cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Ok, I've done some upgrades in debian lately (woody to sid) but i don't think
the problem happened when I did the upgrade. I'm afraid this may be hardware
failure with a capital H.
I suddenly go and am still getting  "not a valid block device" for /dev/record
and /dev/cdrom and the devices for which those are symbolic links. In my
dmesg.txt, I do get
    ide1: BM-DMA at 0xe408-0xe40f, BIOS settings: hdc:DMA, hdd:DMA

but the cdrom and cdr aren't later recognized in the dmesg as they usually are
and nothing is mentioned about the scsi drivers loading. to troubleshoot,
changed back in kernel to ide/atapi with same results. The cdr (first drive on
ide1) still opens and closes with a button push and actualy can still be read in
DOS. The cdrom won't open unless you slide the tray open manually and doesn't
respond to commands. Doesn't work in dOS either but I may just not have figured
out how to load two cdrom drives in DOS.
Worst of all, "cat /proc/interrupts" shows no irq for ide1 (it has been and
still should be but isn't, 15). I have this terrible
feeling it's a problem directly with my ide1 or at the very least a cable. If
so, I am thankful it isn't ide0 so I can at least opperate my system.
I imagine the final diagnosis will have to come from somebody opening this up
and looking (and charging me a lot of money!) but does this sound like a
hardware problem?
Is there any other possible explanation that would involve fixing something on
my OS rather than major repair?
Thanks.

Cheryl

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Kerry Hoath]

If one drive will open and the ohter will not sounds
like you have one of hte cables around the wrong way.
This would stop the drawer from opening or closing.
Try 1 device at a time. Each device
should have a drawer that should open and close when the machine is powered up.
If the drawer will not open and close make sure
cables are correctly in and check orientation. Don't plug cables whilst power is on.
If t he cdrom works then I would su spect cable not in or jumpering wrong on the cdrw.
On Sun, May 26, 2002 at 10:33:57PM -0500, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
> Ok, I've done some upgrades in debian lately (woody to sid) but i don't think
> the problem happened when I did the upgrade. I'm afraid this may be hardware
> failure with a capital H.
> I suddenly go and am still getting  "not a valid block device" for /dev/record
> and /dev/cdrom and the devices for which those are symbolic links. In my
> dmesg.txt, I do get
>     ide1: BM-DMA at 0xe408-0xe40f, BIOS settings: hdc:DMA, hdd:DMA
> 
> but the cdrom and cdr aren't later recognized in the dmesg as they usually are
> and nothing is mentioned about the scsi drivers loading. to troubleshoot,
> changed back in kernel to ide/atapi with same results. The cdr (first drive on
> ide1) still opens and closes with a button push and actualy can still be read in
> DOS. The cdrom won't open unless you slide the tray open manually and doesn't
> respond to commands. Doesn't work in dOS either but I may just not have figured
> out how to load two cdrom drives in DOS.
> Worst of all, "cat /proc/interrupts" shows no irq for ide1 (it has been and
> still should be but isn't, 15). I have this terrible
> feeling it's a problem directly with my ide1 or at the very least a cable. If
> so, I am thankful it isn't ide0 so I can at least opperate my system.
> I imagine the final diagnosis will have to come from somebody opening this up
> and looking (and charging me a lot of money!) but does this sound like a
> hardware problem?
> Is there any other possible explanation that would involve fixing something on
> my OS rather than major repair?
> Thanks.
> 
> Cheryl
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 

-- 
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or  kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Igor Gueths]

Hi Cheryl. What was the last version at which everything worked? If one or more of your drives aren't being recognized, then to me it sounds like hardware. I would say go back tothe version at which everything worked i.e., woodie and see if your drive is recognized. Also, try using host,target,lun as your -dev when recording. I.e., -dev=0,0,0 for my drive.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Cheryl Homiak <chomiak@chartermi.net>
To: speakup <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 11:33 PM
Subject: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think


