Very Computer

Hi there!

I have been encountering problems trying to burn CDs and
was wondering whether somebody out there could help me
with this?!

First my system configuration:

Gateway Solo 9100 Laptop, PII 266, 128 Mb RAM, 8 Gb HDD
Smart & Friendly SpeedRacer CD-RW 4x4x16 SCSI
SCSI Adaptor: Adaptec APA-1460 SlimSCSI PCMCIA card
I am running RedHat 5.2 (kernel 2.0.36...yes, I know I need
to upgrade, and in fact I plan to install 6.1 within the
next few days). I am using X-CD-Roast 0.96e to master data
CDs.

The problem:

well, the cardmgr installs the pcmcia modules fine at boot
time, and both the Adaptec 1460 card and the CD-RW are
recognized, only that the latter is recognized as a Yamaha
CD-RW 4416S. Here is the output of /proc/scsi/scsi :

Attached devices:
Host: scsi0 Channel: 00 Id: 06 Lun: 00
  Vendor: YAMAHA   Model: CRW4416S         Rev: 1.0f
  Type:   CD-ROM                           ANSI SCSI
revision: 02

Here is the output of /sbin/cardctl ident :

Socket 0:
  product info: "Adaptec, Inc.", "APA-1460 SCSI Host
Adapter", "Version 0.01"
  manfid: 0x012f, 0x0002
Socket 1:
  product info: "Gateway 2000", "XJ5560", "TelePath XJ5560
with x2, cell"
  manfid: 0x0102, 0x0034
  function: 2 (serial)

and the output of /sbin/cardctl config :

Socket 0:
  Vcc = 5.0, Vpp1 = 0.0, Vpp2 = 0.0
  Interface type is memory and I/O
  IRQ 3 is exclusive, level mode, enabled
  Function 0:
    Config register base = 0x2000
      Option = 0x49
    I/O window 1: 0x0340 to 0x035f, auto sized
Socket 1:
  Vcc = 5.0, Vpp1 = 0.0, Vpp2 = 0.0
  Interface type is memory and I/O
  IRQ 5 is exclusive, level mode, enabled
  Speaker output is enabled
  Function 0:
    Config register base = 0x0300
      Option = 0x62, status = 0x08
    I/O window 1: 0x03e8 to 0x03ef, 8 bit

Well, my problem is that although I have succesfully
mastered a number of CD-Rs and CD-RWs (the latter I have
been able to rewrite without a problem, by erasing them
first - using cdrecord - and then re-mastering them), I get
very unreliable behaviour. Sometimes the writing will fail
before completion or just give the message "write
succesfull" but completed in an absurdly short time (maybe
a minute or so for 400+ Mb worth of data). When using
CD-Rs, this means of course that I lost the media (just
tonight I wasted 5 CD-Rs!!).
If using CD-RWs I can erase the media and start the writing
all over again. Many times this works fine and I end up with
a perfectly written CD-RW. But again, this does not help me
when using CD-Rs!
The error message I keep getting in /var/log/messages  when
the wrtiting process fails is:

Dec 13 00:53:03 macondo kernel: scsi : aborting command due
to timeout : pid 229
7, scsi0, channel 0, id 6, lun 0 Write (10) 00 00 00 89 d0
00 00 10 00
Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: scsi : aborting command due
to timeout : pid 229
7, scsi0, channel 0, id 6, lun 0 Write (10) 00 00 00 89 d0
00 00 10 00
Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 2297)
timed out - resetti
ng
Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for
host 0 channel 0.
Dec 13 00:53:47 macondo kernel: aha152x: RESET IN

However, the system never hangs because of this. It is just
that the CD-burning fails..... still a mayor pain and waste
of money in CD-Rs!
Does anyone have an idea of what is going wrong here?

thanks in advance,

Cesar Briceno

P.S.: I should probably also add that in addition to my
CD-RW I have an UMAX
Astra 1220S SCSI flatbed scanner which I normally
daisy-chain with the CD-RW. Though I keep getting the same
write errors whether the scanner is attached or not. Of
course, I have checked that the SCSI bus is properly
terminated in either confirguration (CD-RW alone or with
scanner attached). The scanner works nicely with XSCANIMAGE
except I cannot scan at resolutions higher than 100 dpi
because the system hangs up and I need to do a full
reboot....though this may be an entirely different problem.

* Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping.  Smart is Beautiful

Linux scsi generic interface was not designed correctly.
It cannot return certain diagnostic messages from scsi
devices, thus for example, cdrecord might think all is well
but burns fail. Even 2.2 kernels have this bad implementation
of scsi generic interface. Go to the cdrecord homepage and
look for the scsi generic patch for the kernel. Apply it,
build a new kernel and compile the most recent cdrecord.
Thats how I solved my cd burning problems.

Michal

--
Michal Sabala aka Saahbs
 Linux'er since 0.97 :)
 UIUC Class of 2002; ECE
Linux, hardware, C, Java,
aviation, rc-air models

Cesar,
I can relate all-too-well with the problem that you're
experiencing and the lack of advice out there to address
the situation.
The problem that was causing these types of errors for me:

Quote:> Dec 13 00:53:03 macondo kernel: scsi : aborting command due
> to timeout : pid 229
> 7, scsi0, channel 0, id 6, lun 0 Write (10) 00 00 00 89 d0
> 00 00 10 00
> Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: scsi : aborting command due
> to timeout : pid 229
> 7, scsi0, channel 0, id 6, lun 0 Write (10) 00 00 00 89 d0
> 00 00 10 00
> Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 2297)
> timed out - resetti
> ng
> Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for
> host 0 channel 0.
> Dec 13 00:53:47 macondo kernel: aha152x: RESET IN

...was not the PCMCIA card, the device, nor the media, but
SCSI cable!  I had a Jaz Card whose cable was bad at the
device end (not at the card end, which is at far more risk
of being damaged).
Have you ever encountered these errors upon insertion of
the PCMCIA SCSI card?
I would suggest that you try another SCSI cable if possible,
or purchase another PCMCIA SCSI card/cable combination.  If
you're really brave, you might try copying a large file to/from
the CD-RW while "jiggling" the cable in multiple locations
while looking at the kernel logs using "tail -f
/var/log/messages".
On a somewhat humorous note:  As long as I had my Jaz drive
turned upside down things worked just fine!
-Regards
-Paul Gray

-remove "no_spam" to respond via e-mail

Quote:> Hi there!

> I have been encountering problems trying to burn CDs and
> was wondering whether somebody out there could help me
> with this?!

> First my system configuration:

> Gateway Solo 9100 Laptop, PII 266, 128 Mb RAM, 8 Gb HDD
> Smart & Friendly SpeedRacer CD-RW 4x4x16 SCSI
> SCSI Adaptor: Adaptec APA-1460 SlimSCSI PCMCIA card
> I am running RedHat 5.2 (kernel 2.0.36...yes, I know I need
> to upgrade, and in fact I plan to install 6.1 within the
> next few days). I am using X-CD-Roast 0.96e to master data
> CDs.

> The problem:

> well, the cardmgr installs the pcmcia modules fine at boot
> time, and both the Adaptec 1460 card and the CD-RW are
> recognized, only that the latter is recognized as a Yamaha
> CD-RW 4416S. Here is the output of /proc/scsi/scsi :

[ snip ]

> Dec 13 00:53:03 macondo kernel: scsi : aborting command due
> to timeout : pid 229
> 7, scsi0, channel 0, id 6, lun 0 Write (10) 00 00 00 89 d0
> 00 00 10 00
> Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: scsi : aborting command due
> to timeout : pid 229
> 7, scsi0, channel 0, id 6, lun 0 Write (10) 00 00 00 89 d0
> 00 00 10 00
> Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 2297)
> timed out - resetti
> ng
> Dec 13 00:53:45 macondo kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for
> host 0 channel 0.
> Dec 13 00:53:47 macondo kernel: aha152x: RESET IN

> * Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can

also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and
Shopping.  Smart is Beautiful

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