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Cannot read DVDs under Linux

The Norseman

Meandering fecklessly
The Norseman
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
8,449
Finally took the step and migrated to SolusOS which seems to be a solid Linux distro. Similar to Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), Solus is based on Debian which I personally like as Debian commands and environment I'm most comfortable with.

This could be an easy fix, but whatever it is is eluding me so I'm turning to the Linux gurus here.

Out of the box, Solus is about as complete as one could want; it comes with non-free applications and utilities to make sound, video, and other devices work. I booted into a live usb and installed it. Everything works well except for my DVD drives. I've got one SATA internal DVDRW and an external usb DVDRW and neither of them will read disks. As shown below, both devices are visible to the system.

Problem is is that neither device will automount a DVD and when I try to manually mount a drive, for example, it says
Code: 
mount:  /dev/sr0: unknown device


I'm thinking that maybe my fstab is wrong and/or my symlinks are whacked out but I have not been able to find any information that both applies to my situation AND that I can understand.

Utilities like libdvdcss2 were pre-installed but I still could be missing some codecs or something.


Code: 
norseman rules.d # cat 70-persistent-cd.rules
# This file was automatically generated by the /lib/udev/write_cd_rules
# program, run by the cd-aliases-generator.rules rules file.
#
# You can modify it, as long as you keep each rule on a single
# line, and set the $GENERATED variable.

# DVDRW_LH-20A1H (pci-0000:05:00.0-usb-0:2:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0)
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_PATH}=="pci-0000:05:00.0-usb-0:2:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0", SYMLINK+="cdrom", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_PATH}=="pci-0000:05:00.0-usb-0:2:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0", SYMLINK+="cdrw", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_PATH}=="pci-0000:05:00.0-usb-0:2:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0", SYMLINK+="dvd", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_PATH}=="pci-0000:05:00.0-usb-0:2:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0", SYMLINK+="dvdrw", ENV{GENERATED}="1"

# DVDRW_LH-20A1H (pci-0000:05:00.0-usb-0:2:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0)
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_SERIAL}=="LITE-ON_DVDRW_LH-20A1H_3A26E4-0:0", SYMLINK+="cdrom1", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_SERIAL}=="LITE-ON_DVDRW_LH-20A1H_3A26E4-0:0", SYMLINK+="cdrw1", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_SERIAL}=="LITE-ON_DVDRW_LH-20A1H_3A26E4-0:0", SYMLINK+="dvd1", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_SERIAL}=="LITE-ON_DVDRW_LH-20A1H_3A26E4-0:0", SYMLINK+="dvdrw1", ENV{GENERATED}="1"

# CDDVDW_SH-S223C (pci-0000:00:11.0-scsi-0:0:0:0)
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_PATH}=="pci-0000:00:11.0-scsi-0:0:0:0", SYMLINK+="cdrom2", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_PATH}=="pci-0000:00:11.0-scsi-0:0:0:0", SYMLINK+="cdrw2", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_PATH}=="pci-0000:00:11.0-scsi-0:0:0:0", SYMLINK+="dvd2", ENV{GENERATED}="1"
SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_CDROM}=="?*", ENV{ID_PATH}=="pci-0000:00:11.0-scsi-0:0:0:0", SYMLINK+="dvdrw2", ENV{GENERATED}="1"


norseman rules.d # ls -l /dev/cdrom
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 Aug 15 22:25 /dev/cdrom -> sr1
norseman rules.d # ls -l /dev/cdrom2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 Aug 15 22:25 /dev/cdrom2 -> sr0