> Ok, I've done some upgrades in debian lately (woody to sid) but i don't think
> the problem happened when I did the upgrade. I'm afraid this may be hardware
> failure with a capital H.
> I suddenly go and am still getting  "not a valid block device" for /dev/record
> and /dev/cdrom and the devices for which those are symbolic links. In my
> dmesg.txt, I do get
>     ide1: BM-DMA at 0xe408-0xe40f, BIOS settings: hdc:DMA, hdd:DMA
> 
> but the cdrom and cdr aren't later recognized in the dmesg as they usually are
> and nothing is mentioned about the scsi drivers loading. to troubleshoot,
> changed back in kernel to ide/atapi with same results. The cdr (first drive on
> ide1) still opens and closes with a button push and actualy can still be read in
> DOS. The cdrom won't open unless you slide the tray open manually and doesn't
> respond to commands. Doesn't work in dOS either but I may just not have figured
> out how to load two cdrom drives in DOS.
> Worst of all, "cat /proc/interrupts" shows no irq for ide1 (it has been and
> still should be but isn't, 15). I have this terrible
> feeling it's a problem directly with my ide1 or at the very least a cable. If
> so, I am thankful it isn't ide0 so I can at least opperate my system.
> I imagine the final diagnosis will have to come from somebody opening this up
> and looking (and charging me a lot of money!) but does this sound like a
> hardware problem?
> Is there any other possible explanation that would involve fixing something on
> my OS rather than major repair?
> Thanks.
> 
> Cheryl
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Well, thanks, Kerry, but this is a case of something that was working and
suddenly stopped. So it can't be a matter of wrong jumpering, since it's been
working fine (both of them have been0 for a good month. something could have
happened to the cable I would imagine, but it isn't a matter of it having been
put in wrong as it has been working fine and suddenly quit. as I said before,
the drawer will open on the cdr but not the cdrom. But when I try to mount
either one, I'm told "not a valid block device". I get "no such file or
directory: unable to open scsi driver" when I try cdrecord --scanbus.  also, if
I just tryrunning cdrecord anywy
, I get something about not being able to open "pg0" which must means it's
looking for a default type of cdr or something because it should be sg0 not pg0.
Nobody has opened this machine or changed cables to cause this failure to occur
and it happened verysuddenly.

Cheryl

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Hi Igor and all.
Yes, I allways do use host,target,lun when recording.
I've thought about gooing back to woody but am not sure how to downgrade. May
need to look into that.
Also thought of installing zipspeak on my dos drive to see whether that has the
same problem. If so, I can pretty much be sure it's hardware.
Thanks.

Cheryl

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Ok, I installed zipspeak. Zipspeak does recognize my ide1 and has it on irq 15.
It also recognized my cdrecorder hdc but makes absolutely no mention of hdd. Hdc
does appear to work with zipspeak.
However, my main linux system continues not to even give an irq to ide1.
So my recorder probably isn't broken, though I can't figure out why my debian
linux suddenly doesn't recognize it or the whole ide. My cdrom may have a
hardware problem.

Cheryl

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Kerry Hoath]

Your kernel mustn't have the necessary support
compiled in or as modules. If you have them as modules you probably
need to add aliases to the module configuration file or compile
in ide-scsi emulation scsi support and generic scsi support.

Regards, Kerry.
On Mon, May 27, 2002 at 12:30:01PM -0500, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
> Well, thanks, Kerry, but this is a case of something that was working and
> suddenly stopped. So it can't be a matter of wrong jumpering, since it's been
> working fine (both of them have been0 for a good month. something could have
> happened to the cable I would imagine, but it isn't a matter of it having been
> put in wrong as it has been working fine and suddenly quit. as I said before,
> the drawer will open on the cdr but not the cdrom. But when I try to mount
> either one, I'm told "not a valid block device". I get "no such file or
> directory: unable to open scsi driver" when I try cdrecord --scanbus.  also, if
> I just tryrunning cdrecord anywy
> , I get something about not being able to open "pg0" which must means it's
> looking for a default type of cdr or something because it should be sg0 not pg0.
> Nobody has opened this machine or changed cables to cause this failure to occur
> and it happened verysuddenly.
> 
> Cheryl
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or  kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Kerry Hoath]

this will be a kernel problem not hardware.
They changed the way modules were handled in woody and
probably in sid too. They use the initial ramdisk
I believe. Why are you running bleeding edge Debian?
I'm a happy  potato user here.
I don't need 2.4.x for anything at this stage so I don't ru n it;
and u ntil woody is released I don't want to touch it.

That is just me however, and I know some people
do like to live on the edge.
On Mon, May 27, 2002 at 02:27:31PM -0500, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
> Ok, I installed zipspeak. Zipspeak does recognize my ide1 and has it on irq 15.
> It also recognized my cdrecorder hdc but makes absolutely no mention of hdd. Hdc
> does appear to work with zipspeak.
> However, my main linux system continues not to even give an irq to ide1.
> So my recorder probably isn't broken, though I can't figure out why my debian
> linux suddenly doesn't recognize it or the whole ide. My cdrom may have a
> hardware problem.
> 
> Cheryl
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or  kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Hi Kerry and all.
I appreciate that you are trying to help. but let me repeat again:  this system
was working just fine; I was listening to cds and burning cds and doing all the
things one does with a cdrom and cdr. when this problem mysteriously occured, no
changes had been made to the kernel and nobody had been opening the computer and
plugging and unplugging cables. the necessary support is compiled into the
kernel and I have been using it successfully for quite some time when this
suddenly happened.
This is not the case of trying to get a system up and running; this is a case
that was working just fine and suddenly this happened.

