feisty doesn't work with external CD writers anymore

[Wenzhuo Zhang]

Binary package hint: nautilus-cd-burner

It seems that feisty doesn't work with external CD writers anymore. I have tried two external USB CD writers: 1. TEAC DW-224E-B 1.6A; 2. Samsung CD-RW/DVD Drive SM-348 + USB -> IDE adapter. Those same CD writers work well with dapper and edgy.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Insert a blank CD-R or a CD-RW into the external cd writer.
2. Right click on a ISO image, and then click "Write to disc...". Click OK.
3. A window pops up immediately, asking me to insert a blank disc. See attached screenshot.
4. If I click OK, the same window will pop up again...

Update: If the internal (IDE) CDROM drive is not present, Hardy can successfully burn CDs using external CD writers. - I find this on my ThinkPad X32, which doesn't have an internal CD drive itself, but is docked in a docking station with an ThinkPad Ultrabay (a swappable drive slot). I can insert either a floppy drive or a CD drive into the Ultrabay slot. When the floppy drive is in the Ultrabay instead of the IDE CD drive, I can burn CDs using external USB CD writers in Feisty or Dapper without any problems.

cdrecord(wodim) commandline also fails to work with external CD writers. See the following command outputs.

Cdrecord fails to blank a CD-RW:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wenzhuo@thinkpad:~/feisty$ sudo cdrecord dev=9,0,0 blank=fast
Device type : Removable CD-ROM
Version : 0
Response Format: 2
Capabilities :
Vendor_info : 'TEAC '
Identification : 'DW-224E-B '
Revision : '1.6A'
Device seems to be: Generic mmc2 DVD-ROM.
Using generic SCSI-3/mmc CD-R/CD-RW driver (mmc_cdr).
Driver flags : MMC-2 SWABAUDIO BURNFREE
Supported modes: TAO PACKET SAO SAO/R96P SAO/R96R
Speed set to 4234 KB/s
Starting to write CD/DVD at speed 24.0 in real BLANK mode for single session.
Last chance to quit, starting real write 0 seconds. Operation starts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It exits as soon as the blanking operation starts.

Cdrecord fails to write to a CD-RW.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wenzhuo@thinkpad:~/feisty$ sudo cdrecord dev=9,0,0 ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
wodim: No write mode specified.
wodim: Asuming -tao mode.
wodim: Future versions of wodim may have different drive dependent defaults.
Device type : Removable CD-ROM
Version : 0
Response Format: 2
Capabilities :
Vendor_info : 'TEAC '
Identification : 'DW-224E-B '
Revision : '1.6A'
Device seems to be: Generic mmc2 DVD-ROM.
Using generic SCSI-3/mmc CD-R/CD-RW driver (mmc_cdr).
Driver flags : MMC-2 SWABAUDIO BURNFREE
Supported modes: TAO PACKET SAO SAO/R96P SAO/R96R
Speed set to 4234 KB/s
Starting to write CD/DVD at speed 24.0 in real TAO mode for single session.
Last chance to quit, starting real write 0 seconds. Operation starts.
Errno: 12 (Cannot allocate memory), write_g1 scsi sendcmd: no error
CDB: 2A 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1F 00
status: 0x0 (GOOD STATUS)
cmd finished after 0.000s timeout 40s
write track data: error after 0 bytes
wodim: A write error occured.
wodim: Please properly read the error message above.
Errno: 5 (Input/output error), close track/session scsi sendcmd: no error
CDB: 5B 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
status: 0x2 (CHECK CONDITION)
Sense Bytes: 70 00 05 00 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 00 72 04 00 00
Sense Key: 0x5 Illegal Request, Segment 0
Sense Code: 0x72 Qual 0x04 (empty or partially written reserved track) Fru 0x0
Sense flags: Blk 0 (not valid)
cmd finished after 0.001s timeout 480s
cmd finished after 0.001s timeout 480s
wodim: Cannot fixate disk.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

