[lug] API for cdrom low level reading

[D. Stimits]

I was toying with the idea of writing an app to do some significant 
testing of cd's, track by track, reading a single track at a time and 
doing things such as timing the read. This would not require the SCSI 
command set that sits on top of IDE for burning cd's. I'm trying to 
narrow down exactly what API I would use, and am wondering if anyone 
here knows if there is a linux API layer I could access without dealing 
with kernel modules directly, and which is independent of IDE/ATAPI-IDE 
in general? The idea being perhaps there is a virtual/logical layer on 
top of this that would let me just read tracks from a cd without tying 
it to specific protocols, i.e., some sort of abstraction that in turn 
has access to the specific device's IDE or other driver. Does anyone 
have a suggestion on the most "abstracted" API or API docs for doing 
lower level block and track reads on an unmounted cdrom (or mounted but 
ignoring filesystem)?

D. Stimits, stimits AT comcast DOT net