Ok, I am running an old Dell Inspiron E1505 vintage I think 2006. Don’t hate me for my old hardware, it’s what I got.
I have been running OpenSUSE for about a year now. Current version is 13.1.
The issue I have is I cannot use my CD/DVD rom. I cannot even open the tray. The status light is constantly on. During boot when the Dell splash screen is up I can press the button on the drive and it will open, but once grub starts the status light will go solid and it will no longer respond. After OpenSUSE loads I cannot find any reference to the CD/DVD rom existing on the computer.
Any help is appreciated.
Doesn’t sound promising (based on your description)…anyway some questions
-
Did you install openSUSE via the optical drive?
-
Has it worked at all while using openSUSE 13.1?
-
What is reported by the following
/usr/sbin/hwinfo --cdrom
*Please enclose your output within
[/CO..] tags. (Refer to the '#' icon in the editor.)- No I installed using a USB drive
- Yes it has worked before but not always. Sometimes I would have to reboot to get the drive to work.
- I ran the command in a terminal and it did run, but there was no output.
Okay, well it is likely that it has failed IMO.
Sorry, what is a failed IMO?
He means that “In My Opinion” it is broken.
As in the drive has physically failed after many years of usage.
Here’s some more info to bake your noodles. Just had a thought to see if I could boot with that drive. Grabbed Ultimate Boot CD, had it on hand. I could boot all the way into PartedMagic. Got out of that and rebooted my machine into OpenSUSE again. I happened to leave the drive hanging open. Dropped an audio CD in and suddenly it recognized the drive with the CD in it. Not sure that it’s fixed but at the moment it’s working. Any thoughts?
Hard to know when we’re not in front of it. Maybe it’s getting mechanically tired (eg the parts sticking) and with use you’ve managed to cajole into operating again…I really can’t say 
Anyway, you could check out the kernel messages associated with inserting a disk
Open a terminal and watch the output from
sudo tail -f /var/log/messages
then try inserting a disk etc.
However, the above won’t tell you why it wasn’t working previously, so more just to satisfy your curiosity.
The optical device should appear as /dev/sr0 (or similar)
ls -l /dev/sr0
Good possibility your right. It’s an old machine. I need a new one, but $$$.
Oh well, all else fails I still have a working desktop.
Thanks for all the help.
Replacing the cd/dvd drive is not that expensive last one I bought was under $30 But since the age be sure you get the right interface. I suspect the one you have has an IDE plug. SO check it out before you just buy any old CD/DVD drive
CD/DVDs break all the time. You can kind of expect it since the hardware is so cheap in the first place.
dictatorofmyownworld wrote:
>
> Good possibility your right. It’s an old machine. I need a new one, but
> $$$.
> Oh well, all else fails I still have a working desktop.
> Thanks for all the help.
>
Before you spend money, unplug the IDE cable from the drive and re-insert
it. Intermittent connections are common in older equipment, especially if
you don’t mess with the insides much.
–
Will Honea
Yes, good idea. The cable terminations/connections could well be the cause of the intermittent issues described by the OP.
On 2014-07-31 10:16, dictatorofmyownworld wrote:
>
> Here’s some more info to bake your noodles. Just had a thought to see if
> I could boot with that drive. Grabbed Ultimate Boot CD, had it on hand.
> I could boot all the way into PartedMagic. Got out of that and rebooted
> my machine into OpenSUSE again. I happened to leave the drive hanging
> open. Dropped an audio CD in and suddenly it recognized the drive with
> the CD in it. Not sure that it’s fixed but at the moment it’s working.
> Any thoughts?
Notice that it is possible for an audio CD to work, and a DVD not. Or
for a data CD to work, and a DVD not. I’m not sure they all use the same
laser and/or lenses settings.
I also have an old laptop around, which I use as home server, which
sometimes recognizes the DVD drive, sometimes it does not. It could be
the cables, that’s something I have pending check, but that it works
sometimes just after boot without moving the machine is suspicious. Some
times it works for days, sometimes it appears to stop after hibernation.
My suspects are cables, and software rot.
One possibility is that opening the door moves a cable needed for
detection…
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))
On 2014-07-31 10:36 (GMT) dictatorofmyownworld composed:
> Good possibility your right. It’s an old machine. I need a new one, but $$$.
> Oh well, all else fails I still have a working desktop.
I have crossed paths with a lot of older Dells, and still have quite a number
of them. OM drive failure has been rather common, but whether more or less
common than OM drives generally, I have no idea. They’re cheaply made, and
cheap to replace. Bad OM drive is usually no good reason to replace a PC that
works fine otherwise. Once you have any Linux installation on the machine,
installing and upgrading can be done via network - no OM drive is needed, no
burning of any .iso required.
The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive.
Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!
Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/