[lug] tracking down DVD drive problems

[Lee Woodworth]

Michael J. Hammel wrote:
> Here's one for the hardware gurus.  I've got two DVD-R drives that
> appear to be causing errors:
> 
> Feb 10 17:08:30 feynman kernel: Buffer I/O error on device sr0, logical
> block 102703
> Feb 10 17:08:31 feynman kernel: sr 1:0:0:0: [sr0] Result:
> hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE,SUGGEST_OK
> Feb 10 17:08:31 feynman kernel: sr 1:0:0:0: [sr0] Sense Key : Medium
> Error [current]
> Feb 10 17:08:31 feynman kernel: sr 1:0:0:0: [sr0] Add. Sense: CIRC
> unrecovered error
> Feb 10 17:08:31 feynman kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev sr0, sector
> 410808

Are you sure it isn't media related? It is probably worthwhile to search
the list archives for cd/dvd media discussions. I've seen media cause
I/O errors, even multiple disks from the same package.


> 
> I've tried both drives on two different systems.  One worked okay on the
> first system for awhile, then started giving these errors.  Both worked
> okay on the second system at first, then started giving these errors.
> Both systems run the same kernel (2.6.23.14-64.fc7) and same distro
> (F7). I'm curious:  isn't this a 64 bit kernel?  I don't think the first
> of these systems is a 64 bit CPU though it appears the second one may
> be, and I know I wasn't running a 64-bit kernel on either system before
> the most recent yum update (are there any known issues with this
> kernel?):
> 
> System 1:
> mjhammel(tty1)$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
> processor       : 0
> vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
> cpu family      : 6
> model           : 8
> model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1800+
> stepping        : 1
> cpu MHz         : 1500.165
> cache size      : 256 KB
> fdiv_bug        : no
> hlt_bug         : no
> f00f_bug        : no
> coma_bug        : no
> fpu             : yes
> fpu_exception   : yes
> cpuid level     : 1
> wp              : yes
> flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca
> cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse syscall mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow up ts
> bogomips        : 3002.14
> clflush size    : 32
> 
> System 2:
> mjhammel(tty0)$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
> processor       : 0
> vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
> cpu family      : 15
> model           : 47
> model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+
> stepping        : 2
> cpu MHz         : 1000.000
> cache size      : 512 KB
> fdiv_bug        : no
> hlt_bug         : no
> f00f_bug        : no
> coma_bug        : no
> fpu             : yes
> fpu_exception   : yes
> cpuid level     : 1
> wp              : yes
> flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca
> cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt lm
> 3dnowext 3dnow up pni lahf_lm ts fid vid ttp tm stc
> bogomips        : 2010.48
> clflush size    : 64
> 
> Both systems IDE hard disks are working fine on the primary controller.
> Both DVD drives are being used to rip my collection of DVDs for use with
> MythTV.  Both DVD drives are pretty much cheapest-available at the time
> of purchase.  My DVD drive in my laptop seems to work fine with the same
> DVD disks.
> 
> I thought at first it was the IDE controller (Secondary controller on
> both systems) but it seems unlikely that IDE controllers on both boxes
> might have died at the same time.  Then again, one of the DVD drives is
> brand new.  It seems unlikely that both drives are dying now too.
> 
> I've done a bunch of trial and error tests and I'm not getting convinced
> one way or the other that the drives or the controllers are dying.  So
> I'm looking for suggestions on how to figure out what is working and
> what isn't with the fewest number of "crack the boxes open and move
> things around" options.  What is a good (cheap) way to test the IDE
> controllers in both boxes?  And how can I verify that the DVD drives are
> working or not?
> 
> I'm about to reboot into the previous kernel (2.6.23.1-21.fc7) to see if
> that helps, mostly cuz I haven't tried this yet and it doesn't require
> cracking the box open yet again.
> 
> 
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