Fw: [Sussex] Problem writing image to CD

Tue Oct 11 20:21:11 UTC 2005

Hi,

I still haven't managed to be able to write a CD from a cron job - it is
still the same pattern i.e. the LED flashes for about 20 minutes and then
goes on steady. The image file is only 76Mb and the writing process works
fine when run through a terminal window.

I have checked the following:
/etc/acpi/actions/ is empty
/etc/acpi/events/ just contains sample.conf  so, presumably, there are no
power saving settings.

dmesg log contains:
Probing IDE interface ide0...
hda: TSSTcorpCD-RW/DVD-ROM TSL462C, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive

messages log
Oct 11 20:11:19 localhost kernel: hda: TSSTcorpCD-RW/DVD-ROM TSL462C, ATAPI
CD/DVD-ROM drive

I was wondering whether the particular combo model was part of the problem.
It is a Toshiba Samsung TS-L462 and some users have reported odd problems.

Any suggestions?

Regards, Brendan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brendan Whelan" <b_whelan at mistral.co.uk>
To: "LUG email list for the Sussex Counties" <sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 1:11 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: [Sussex] Problem writing image to CD

> Steve,
>
> Thanks for the responses. I had a look and there are no options in the
BIOS
> for setting timeouts.
> I increased the writing speed from 4x to 10x but the pattern was still the
> same i.e. the led on the drive flashed for several minutes and then came
on
> steady.
> I will reboot and try to write to a CDR at 24x.
> I still find it bizarre that the script to burn the CD works fine from a
> terminal window, under Root, but when run on the cron queue, using the
> default (presumably Root) user, I can only write very small images!
>
> Any information on apm or acpi settings or any other suggestions will be
> much appreciated.
>
> Regards,  Brendan
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stephen Williams" <sdp.williams at btinternet.com>
> To: "LUG email list for the Sussex Counties" <sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk>
> Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 9:52 PM
> Subject: Re: Fw: [Sussex] Problem writing image to CD
>
>
> > On Sun, 2005-10-09 at 20:30 +0100, Brendan Whelan wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I have looked up the spec for the CDRW combo drive - Toshiba Samsung
> claim
> > > 24x when writing to a CDR and 10x when writing to a CDRW.
> > > So I could take my writing speed up from 4x to 10x.
> > >
> > > Brendan
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Brendan Whelan" <b_whelan at mistral.co.uk>
> > > To: <sdp.williams at btinternet.com>; "LUG email list for the Sussex
> Counties"
> > > <sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk>
> > > Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 3:55 PM
> > > Subject: Re: [Sussex] Problem writing image to CD
> > >
> > >
> > > > Thanks for the responses.
> > > >
> > > > I don't have the system powered up at the moment.
> > > > I had wondered about some sort of time out problem -where can I find
> the
> > > > settings for apm or acpi?
> > > > I am only recording at x4 on a modern 3GHz system - is there a way
of
> > > > finding out the maximum speed at which I can record?
> > > >
> >
> > I'd look in the BIOS first - there may be an option to power down the
> > drives in BIOS Power Management. Beyond that I'd suggest you talk to
> > Steve Dobson for advice on linux apm and acpi.
> >
> > I find some CD-RW drives only write at lower speeds than the drive spec
> > and disk spec would suggest. I'm not sure why this is.
> >
> > Steve W.
> >
> >
> > > > Thanks,  Brendan
> > > > > down
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Stephen Williams" <sdp.williams at btinternet.com>
> > > > To: "LUG email list for the Sussex Counties"
> <sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk>
> > > > Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 12:50 PM
> > > > Subject: Re: [Sussex] Problem writing image to CD
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > On Fri, 2005-10-07 at 21:28 +0100, Brendan Whelan wrote:
> > > > > > Hello,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I have created a backup shell script which exports a database,
> gathers
> > > > > > files, creates a CD image file and then writes it to a CD.
> > > > > > The shell script is then scheduled to run during the night.
There
> are
> > > > > > a pair of, logically identical, systems one a Dell tower and the
> other
> > > > > > a Dell rack mountable servers. (Fedora Core 3 is used on both
> > > > > > systems.) The shell script works perfectly on the tower system
but
> on
> > > > > > the rack mounted machine the CD writing fails. The image to be
> copied
> > > > > > is only about 360Mb, I have used different manufacturers CDs but
> the
> > > > > > problem persists. I changed the CD drive but the problem
persists.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I have taken an image copy of the offending system and placed it
> my
> > > > > > test system with the same type of CD writer which is in the rack
> > > > > > mountable system.
> > > > > > To simplify the problem I created a shell script which just
> > > > > > contains the line which writes to the CD.  When I run the script
> in a
> > > > > > terminal window it works. When I run it as a cron job it fails.
> The
> > > > > > led on the CD writer flashes for a number of minutes and then
goes
> on.
> > > > > > The CD cannot be unmounted and the only way to extract the CD is
> to
> > > > > > either power the system down and back up or to use a paper clip
to
> > > > > > release the CD drawer. (As an aside small image files can be
> written
> > > > > > to the CD using a cron job.)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Any suggestions as to what might be causing the problem or how I
> could
> > > > > > find out more information.
> > > > >
> > > > > My suspicions centre around power saving. Is apm or acpi set to
> power
> > > > > down the CD-RW in the rackmount box and not in the tower box for
> > > > > example.  Perhaps the user account under which the cron job is run
> needs
> > > > > sufficient authority to be able to prevent power down signals from
> > > > > affecting the CD-RW when a job is in progress? Might be something
> worth
> > > > > investigating.
> > > > >
> > > > > Steve W.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thanks, Brendan
> > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > Sussex mailing list
> > > > > > Sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > > > > > Sussex LUG Website: http://www.sussex.lug.org.uk/
> > > > > > http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > Sussex mailing list
> > > > > Sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > > > > Sussex LUG Website: http://www.sussex.lug.org.uk/
> > > > > http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Sussex mailing list
> > > > Sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > > > Sussex LUG Website: http://www.sussex.lug.org.uk/
> > > > http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Sussex mailing list
> > > Sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > > Sussex LUG Website: http://www.sussex.lug.org.uk/
> > > http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sussex mailing list
> > Sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > Sussex LUG Website: http://www.sussex.lug.org.uk/
> > http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
> >
> >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sussex mailing list
> Sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> Sussex LUG Website: http://www.sussex.lug.org.uk/
> http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
>
>