't happen with RH6.2 (I'm not running RH7)

[nopun]

Well, I guess you don't need me to tell you that this a cd related problem.
Do you have any idea what is prompting the system to try to access this device? (eg have you set it up in your fstab file to mount at boot? Is there an x application trying to use it? What happens if you feed it a cd?)
You could try ctl-alt-f2 (or f3,f4 etc) in order to access a console session on a different tty - but this problem still needs resolving (it is probably creating a BIG log file)

[eXtremist]

Well, there is an entry for the CDROM in /etc/fstab .. perhaps that's the cause..

If I put a CD in the drive the error stops. I did a search on www.google.com/linux (http://www.google.com/linux) and found a bunch of crap, none of which really helped me. The closest thing to help I found was some guy replying to a message saying that its an IRQ reset issue. beats me.. He said to "add something like append="hdc=noreset" to lilo.conf".

This brings up a second question: if there's two things I want to 'append' how would I do it. To get my CDROM burning, I need scsi emulation, which needs to be 'appended' also. Would I use two lines:
append="hdc=ide-scsi"
append="hdc=noreset"

or would I write them all on one line:
append="hdc=ide-scsi hdc=noreset"

Oh, and just to mention, I HAVEN'T added the scsi emulation to the CDROM yet, so that's not causing the problems.. I have to do that later..after I get this problem sorted out.

EDIT::I forgot to mention that the error happens on every tty (F1 through F6) but not when I run a console through X.
If I remove the cdrom entry from /etc/fstab will this stop the error?

[ 13 March 2001: Message edited by: eXtremist ]

[nopun]

As long as the cd entry has "noauto" in the 4th column entry of /etc/fstab it should be ok (ie linux should not attempt to mount it during boot)
I think both syntaxes that you give for append will work (without going to the trouble of trying it myself - it shouldn't break anything, but as always, have a boot disk handy)
I guess that was a bit optimistic of me to think that the error messages would not appear on all console ttys :o

[eXtremist]

WELL, the 4th column in fstab IS noauto, so I guess that rules out that.. :(

I've searched on the 'net and it seems like this is a BIG problem.. a few messages I've read say it's a scsi emulation problem, but I haven't added scsi emulation yet. This problem is happening with a fresh redhat install.

Does anybody know how I can fix this, or where I can find info on how to fix this? All the search results I come up with point me to messages written by people with this problem, none of which have solutions. Being new to linux I don't even know where to look when a problem arises. One thing I know, though, this problem isn't just limited to me. There are a lot of people having the same problem.

linux is good and all, but is it really worth all the f**king around you have to do to get everything working? I think it is geared towards people who have nothing better to do than sit down and troubleshoot. Granted, you can't beat it's server capabilities, but as a desktop OS I think it's lacking. I mean, no matter what you want to do, you have to get on the net and spend an hour trying to find out how to do it -- if you're lucky enough to find a solution.

okay.. sorry about that, but I just had to get my frustrations out.. I had such high hopes when I first popped that install cd in the drive..hopes that have been crushed by constant errors.
It's wouldn't even bother me if I could fix it, but it seems like no one knows what to do..

It's also pretty annoying that my log file is taking up more disk space than the actual redhat iso!
Is there any way I can redirect these errors to NULL, because right now, they are of no use to me.

[bdg1983]

Try what was suggested... append="hdc=ide-scsi hdc=noreset" and rerun lilo for the changes to take effect.

[Big_daddy]

linux is good and all, but is it really worth all the f**king around you have to do to get everything working? I think it is geared towards people who have nothing better to do than sit down and troubleshoot.
------------------------

Speak for yourself. I've never had a problem with Linux. Have you tried a new distro like Mandrake?

[mangeli]

Either that or replace the drive with a cheaper one that will work in the mean time. I found that the easiest thing to do is to just leave a music cd in there when i boot. Then I don't get any errors and it recognizes the drive right away.

[eXtremist]

thanks mangeli.. guess that's the only solution right now.. uGh..

[jbstew32]

You know I got that same error message after I started playing DVD's...after I played the MAtrix as a normal user, I kept getting that weird message when I logged back in...actually it was very annoying and kept repeating itself on all of my console :mad:
I removed the DVD and got a different error, so I though to hell with it. I think it was because previously Xine had crashed and I xkilled it (but the pids were still there and wouldnt die) and that caused the problem. I rebooted and everything was fine (I didnt need to reboot but I forgot the damn command to switch runlevels on the fly)

This is probably not your problem, but it may be...if it is, your drive isnt broken :)

[eXtremist]

Okay guys..just to finish this thread:

It seems like this problem only happens with certian IDE CD-Rs and DVDs. I haven't seen any examples of it happening to a non recording CDROM. Anyhow, there IS a fix, but it involves changing the linux kernel code and recompiling..a huge hassle. A few people have suggested that it is caused by gnome's CD Autorun (or automounter) software. I'm not completely sure if this is true, because I didn't test it. It is possible to disable this feature, but it is a user specific setting. This means that each user of the system would have to disable it to stop the error. Another big hassle. Someone suggested just popping a CD in the drive and leaving it there, which works. But I found another solution.. Having a CD-R, I needed to install SCSI emulation to get it working. I did that last night, and all my errors have stopped! A side effect of using SCSI emulation is that my CDs don't auto-mount anymore, but that doesn't really bother me. I should note that if I mount a CD, and then remove it from the drive I get a different error, but that can be remedied by unmounting the CDROM.

If anyone else is having this problem, there is no absolute fix yet. The kernel is being patched so future releases will not include this bug, but for now we just have to live with it.
If you want to add SCSI emulation, there's an excellent NHF here.. Check it out.