Here's my fstab. The last two lines of the fstab (my DVD drives) I manually entered as they weren't generated automatically on install.
Code: 
norseman rules.d # cat /etc/fstab
# UNCONFIGURED FSTAB FOR BASE SYSTEM
proc	/proc	proc	defaults	0	0
# /dev/sda1
UUID=b553bcf5-23f7-4c89-9c90-93aa888ec643	/boot	ext4	rw,errors=remount-ro	0	0
# /dev/sda5
UUID=25d4dd95-daea-4fda-814b-934d648a537a	/	ext4	rw,errors=remount-ro	0	1
# /dev/sda6
UUID=fd52ccc5-d589-4274-9dd6-d2ecbeed7ae8	/home	ext4	rw,errors=remount-ro	0	0
# /dev/sda7
UUID=2e7853e4-7844-49d7-b780-8f843297aeb6	/apps	ext4	rw,errors=remount-ro	0	0
# /dev/sda8
UUID=c9ae2c0e-9947-4d77-abea-d7cfa100ea35	/multimedia	ext4	rw,errors=remount-ro	0	0
# /dev/sda9
UUID=c7a7513a-3af6-4c5b-b836-bcbcdfedbfdb	/junk	ext4	rw,errors=remount-ro	0	0
tmpfs	/tmp	tmpfs	nodev,nosuid	0	0

/dev/sr0       /media/cdrom   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8     0       0
/dev/sr1       /media/cdrom1   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8     0       0
norseman rules.d #


Here's some output of blkid and ls
Code: 
norseman rules.d # blkid
/dev/sda7: LABEL="RESERVED" UUID="2e7853e4-7844-49d7-b780-8f843297aeb6" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sdb1: UUID="21571E5901345A38" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sdc1: LABEL="DataDrive-1T" UUID="D2A24175A2415F5B" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sdd1: LABEL="200gb" UUID="337E6FAC58EF0B57" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda1: UUID="b553bcf5-23f7-4c89-9c90-93aa888ec643" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda5: UUID="25d4dd95-daea-4fda-814b-934d648a537a" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda6: UUID="fd52ccc5-d589-4274-9dd6-d2ecbeed7ae8" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda8: UUID="c9ae2c0e-9947-4d77-abea-d7cfa100ea35" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda9: UUID="c7a7513a-3af6-4c5b-b836-bcbcdfedbfdb" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sde1: LABEL="320gig" UUID="58C07603C075E7A0" TYPE="ntfs" 


norseman rules.d # ls -l /dev/ | grep cdrom
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root             3 Aug 15 22:25 cdrom -> sr1
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root             3 Aug 15 22:25 cdrom1 -> sr1
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root             3 Aug 15 23:11 cdrom2 -> sr0
crw-rw----  1 root cdrom      21,   3 Aug 15 22:25 sg3
crw-rw----  1 root cdrom      21,   6 Aug 15 22:25 sg6
brw-rw----+ 1 root cdrom      11,   0 Aug 15 23:11 sr0
brw-rw----+ 1 root cdrom      11,   1 Aug 15 22:25 sr1
norseman rules.d #

Finally, after kind of running out of things to look at, I'll include lsscsi output as well.
Code: 
norseman rules.d # lsscsi
[0:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      Hitachi HTS54161 SB4O  /dev/sda
[1:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      WDC WD5000BEVT-0 01.0  /dev/sdb
[2:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      WDC WD10EARX-00N 51.0  /dev/sdc
[3:0:0:0]    cd/dvd  TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C  SB07  /dev/sr0
[4:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      ST3200826AS      3.03  /dev/sdd
[6:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      ST9320325AS      0002  /dev/sde
[8:0:0:0]    cd/dvd  LITE-ON  DVDRW LH-20A1H   LL0D  /dev/sr1
[9:0:0:0]    disk                              8.07  /dev/sdf
norseman rules.d #

Please, someone help me make sense out of all this!
 
erm..........tl;duafw :)

But I'm sure a wizard shall be along shortly.
 
Wild guess here, but:

Have your tried just mounting one drive at a time and removing the other from your fstab? Is it possible that there might be some kind of conflict going on because there are two DVD devices?
 