cdrecord fails to write to a blank CD-R:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wenzhuo@thinkpad:~/feisty$ sudo cdrecord dev=9,0,0 ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
Password:
wodim: No write mode specified.
wodim: Asuming -tao mode.
wodim: Future versions of wodim may have different drive dependent defaults.
Device type : Removable CD-ROM
Version : 0
Response Format: 2
Capabilities :
Vendor_info : 'TEAC '
Identification : 'DW-224E-B '
Revision : '1.6A'
Device seems to be: Generic mmc2 DVD-ROM.
Using generic SCSI-3/mmc CD-R/CD-RW driver (mmc_cdr).
Driver flags : MMC-2 SWABAUDIO BURNFREE
Supported modes: TAO PACKET SAO SAO/R96P SAO/R96R
Speed set to 4234 KB/s
Starting to write CD/DVD at speed 24.0 in real TAO mode for single session.
Last chance to quit, starting real write 0 seconds. Operation starts.
Errno: 12 (Cannot allocate memory), write_g1 scsi sendcmd: no error
CDB: 2A 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1F 00
status: 0x0 (GOOD STATUS)
cmd finished after 0.000s timeout 40s
write track data: error after 0 bytes
wodim: A write error occured.
wodim: Please properly read the error message above.
Errno: 5 (Input/output error), close track/session scsi sendcmd: no error
CDB: 5B 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
status: 0x2 (CHECK CONDITION)
Sense Bytes: 70 00 05 00 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 00 72 04 00 00
Sense Key: 0x5 Illegal Request, Segment 0
Sense Code: 0x72 Qual 0x04 (empty or partially written reserved track) Fru 0x0
Sense flags: Blk 0 (not valid)
cmd finished after 0.001s timeout 480s
cmd finished after 0.001s timeout 480s
wodim: Cannot fixate disk.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

looks like a linux bug

[Tiede (marcarthur)]

I am afraid I am having the same problem with a Sony Spressa USB CD-R/CD-RW drive. I get the exact same output as above.
I remember being able to record with this drive on ubuntu for as long as I can remember (breezy maybe? or maybe even hoary...)
Also, since I have to disk drives (the previously described CDR/RW and a CDRom drive), I tried putting one of my ubuntu cds in the drives to see what happens. The CD mounts in the CDRom drive, but fails to do so in the external drive. I don't know if that is also happening to Wenzhuo Zhang, since he did not say...

BTW,What do you mean when you say it's a linux bug, Sebastien?
If I load one of my previous kernels with grub (say, one that was with edgy), will it work - I know the dangers of working with old kernels, but I NEED this to work...

[Tiede (marcarthur)]

Sorry, upon further verification, my output differs slightly from Zhang's... Here is the exact output from running cdrecord:

---------CD Record Output ------------------------------------------------
tiede@ubuntubox:~$ sudo cdrecord dev=9,0,0 /home/bling/Desktop/ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
Password:
wodim: No write mode specified.
wodim: Asuming -tao mode.
wodim: Future versions of wodim may have different drive dependent defaults.
wodim: No such file or directory.
Cannot open SCSI driver!
For possible targets try 'wodim --devices' or 'wodim -scanbus'.
For possible transport specifiers try 'wodim dev=help'.
For IDE/ATAPI devices configuration, see the file README.ATAPI.setup from
the wodim documentation.
bling@edubox:~$ wodim --devices
Beginning native device scan. This may take a while if devices are busy...
wodim: Warning: controller returns wrong size for CD capabilities page.
wodim: Overview of accessible drives (2 found) :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0 dev='/dev/sr0' rwrw-- : 'SONY' 'CD-RW CRX100E'
1 dev='/dev/sr1' rwrw-- : 'SAMSUNG' 'CD-ROM SN-124'
----------------------------------------------------------------------
bling@edubox:~$ sudo cdrecord dev='/dev/sr0' /home/bling/Desktop/ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
wodim: No write mode specified.
wodim: Asuming -tao mode.
wodim: Future versions of wodim may have different drive dependent defaults.
Device type : Removable CD-ROM
Version : 2
Response Format: 1
Vendor_info : 'SONY '
Identification : 'CD-RW CRX100E '
Revision : '1.0m'
Device seems to be: Generic mmc CD-RW.
Using generic SCSI-3/mmc CD-R/CD-RW driver (mmc_cdr).
Driver flags : MMC SWABAUDIO
Supported modes: TAO PACKET SAO
wodim: Cannot load media.
tiede@ubuntubox:~$
-------End of output ---------------------------------------------

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Tiede wrote:
> I am afraid I am having the same problem with a Sony Spressa USB CD-R/CD-RW drive. I get the exact same output as above.
> I remember being able to record with this drive on ubuntu for as long as I can remember (breezy maybe? or maybe even hoary...)
> Also, since I have to disk drives (the previously described CDR/RW and a CDRom drive), I tried putting one of my ubuntu cds in the drives to see what happens. The CD mounts in the CDRom drive, but fails to do so in the external drive. I don't know if that is also happening to Wenzhuo Zhang, since he did not say...

Mounting and reading CD-Rs work well with my external Combo drives.

[Paul Bartell (paul-bartell)]

I saw an old bug in breeze about this same type of problem, It seems that sata drives had something to do with it? https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/k3b/+bug/25380 . It seems like a cdrecord/wodim i tried the same burner with fiesty on a computer with a pata drive, and it worked great.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

bug fixed in 2.6.20-16.28. Clearly, it is caused by libata.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

2.6.20-16.29 reintroduced the bug.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Ubuntu should be more cautious in choosing between libata and the gold old ide drivers.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Workaround:

1. Add the following to /etc/initramfs-tools/modules

piix
ide-disk
ide-cd
ide-generic

2. "update-initramfs -u" as root

3. Reboot.

Can someone please confirm the bug?

