Q4OS Forum

niftyprose

Member

Registered: 2021-04-10

Posts: 34

CD-ROM drive issue

Hello guys, my first post here in a couple of years. Generally, Q4OS runs just fine. I'm posting because of a very specific issue, and would appreciate any perspectives.

Context: I'm presently working mostly on an Asus laptop which has been running Q4 OS Gemini (4.8) for the two years I've had it. I've begun working through my personal archive, which includes a large number (50+) CD-ROMs that have been in storage for many years. I've previously accessed CD-ROMs by hooking up a USB external CD reader/writer which I've had for about 10 years. I can't be sure I've used the reader/writer with Q4OS, and such use would have been some time ago.

All of the CD-ROMs I've loaded so far come up with access issues. At first I thought that the disks must have failed due to overheating in storage or such, but such a high failure rate is odd. I checked over the terminal commands given in the answer to the following question:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/question … untu-20-04

...these are the standard instructions on the subject so I won't type them all out here. The short version is that I must have set up the reader/writer for automatic mounting when I installed the machine, because I can see the "cdrom -> sr0" flag in /dev/.

What I get on attempting to load a CD is an extended period of disk access with platter noises and the appearance of  the CD-ROM in the /media directory, in some cases with a file listing. But, when I attempt to click on any of the icons, I get a warning flag and a failed read.

I'm thinking:
1. hardware failure in the drive
2. compatibility failure in Q4OS
3. all the CD-ROMs have corrupted

1. seems the likeliest, but the device has been very reliable for many years.

??? Best, NP.

Germ

Member

From: Bushyhead, Oklahoma

Registered: 2023-06-30

Posts: 22

Re: CD-ROM drive issue

I think #1

The cd-rom stopped working suddenly on my Acer laptop.  I just use an external cd-rom now.

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Calm down, it's only ones and zeroes

crosscourt

Member

From: Wash DC

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,882

Website

Re: CD-ROM drive issue

Have you tried a more recent cdrom such as an audio disc for instance to test to see if the drive is working? Agree with the comment above as using an external cdrom drive may show the issue and be a good backup alternative.

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Q4OS Aquarius 5.x KDE   Dell Inspiron 3670  i5 8600, GTX 1660 Super, 32gb, 2tb NVME SSD

hchiper

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2020-07-28

Posts: 526

Re: CD-ROM drive issue

4. Dirt on the tiny lens of the laser beam (gently clean with cotton swabs moistened with isopropyl alcohol)
5. Burned CDs do not have a very long lifespan and deteriorate over time.

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Q4OS machine: Samsung R519 - Pentium T4200 2.0 GHz - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB SSD

niftyprose

Member

Registered: 2021-04-10

Posts: 34

Re: CD-ROM drive issue

Hi guys, I doubt that anyone was waiting anxiously for further input on this topic but I thought my findings were worth sharing. The Q4OS team might feel that they present a worthwhile UI issue.

Firstly, thanks to germ, crosscourt and hchiper -- all useful input.

I've been able to access some of the CDs. They were a bad bunch: old, cheap, terrible condition. The process took ages.

To complete my archival task I had to retire my old CD-RW in favour of a new model with Bludisk capabilities. The new drive read a bit more reliably.

Q4OS supports both devices as well as might be expected, but it complicated matters due to what I'd call a UI issue (others may disagree).

When you load a CD-ROM you get a CD icon in the bottom right of the screen and often a "New medium detected" prompt.

Click on the icon and you get the hard disk/USB stick menu which includes Eject, Safely Remove and Unmount options for when you've done with it.

I initially used the "Safely Remove" option, not realizing that it causes the computer to remove the *drive* from the list of active devices. The result was that the drive remained powered up, but that the computer wouldn't read from it when I loaded a new disk. (I got it back by restarting and later by unplugging and reconnecting, but didn't work out what was going on immediately.)

I then switched to using "Eject". I'm sure other users would have done the same. It too seems to cause the removal of the drive.

It turns out that "Unmount" is yer man if you want to keep the drive active while removing the disk.

Those commands seem inappropriate. A menu listing CD-appropriate commands would be better.

Last edited by niftyprose (2024-12-12 12:33)