DVD problem - Semi-Solved.

[Nicolas Schweiger]

My DVD can't read or burn at more than 1x, I can't watch DVD movies because of the speed, when I burn a DVD it takes up to 45 minutes with an insane cpu load and I can't do anything else on the OS. I'm getting the same result with K3B, Nero or Brasero.

I'm using Ubutu 8.10 on Linux 2.6.27-11-generic #1 SMP Tue Jan 27 23:53:21 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux
It doesn't seems to be only a Ubuntu problem since i'm getting the same thing under Fedora 10 as well with a fresh vanilla compiled kernel and even with a 2.6.29-rc2 kernel. I've tried all the boot parameters options I could possibly find, I think this is a Kernel/Libata problem with my motherboard chipset but I can't find anyone who has exactly the same problem with the output im getting in dmesg. It can't be the DVD drive because it's new and it work well in my old P4. It's not my bios either because I have the latest version. I use AHCI mode in my bios and I tried IDE and RAID mode too.

Here is my hardware:

ASUS M2A-VM (690G chipset) motherboard
AMD X2 5000+ 64 processor
4GB DDR2 Corsair
ST3250310AS 250GB Seagate Hard-Drive
LG GH22 22x DVD drive burner
7300 GT BFG GeForce video card

Here is my dmesg output:

[ 1.931314] libata version 3.00 loaded.
[ 1.938035] pata_acpi 0000:00:14.1: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 2.697635] ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed irq 22
[ 2.697638] ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m1024@0xfe02f000 port 0xfe02f180 irq 22
[ 2.697641] ata3: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m1024@0xfe02f000 port 0xfe02f200 irq 22
[ 2.697644] ata4: SATA max UDMA/133 abar m1024@0xfe02f000 port 0xfe02f280 irq 22
[ 3.584021] ata1: softreset failed (device not ready)
[ 3.584025] ata1: failed due to HW bug, retry pmp=0
[ 3.748031] ata1: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[ 3.748595] ata1.00: ATA-7: ST3250310AS, 3.AAC, max UDMA/133
[ 3.748598] ata1.00: 488397168 sectors, multi 1: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32)
[ 3.748605] ata1.00: SB600 AHCI: limiting to 255 sectors per cmd
[ 3.749277] ata1.00: SB600 AHCI: limiting to 255 sectors per cmd
[ 3.749279] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
[ 4.084036] ata2: SATA link down (SStatus 0 SControl 300)
[ 4.420034] ata3: SATA link down (SStatus 0 SControl 300)
[ 4.756034] ata4: SATA link down (SStatus 0 SControl 300)
[ 5.153416] scsi4 : pata_atiixp
[ 5.154492] scsi5 : pata_atiixp
[ 5.155028] ata5: PATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0x1f0 ctl 0x3f6 bmdma 0xf900 irq 14
[ 5.155030] ata6: PATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0xf908 irq 15
[ 5.316545] ata5.00: ATAPI: HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GH22LP20, 1.01, max UDMA/66
[ 5.332472] ata5.00: configured for UDMA/66
[ 10.988044] ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[ 10.988051] ata5.00: cmd a0/01:00:00:60:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0 dma 96 in
[ 10.988056] ata5.00: status: { DRDY }
[ 10.988079] ata5: soft resetting link
[ 11.168474] ata5.00: configured for UDMA/66
[ 11.168484] ata5: EH complete
[ 16.668040] ata5.00: limiting speed to UDMA/44:PIO4
[ 16.668043] ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[ 16.668048] ata5.00: cmd a0/01:00:00:60:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0 dma 96 in
[ 16.668052] ata5.00: status: { DRDY }
[ 16.668074] ata5: soft resetting link
[ 16.848473] ata5.00: configured for UDMA/44
[ 16.848478] ata5: EH complete
[ 22.348048] ata5.00: limiting speed to UDMA/33:PIO4
[ 22.348052] ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[ 22.348058] ata5.00: cmd a0/01:00:00:60:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0 dma 96 in
[ 22.348062] ata5.00: status: { DRDY }
[ 22.348086] ata5: soft resetting link
[ 22.532475] ata5.00: configured for UDMA/33
[ 22.532486] ata5: EH complete
[ 28.032048] ata5.00: limiting speed to PIO4
[ 28.032052] ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[ 28.032058] ata5.00: cmd a0/01:00:00:60:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0 dma 96 in
[ 28.032062] ata5.00: status: { DRDY }
[ 28.032086] ata5: soft resetting link
[ 28.212474] ata5.00: configured for PIO4
[ 28.212491] ata5: EH complete
[ 28.212500] scsi scan: 96 byte inquiry failed. Consider BLIST_INQUIRY_36 for this device
[ 28.213097] scsi 4:0:0:0: CD-ROM HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22LP20 1.01 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[ 28.240084] scsi 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
[ 28.240152] scsi 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 5
[ 28.273528] usbcore: registered new interface driver hiddev
[ 28.276061] Driver 'sd' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
[ 28.276155] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 488397168 512-byte hardware sectors (250059 MB)
[ 28.276167] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[ 28.276169] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[ 28.276188] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 28.276240] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 488397168 512-byte hardware sectors (250059 MB)
[ 28.276249] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[ 28.276251] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[ 28.276268] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 28.276271] sda:<6>input: Logitech USB Receiver as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/input/input1
[ 28.280442] sda1 sda2 sda3
[ 28.280653] Driver 'sr' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
[ 28.292125] input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [Logitech USB Receiver] on usb-0000:00:13.0-1
[ 28.298576] Fixing up Logitech keyboard report descriptor
[ 28.299338] input: Logitech USB Receiver as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.1/input/input2
[ 28.306062] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
[ 28.316547] sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 48x/48x writer dvd-ram cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray
[ 28.316552] Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
[ 28.316645] sr 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0