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M6 LY
02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev aa)
02:00.1 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev aa)
02:00.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 02)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82540EP Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Mobile) (rev 03)
02:02.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection (rev 05)

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

(libata switching is discussed in Bug #117314 and Bug #116996)

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

(Sounds a lot like Bug #94119)

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Considering that SATA isn't available on ICH4, and libata is problematic with usb-storage, please revert to piix for ICH4 variants. PCI_DEVICE_ID_INTEL_82801DB_10 (0x24ca) is handled by piix in the vanilla kernel.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

piix has been handling ICH4 very well for years. no need to switch to ata_piix, absolutely.

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

Wenzhuo:
It does look like a move to libata is ultimately on the cards. See http://lwn.net/Articles/198344/ and http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_19#head-cdcbaa9c1b476decdc064e0a75d23d1328b1ddce for reasons why the change is happening...

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Quoting Sitsofe Wheeler <email address hidden>:

> Wenzhuo:
> It does look like a move to libata is ultimately on the cards. See
> http://lwn.net/Articles/198344/ and
> http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_19#head-cdcbaa9c1b476decdc064e0a75d23d1328b1ddce for reasons why the change is
> happening...

For such critical devices, Linux distributions should opt for the
safer choice. It cannot be wrong to stay a little behind the vanilla
kernel. If a new libata-based PATA driver has a bug that annoys users,
and a fix isn't available yet, just revert to its old PATA counterpart.

The libata-based PATA drivers are still in experimental status. Ubuntu
is too brave this time.

NASA is still using 8086, isn't it?

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

Wenzhuo:
Ah the NASA card : ) How long do you want to wait for support for "new" features for? I mean what do you need more than 128Kbytes RAM if NASA can fly to the moon on that... You don't _really_ need to use the internet do you - a space shuttle doesn't... ;)

On a more serious (but still unhelpful) note this is the way Linux has always worked (and bizarrely WHY it works). It's painful if you're the one whose hardware hasn't been tested (I always say Linux works best for those who test it and are involved the most...) but it's the reason why the community is vibrant. It's also the reason that Red Hat gets to charge big bucks for slow moving distributions like RHEL and why Ubuntu only offers long term support on only a few releases. The moment you say "I'm not going to follow the upstream package" the maintenance problems start growing. Eventually they become absolutely massive as you start having to backport things like security fixes across interfaces that have changed.

The libata issue has two sides to it too. There is some unknown subset of people whose IDE controllers don't work (or have problems) with the libata driver. However there is ANOTHER unknown subset of people with _similar controllers_ whose hardware doesn't work with the old PATA drivers. Because it is unclear which controllers fall into which category every change (either to or away from libata) is greeted with complaints from people whose hardware doesn't work. Until the subsets can be accurately identified the complaints will only continue - there's no one size fits all. My hope is that the problems that libata causes are finally identified and fixed and then everyone can use it but I think we are at least a year off that.

[Nicholas Allen (nick-allen)]

I tried the workaround suggested by Wenzhuo Zhang but it made no difference for me. This bug is really annoying - especially as it is a regression. I can't get any external DVD writer to work with Linux anymore but they all used to work so it is quite a serious issue I think. I'm happy to help track down the problem if needed. I can reproduce it every time.

[Nicholas Allen (nick-allen)]

Forgot to mention my kernel version is:

 Linux version 2.6.20-16-generic (root@terranova) (gcc version 4.1.2 (Ubuntu 4.1.2-0ubuntu4)) #2 SMP Fri Aug 31 00:55:27 UTC 2007
.

[Sander van Grieken (sander-vangrieken)]

I can confirm that the workaround from Wenzhuo Zhang solves my problem with burning.

However, the problem manifested itself in a different way.

I have an internal PHILIPS DVD+/-RW SDVD8441 dvd writer device, and the chipset is ICH6 (also using (ata_)piix driver). Burning a CD does not immediately fail, but it usually fails after 100-200MB of data is written.

I had no problems adding the old ATA drivers to the initial ramdisk, but people should check that grub (root=UUID=...) and /etc/fstab use UUIDs for identifying the filesystems, otherwise this operation could render the system unbootable.