DarthFishy said:
Wild guess here, but:

Have your tried just mounting one drive at a time and removing the other from your fstab? Is it possible that there might be some kind of conflict going on because there are two DVD devices?
Click to expand...
I didn't think about that! I went ahead and commented out both devices and then just one and there was no difference so far. :(
 
I use Ubuntu and had this problem several years ago. It was finally resolved by installing libdvdread4 and using VLC media player. Not sure where to get it for SolusOS. I use the Ubuntu repositories.

From the repository "libdvdread provides the functionality that is required to access many DVDs. It parses IFO files, reads NAV-blocks, and performs CSS authentication and descrambling.

libdvdread probes for libdvdcss at runtime and if found, will use it to decrypt sections of the DVD as necessary. libdvdcss needs to be installed from third-party repositories (see README.Debian), it's not included in Debian."

kevbo
 
Thanks, I'll check it out.


*ETA*

Yup, have libdvdread4, libdvdnav4, and libdvdcss2 all installed. I must have installed them earlier in my attempt to get this working.
 
Last edited:
Ah, good times. You could try:

mount /dev/scd0 /media/cdrom -t udf

Might work, might not. The fstab looks correct, at least for the line that is important.

I found when I was running Kubuntu that some disks just wouldn't work. Have you tried different kinds?
 
Yeah, two commercial DVD's (netflix) one homemade DVD and one commercial DVD drive cleaner (which seems to have had music files on it).


The Cleaning disc was the only one which was readable. The other three were not.
 
I really hope a solution can be found to this problem, Norseman. I've been investigating this, but can't find anything that hasn't already been recommended or anything useful. It's great that you're always trying out different Linux distros. I'm sure you will figure something out.
 
Can't say I've come across a failure to play DVD movies which libdvdcss hasn't solved where the hardware is ok.

If you just want to mount the discs it shouldn't be necessary, though.
 
Thanks, guys! I have to say that I'm baffled in the extreme; I can't think of a time after the turn of the century that a Linux distro of any kind failed to read and/or automount DVDs.
 
The "udf" in fstab might be causing problems. That tells linux to expect the disc to be in UDF format, but most DVDs are iso9660 format. Put a movie DVD into your drive, then try:

Code: 
mount -t iso9660 /dev/sr0 /mnt

Notes:
  • If /dev/sr0 doesn't work, it's probably because you put the disc into /dev/sr1, so try the above command again using /dev/sr1
  • The above command assumes you have a directory in your root fileystem called /mnt

Once the mount command works, try:

Code: 
ls -l /mnt

You should see two directories in there: video_ts and audio_ts. If you see them, that will confirms the DVD drive is working. Then issue the command:

Code: 
umount /mnt

to unmount the drive, and fix up /etc/fstab by replacing udf with iso9660. That might be enough to get things working as expected.
 
abaddon said:
I'm not clear on this from the OP, but is it possible that both drives are masters on the same bus?
Click to expand...

If you're thinking of the old CD/DVD ROM drives that use an IDE interface with a 40 or 80 pin cable, that's not the case here. As the OP said:

The Norseman said:
I've got one SATA internal DVDRW and an external usb DVDRW ...
Click to expand...
 
Blue Mountain said:
abaddon said:
I'm not clear on this from the OP, but is it possible that both drives are masters on the same bus?
Click to expand...

If you're thinking of the old CD/DVD ROM drives that use an IDE interface with a 40 or 80 pin cable, that's not the case here. As the OP said:

The Norseman said:
I've got one SATA internal DVDRW and an external usb DVDRW ...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
It was just a thought. My knee-jerk was drivers.
 
An update:

Found that a few years back, a certain linux kernel didn't support dvd drives if the computer has more than four gigs of RAM.

I've got sixteen gigs currently, but I can't find anything that says that this bug has not been fixed since 2008 (when I read that this bug appeared).
 
Heh. Yeah, had been looking into Arch for a while now, but decided that I'd go for something simpler to install. Go figure.
 
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