magneto-optical drive

ihsan10 · May 18, 2009, 7:50am

Hi
I am new in linux. I install opensuse 10.2 in my computer .
i have Fujitsu magneto-optical drive 1.3GB in my computer but not work please any one help me how to configure it to work

syampillai · May 18, 2009, 8:03am

Is there any specific reason to install such an old version of openSUSE?
See if you can install a more recent version because you will get better support for peripheral devices.

user · May 18, 2009, 10:00am

ihsan10 wrote:

> I am new in linux. I install opensuse 10.2 in my computer .
> i have Fujitsu magneto-optical drive 1.3GB in my computer but not
> work please any one help me how to configure it to work

Tell us a bit more

It has scsi, usb or atapi interface? Is it mounted by default under /media
(run “mount” command)? Is already formated, it has any data on the
cartridge? What gives you “fdisk -l” (runned as root)? Can YaST partitioner
see it? Is it detected by the system (plugin, insert media and then
run “dmesg”)?

Greetings,

–
Camaleón

ihsan10 · May 18, 2009, 12:58pm

thank you for reply
dear Camaleón :this answer for your equation:
1- atapi interface
2- not mounted ( not use this command mount )
3- not formated i need how to make it auto file system
4-yes i have date in cartridge ( Unix & others )
5- when use fdisk -l the result :
linux-aa:/ # fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 804 874 570307+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda2 * 875 1898 8225280 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 1899 4865 23832427+ f W95 Ext’d (LBA)
/dev/hda5 1899 3181 10305666 83 Linux
/dev/hda6 3182 4865 13526698+ 83 Linux
linux-aa:/ #

6- Cannot YaST partitioner see it

please i am new in linux please i need all details how to instill it & use it

regards

user · May 18, 2009, 1:59pm

ihsan10 wrote:

> thank you for reply
> dear Camaleón :this answer for your equation:
> 1- atapi interface

O.K. So it is connected to IDE bus, right?

> 2- not mounted ( not use this command mount )

Anyway, just type command “mount” and paste here the results. “Mount”
command (without arguments) just tell us what it is mounted in the system.

> 3- not formated i need how to make it auto file system

So no data on it, right? Then you can make tests without fearing to loose
anything

> 4-yes i have date in cartridge ( Unix & others )

Wait a minute… if it is not formatted you cannot have data on there. Can
you see the content of the cartridge in another computer?

> 5- when use fdisk -l the result :
> linux-aa:/ # fdisk -l
>
> Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes

This is the hard drive and its using the old naming (hdx) instead the new
one (sdx) :-?

> 6- Cannot YaST partitioner see it

Mmm…

> please i am new in linux please i need all details how to instill it &
> use it

The first to do is make it “visible” to SuSE so you can then mount it and
give it some format or just read it.

Open konsole (or gnome-terminal, xterm…) and type “dmesg | grep hd” and
copy/paste here the result.

Greetings,

–
Camaleón

ihsan10 · May 19, 2009, 6:58am

thank you Camaleón for all

when use this command (mount ) i got :

aa@linux-aa:~> mount
/dev/hda5 on / type ext3 (rw,acl,user_xattr)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,mode=0620,gid=5)
/dev/hda6 on /home type ext3 (rw,acl,user_xattr)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)

when use this command (dmesg | grep hd ) i got :
aa@linux-aa:~> dmesg | grep hd
Kernel command line: root=/dev/hda5 vga=0x314 resume=/dev/hda1 splash=silent
ide0: BM-DMA at 0xfc00-0xfc07, BIOS settings: hda: DMA, hdb: pio
ide1: BM-DMA at 0xfc08-0xfc0f, BIOS settings: hdc: DMA, hdd: pio
hda: WDC WD400BB-00LNA0, ATA DISK drive
hda: max request size: 128KiB
hda: 78165360 sectors (40020 MB) w/2048KiB Cache, CHS=65535/16/63, UDMA(100)
hda: cache flushes supported
hda: hda1 hda2 hda3 < hda5 hda6 >
hdc: FUJITSU MCM3130AP-S, ATAPI OPTICAL drive
EXT3 FS on hda5, internal journal
Adding 570296k swap on /dev/hda1. Priority:-1 extents:1 across:570296k
EXT3 FS on hda6, internal journal
aa@linux-aa:~>

regards

syampillai · May 19, 2009, 7:15am

Post the output of:

su
fdisk -l /dev/hdc

It will display the partitions available on your optical drive: /dev/hdc
Once that is known, you can mount them to wherever you want.

ihsan10 · May 19, 2009, 8:29am

hi syampillai
when use this command (fdisk -l /dev/hdc ) i got :
aa@linux-aa:~> su
Password:
linux-aa:/home/aa # fdisk -l /dev/hdc
linux-aa:/home/aa #

syampillai · May 19, 2009, 11:24am

Do you have to insert a media into this optical drive?
Did you do that?

user · May 19, 2009, 11:48am

syampillai wrote:

> Do you have to insert a media into this optical drive?
> Did you do that?