[miloc (mlcdos)]

Sander i am using ubuntu 7.10 and i have the same problem with mi cdrw, because i have the same as you, so i would like to know how can a ad the ata drivers to the ramdisk.

thanks

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

See comment #10

[miloc (mlcdos)]

Wenzhuo now mi cd works but i have and other problem with de DMA, that is because after i do the instruction of the comment #10, the DMA is turn off
miloc@ubuntu:/etc$ hdparm /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
 IO_support = 0 (default 16-bit)
 unmaskirq = 0 (off)
 using_dma = 0 (off)
 keepsettings = 0 (off)
 readonly = 0 (off)
 readahead = 256 (on)
 HDIO_GETGEO failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device

so i try to ways to enable.
1.- miloc@ubuntu:/etc$ sudo hdparm -d 1 /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
 setting using_dma to 1 (on)
 HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted
 using_dma = 0 (off)

2.- i try to modify the miloc@ubuntu:/etc$ sudo gedit /etc/hdparm.conf and dont works

How can i fix this problem.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Perhaps your motherboard is not Intel so that you should replace "piix" with a module name that corresponds to your IDE chipset.

The hdparm error message "HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted" means DMA is not supported. Editing hdparm.conf won't work even if you have a symlink in /etc/rc.S that points to /etc/init.d/hdparm.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

I am assigning this bug to the 'ubuntu-kernel-team' per their bug policy. For future reference you can learn more about their bug policy at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies .

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Now that Gutsy does't include piix anymore, I couldn't get external USB CD/DVD writers to work with Gutsy properly any more.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Well, I take back comment #26. The workaround still works. However, piix being missing, DMA cannot not enabled for /dev/hda, which makes the computer rather slow, as if a three year old Pentium M 1.6G laptop became an antique Pentium III 800Mhz machine. Attaching dmesg log with ide modules loaded by initramfs.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Just upgraded to Hardy beta. This bug still exists. If the piix module does not conflict with anything, I propose retaining it until this bug gets fixed, so that users can still use their external CD/DVD writers in Ubuntu while not sacrificing hard drive performance.

[Matthew Garrett (mjg59)]

External USB CD writers don't use the IDE drivers at all - usb-storage goes straight to the SCSI layer. Whether piix or ata_piix is used should be entirely irrelevant.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Both usb-storage and libata are implemented on top of the SCSI layer. When libata is in use, CD writer programs fail to write CDs through usb-storage. I'll have to say that it's relevant.

Because of this bug and the fact that libata might have problems supporting some old IDE chipsets, I strongly suggest keeping the old IDE drivers until libata further matures.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Can you attach an updated dmesg output for Hardy after you experience this issue. Thanks.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Also I'm removing the linux-source-2.6.24 task since beginning with the Hardy development cycle the kernel source package naming convention changed to just linux. Sorry for any confusion. Thanks.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Attaching dmesg ouput of 2.6.24-15.26.

[RickKnight (rick-knight)]

I agree, the old IDE drivers need to be kept around until this bug is fixed. I have an HP DVD Writer 640v external usb drive that would not work on Feisty even though it worked flawlessly on Dapper and previous Kubuntus. I solved the problem by removing the drive from it's portable housing and installing it internally, but this solution won't work for most users. Also, I created bug report 212042, https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/212042, with a similar problem with my hard drives, Via IDE chipset and Gutsy. The cutting edge is nice, but we still need some compatibility with older devices, at least until the bugs are fixed.

Rick Knight

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

This report will remain open against the actively developed kernel bug against 2.6.20 this will be closed as it does not qualify for a Stable Release Update - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates . Thanks.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Kernel Team:
If the internal (IDE) CDROM drive is not present, Hardy can successfully burn CDs using external CD writers. - I find this on my ThinkPad X32, which doesn't have an internal CD drive itself, but is docked in a docking station with an ThinkPad Ultrabay (a swappable drive slot). I can insert a foppy drive or a CD drive into the Ultrabay slot.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

I just installed linux-image-2.6.27-1 in Hardy. Unfortunately, the issue remains: If there is an IDE CD drive plugged in, the external USB Combo drive cannot write.

$ uname -a
Linux thinkpad 2.6.27-1-generic #1 SMP Sat Aug 23 23:20:09 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

I will try 2.6.26 later.

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

No luck with 2.6.26-5 either.

$ uname -a
Linux thinkpad 2.6.26-5-generic #1 SMP Fri Aug 15 13:54:58 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.

[Bryan Wu (cooloney)]

Wenzhuo,

I guess this issue still remain in Jaunty 2.6.28 kernel, because we are heading fro libata for almost one year. It is so weird libata still has such common issue, could you please try it again with the latest 2.6.28 kernel? I think we have to have the solution for this kind issues. Actually the better way is to report this bug to libata and ask them to fix it in mainline, I don't think keep an old driver for that is a good idea.

Thanks
-Bryan

[Wenzhuo Zhang (wenzhuo)]

Bryan,

Janty 2.6.28 kernel seems to have fixed the problem. I am able to burn ISO images to CD-RW with the same hardware setup on my ThinkPad X32 (docked in a docking station with an IDE CD Drive in Ultraybay, and an external USB CD Writer).

Wenzhuo

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Marking this Fix Released for Jaunty. Thanks.