Cheryl

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Hi kerry and all.
I decided to try switching to sid because i have been ruuning woody successfully
(with 2.4.18 by the way) for quite some time. but woody is no longer getting
upgrades of any significance as it is being prepared for release. I maybe would
have been wiser to wait until woody was released to switch to sid.
However, I do agree with you; this is in part a kernel problem, or zipspeak
wouldn't be having hdc working fine (haven't tried that with scsi emulation on
zipspeak). But I'm running with everything built into the kernel not modules,
and I'm having trouble figuring out what more to do to diagnose the source of
the problems. I have written to the debian list to try to pin down what might
have done this, so am exploring all fronts.
As for which distribution to use, I would be going nuts if I had stayed with
potato all this time. but you are absolutely right; that is a very individual
decision. I also have had no trouble with 2.4.x kernels, but i no some people
have had lots of problems. If you don't really need to upgrade your distribution
or your kernel, there's no reason why you should do so--unless you just happen
to be one of the people that enjoys exploring new kinds of things. I am one of
those people. And i do realize that this can increase the possibility of
something breaking. I don't mind that--at least if I can figure out what it is
and fix it.

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Hi all.
Well, I also just tried using a rescue and root disk to see what would come up
with my cdroms. the same thing happened as with zipspeak. hdc ic recognized and
usable; when I try to mount hdd I get something a little bit different: about
the device not being configured. Why my debian sid system is totally failing
even to assign an irq to ide1 I don't know, but at least one cdrom should be
functioning.
The scsi driver and scsi emulation are mentioned in the dmesg, so the scsi isn't
the source of the problem.

Cheryl

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Ok, I went back and investigated my /var/log/messages.0 (the ones for last week.
Here is what I found for the morning of the 26th. Previous to this there are
nothing but "mark" notations for quite a while.
the only thing I can trace this to is that I inadvertently started up cdcd at
one point which would have involved hdd. At the time I did this, I was also
doing a recording to my hard drive from a cassette recorder with the "record"
from the oss package I bought from opensound.com. this is probably the reason
for the comment about over-runs.

May 26 01:07:18 maranatha kernel: hdd: DMA disabled
May 26 01:07:28 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
May 26 01:07:38 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
May 26 01:07:38 maranatha kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 40675) timed out - resetting
May 26 01:07:38 maranatha kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0 channel 0.
May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 40675) timed out - resetting
May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0 channel 0.
May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 40675) timed out - resetting
May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0 channel 0.
May 26 01:07:40 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
May 26 01:07:40 maranatha kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 40675) timed out - resetting
May 26 01:07:40 maranatha kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0 channel 0.

This goes on for a while, and then:

May 26 01:09:20 maranatha kernel: ide1: reset timed-out, status=0x80
Then:

May 26 02:14:35 maranatha kernel: OSS warning: Application record caused too many recording overrun errors on audio device #0.
May 26 02:14:35 maranatha kernel: Look at oss/docs/README.performance for more info.

And from the next boot on, my cdroms aren't heard from again on this system,
except for

May 26 12:34:09 maranatha kernel:     ide1: BM-DMA at 0xe408-0xe40f, BIOS setti\
ngs: hdc:DMA, hdd:DMA

each time I boot.

The log shows clearly that they were both functioning fine up to this point.
Cheryl

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Kerry Hoath]

Ok you are most likely looking at hardware failure.
Plug 1 device into the chain at a time and make sure it assigns an irq to ide1
and shows either device.
the device plugged in should show as scsi 0,0,0

Regards, Kerry.
On Tue, May 28, 2002 at 12:00:54AM -0500, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
> Hi all.
> Well, I also just tried using a rescue and root disk to see what would come up
> with my cdroms. the same thing happened as with zipspeak. hdc ic recognized and
> usable; when I try to mount hdd I get something a little bit different: about
> the device not being configured. Why my debian sid system is totally failing
> even to assign an irq to ide1 I don't know, but at least one cdrom should be
> functioning.
> The scsi driver and scsi emulation are mentioned in the dmesg, so the scsi isn't
> the source of the problem.
> 
> Cheryl
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or  kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Kerry Hoath]