Just a thought. Maybe:

a) does not recognize the partitions (if any) or
b) does not have any partition / format at all :-?

I will try with a blank MO cartridge (no data on it) and then with “mkdosfs”
to create a ms-dos filesystem on the device. Mmmm, I never used this
before, but based on the information provided by ihsan10’s dmesg:

hdc: FUJITSU MCM3130AP-S, ATAPI OPTICAL drive

I guess it should be something like:

mkdosfs -I /dev/hdc

Very carefull with the above command! It will destroy data on the target
device (hdc), if any.

And then, try to mount it:

mount /dev/hdc /mnt

Greetings,

–
Camaleón

ihsan10 · May 19, 2009, 11:56am

yes i insert a media into this optical drive
no change

syampillai · May 19, 2009, 12:03pm

Type the following before inserting any media:

su
tail -f /var/log/messages

Now, insert the media and see if any additional messages are coming.

ihsan10 · May 19, 2009, 12:17pm

when use this command (mkdosfs -I /dev/hdc ) i got :
linux-aa:/dev # mkdosfs -I /dev/hdc
mkdosfs 2.11 (12 Mar 2005)
/dev/hdc: No such file or directory

&
linux-aa:/dev # mount /dev/hdc /mnt
mount: special device /dev/hdc does not exist
linux-aa:/dev #

ihsan10 · May 19, 2009, 12:40pm

after insert media no any additional messages are coming.

user · May 19, 2009, 12:57pm

ihsan10 wrote:

> when use this command (mkdosfs -I /dev/hdc ) i got :
> linux-aa:/dev # mkdosfs -I /dev/hdc
> mkdosfs 2.11 (12 Mar 2005)
> /dev/hdc: No such file or directory

Weird. It’s like couldn’t recognize the “media” itself.

Are you using a 640 MB. cartridge? If you have the chance, try with another
one (different brand and size, if possible) and see what happens.

Also, and just for testing purposes, you can try with a LiveCD 11.1 to check
if it is properly detected and mounted :-?

> linux-aa:/dev # mount /dev/hdc /mnt
> mount: special device /dev/hdc does not exist
> linux-aa:/dev #

And what gives the following command…?

ls -l /dev/hdc

Greetings,

–
Camaleón

ihsan10 · May 20, 2009, 7:07am

hen use this command (ls -l /dev/hdc ) i got :

aa@linux-aa:/dev> ls -l /dev/hdc
ls: cannot access /dev/hdc: No such file or directory

user · May 20, 2009, 11:34am

ihsan10 wrote:

> hen use this command (ls -l /dev/hdc ) i got :
>
> aa@linux-aa:/dev> ls -l /dev/hdc
> ls: cannot access /dev/hdc: No such file or directory

Well, that is indeed very strange. Device is detected but not
accessible.

The only tests I can suggest you are:

Check with another cartridge
Test the unit in another computer, if possible
Check with a LiveCD (11.1)
Check device jumper position (master, slave or auto)

These M.O. units should not be a problem with modern kernels and openSUSE
10.2 uses 2.6.x so that should not be a problem at all.

Sorry, I am stuck. Maybe someone can suggest you another hints

Greetings,

–
Camaleón

ken_yap · May 20, 2009, 11:54am

IIRC these drives are a bit quirky. If the media is blank, it has to be formatted using a manufacturer provided format program. There may not be one for Linux. The MO drive I played with many years ago was connected to Solaris.

It behaves like a HD rather than a CDROM even though the media is removable. Think of it like a removable disk cartridge. So you wouldn’t expect it to be automatically mounted, unless there is a udev rule to recognise it.

Unless you are trying to recover some old data, in which case the media would already be formatted, I wouldn’t be too sad if you can’t get it to work. A cheap flash key would have more storage capacity, draw less power, and be faster too.

user · May 20, 2009, 12:46pm

ken yap wrote:

> IIRC these drives are a bit quirky. If the media is blank, it has to be
> formatted using a manufacturer provided format program. There may not be
> one for Linux.

For Linux, there is an old FAQ about how to properly manage them:

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Optical-Disk-HOWTO.html

It should be not that difficult to using them in linux with standard tools
for disk partitioning and mounting, so I really do not know what can be the
problem here.

Maybe a faulty unit, I remember they tended to break very easily :-?

> The MO drive I played with many years ago was connected
> to Solaris.
>
> It behaves like a HD rather than a CDROM even though the media is
> removable. Think of it like a removable disk cartridge. So you wouldn’t
> expect it to be automatically mounted, unless there is a udev rule to
> recognise it.

In this case, manually mount and partitioning does not work, neither.

> Unless you are trying to recover some old data, in which case the media
> would already be formatted, I wouldn’t be too sad if you can’t get it to
> work. A cheap flash key would have more storage capacity, draw less
> power, and be faster too.

Yes, I agree.

I have 3 MO units (640 MB. scsi) we used 10 years ago. They still work but
they are retired now. Data was properly backed up onto hdds and DVD media
and MO are no longer needed.

Greetings,

–
Camaleón