Please if anyone can help me letting the right people know about this, please help! I don't wan't to go back to Windoze just because my DVD drive won't work well :|

[Amol Dandekar (amoldan)]

[ 5.316545] ata5.00: ATAPI: HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GH22LP20, 1.01, max UDMA/66

[ 28.032048] ata5.00: limiting speed to PIO4
[ 28.032052] ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[ 28.032058] ata5.00: cmd a0/01:00:00:60:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0 dma 96 in
[ 28.032062] ata5.00: status: { DRDY }
[ 28.032086] ata5: soft resetting link
[ 28.212474] ata5.00: configured for PIO4

I think your CD drive is not running with DMA mode enabled. It is running in PIO mode which is very slow. I think you should try to change the settings from your bios to enable DMA mode for your DVD drive.

Regards.

[Nicolas Schweiger (nschw)]

Everything is exactly how it should be in my BIOS. I know DMA is not enabled when i'm booting Linux but on Windows everything work fine so I persist to think that is a Kernel/Libata problem with the 690G AMD chipset. I've tried to enable DMA with hdparm and sdparm but it won't work either.

[Amol Dandekar (amoldan)]

Well I have the exact same motherboard and harddisk except a Samsund DVD writer and it works fine. I burned a DVD+RW at 4x speed. Anyways I will check and let you know if I find something.

Regards

[Nicolas Schweiger (nschw)]

I tried a different IDE cable but still same thing happening. My drive is a new one just bought it from the store few weeks ago so it might not be very well suported with the 690G chipset and libata else I don't understand why it just won't work... notice the Frozen message I get in dmesg there must be something buggy with the code...

[Nicolas Schweiger (nschw)]

[ 28.032052] ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[ 28.032058] ata5.00: cmd a0/01:00:00:60:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0 dma 96 in
...
[ 28.212500] scsi scan: 96 byte inquiry failed. Consider BLIST_INQUIRY_36 for this device

[Nicolas Schweiger (nschw)]

I must add that this drive was working perfectly with my old Asus P4P800-SE motherboard under Linux 32 bits, I was able to burn a DVD at 22x.

[Nicolas Schweiger (nschw)]

Well how stupid as it may seems, I've tried a third IDE cable and it actually worked. My brand new cable that was coming with my Asus m2a-vm motherboard was defect as well as the second one I've tried, very disappointing from Asus. Problem solved.

[Nicolas Schweiger (nschw)]

The strange thing is that it actually work with a 40 pin ATA cable for sure i'm getting the following message :

[ 4.908548] ata5.00: ATAPI: HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GH22LP20, 1.01, max UDMA/66
[ 4.908557] ata5.00: limited to UDMA/33 due to 40-wire cable
[ 4.924472] ata5.00: configured for UDMA/33

but if I put a brand new IDE 66/100 cable, im getting the error messages described above in my main post... Now I don't understand a thing about this.

[Salik Rafiq (chameeyass)]

Can I just add that I have the LG GH22LNP20 (IDE) and am having similar problems with the latest Ubuntu Kernel (8.10) and sometimes prevents the machine from booting. The message are idential to what Nicolas is receiving. I tried Ubuntu 8.04 but the drive could not be mounted at all. I haven't tried any new cables as I think the cables are good. The machine previously had a old Sony CD-ROM combo. I have to replace it as it knocked out.

Hope this ends up with a final fix for this in the kernel.

[Nicolas Schweiger (nschw)]

As a workaround Salik, I suggest you trying an old IDE cable 40 pin / ATA 33... It works for me but of course i'm not getting the full speed but still I can burn at 18x. Hope this help...

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Hi Nicolas,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/lucid.

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux 322847

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Incomplete and has not had any updated comments for quite some time. As a result this bug is being closed. Please reopen if this is still an issue in the current Ubuntu release http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . Also, please be sure to provide any requested information that may have been missing. To reopen the bug, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]