Looks like one of  the drives has just failed, either that
or the secondary ide controller has failed but if the cdrom works;
then the ide controller should e ok.
Aborting due to timeout means a device
just stopped responding writer might be dead.
On Tue, May 28, 2002 at 02:38:25AM -0500, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
> Ok, I went back and investigated my /var/log/messages.0 (the ones for last week.
> Here is what I found for the morning of the 26th. Previous to this there are
> nothing but "mark" notations for quite a while.
> the only thing I can trace this to is that I inadvertently started up cdcd at
> one point which would have involved hdd. At the time I did this, I was also
> doing a recording to my hard drive from a cassette recorder with the "record"
> from the oss package I bought from opensound.com. this is probably the reason
> for the comment about over-runs.
> 
> May 26 01:07:18 maranatha kernel: hdd: DMA disabled
> May 26 01:07:28 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
> May 26 01:07:38 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
> May 26 01:07:38 maranatha kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 40675) timed out - resetting
> May 26 01:07:38 maranatha kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0 channel 0.
> May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
> May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 40675) timed out - resetting
> May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0 channel 0.
> May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
> May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 40675) timed out - resetting
> May 26 01:07:39 maranatha kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0 channel 0.
> May 26 01:07:40 maranatha kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout : pid 40675, scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0 0x00 00 00 00 00 00
> May 26 01:07:40 maranatha kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 40675) timed out - resetting
> May 26 01:07:40 maranatha kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0 channel 0.
> 
> This goes on for a while, and then:
> 
> May 26 01:09:20 maranatha kernel: ide1: reset timed-out, status=0x80
> Then:
> 
> May 26 02:14:35 maranatha kernel: OSS warning: Application record caused too many recording overrun errors on audio device #0.
> May 26 02:14:35 maranatha kernel: Look at oss/docs/README.performance for more info.
> 
> And from the next boot on, my cdroms aren't heard from again on this system,
> except for
> 
> May 26 12:34:09 maranatha kernel:     ide1: BM-DMA at 0xe408-0xe40f, BIOS setti\
> ngs: hdc:DMA, hdd:DMA
> 
> each time I boot.
> 
> The log shows clearly that they were both functioning fine up to this point.
> Cheryl
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or  kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au

Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Cheryl Homiak]

Neither is dead at this point; they are both working just fine.
Thanks.

Re: Hardware failure? was Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Terry Cudney]

Hi Kerry and everyone,

	Thanks for the tip on checking with only power connected, Kerry. With the data cable disconnected and only power connected to the CDRW, the light flashes the same as before, and the drawer still does not open on pressing the eject button on the front of the drive. Does this definitely diagnose a hardware failure? or is there anything else I can check? This drive was working well for a little over a year (just out of warranty) I hate to trash it if there is any hope of reviving it!

	Thanks again for your help.

	    --terry


Name:	Terry D. Cudney
Phone:	(905)735-6127
E-mail:	terry@CottageInWasaga.com -or- tcudney@sympatico.ca
WWW:	www.CottageInWasaga.com

Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like...
having a peeing sectionin a swimming pool.

Re: Hardware failure? was Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Alex Snow]

Looks like the drive is screwed, but just try one thing: Are the jumpers set
right? I mean, are they on the pins the way they're suposed to be? If there
crossed, then you might get this kind of failure.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry Cudney" <tcudney@sympatico.ca>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 5:31 PM
Subject: Re: Hardware failure? was Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem:
BIG TROUBLE I think


> Hi Kerry and everyone,
>
> Thanks for the tip on checking with only power connected, Kerry. With the
data cable disconnected and only power connected to the CDRW, the light
flashes the same as before, and the drawer still does not open on pressing
the eject button on the front of the drive. Does this definitely diagnose a
hardware failure? or is there anything else I can check? This drive was
working well for a little over a year (just out of warranty) I hate to trash
it if there is any hope of reviving it!
>
> Thanks again for your help.
>
>     --terry
>
>
> Name: Terry D. Cudney
> Phone: (905)735-6127
> E-mail: terry@CottageInWasaga.com -or- tcudney@sympatico.ca
> WWW: www.CottageInWasaga.com
>
> Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
>
> Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like...
> having a peeing sectionin a swimming pool.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: Hardware failure? was Re: cdrom/cdr trouble or ide1 problem: BIG TROUBLE I think

[Kerry Hoath]

It would seem that it is hardware failure; if
it does not show  under Linux or Windows then I would
put in another computer to doublecheck and if it fails to respond there it is
most likely dead.
If it shows under Windows some drives can be revived b y reflashing the firmware.

Regards, Kerry.
On Wed, May 29, 2002 at 05:31:49PM -0400, Terry Cudney wrote:
> Hi Kerry and everyone,
> 
> 	Thanks for the tip on checking with only power connected, Kerry. With the data cable disconnected and only power connected to the CDRW, the light flashes the same as before, and the drawer still does not open on pressing the eject button on the front of the drive. Does this definitely diagnose a hardware failure? or is there anything else I can check? This drive was working well for a little over a year (just out of warranty) I hate to trash it if there is any hope of reviving it!
> 
> 	Thanks again for your help.
> 
> 	    --terry
> 
> 
> Name:	Terry D. Cudney
> Phone:	(905)735-6127
> E-mail:	terry@CottageInWasaga.com -or- tcudney@sympatico.ca
> WWW:	www.CottageInWasaga.com
> 
> Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
> 
> Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like...
> having a peeing sectionin a swimming pool.
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or  kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au