[nu2linux]

I get the message:

"I can't access a Mandrake Linux Installation disc in your CDROM drive (TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-1902B)"

The last time I used the disked about a month ago it installed just fine. What factors would keep it from installing this time? *Right now I have no OS installed. I would HATE to have to go back to w2k. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

-nu2linux

[danleff]

First, give a few detaila about your system, so we can understand what system that you have.

I assume that you have a laptop, based on the CDROM drive that you are using, and that this is your first install on this system?

Are you using disk #1 of the mandrake disks to install?

Is the bios set to boot from CDROM first?

Was the Mandrake disk burned on another computer system? Sometimes, older CDROM drives have trouble reading CDROM's burned with newer CD-RW drives. Or, if the burned CDROM disk is a CD-RW disk and not a CD-R disk, this can be an issue on some systems.

[ChessMan]

I get "I can't access a Mandrake Linux Installation disc in your CDROM drive (HL-DT-ST GCE 8525B). Retry?" message when I try to install Mandrake 9.1. I've used this distribution disk set on another machine with perfect success.

Another interesting point is that I tried switching CD-RW drives with the other machine (that has Mandrake successfully installed on it) and the install still gave me a similar message: "I can't access a Mandrake Linux Installation disc in your CDROM drive (HL-DT-ST GCE 8160B). Retry?" So the cause of the problem is not the CD-RW drive. It must be something else. The rest of my hardware on the problem machine is:

Maxtor 6Y120P0 (master)
Maxtor 6E030L0 (slave)
The cd-rw listed above in the error message
no floppy drive
Asus P4P800 deluxe motherboard
P4 2.4C
1024MB of OCZ RAM
ATI 9600xt video card

Any ideas are welcome because I'm stumped.

[Psion]

Silly question, but was the CD made 'Bootable CD' when burnt??

[ChessMan]

Yes certainly.

This very same CD was used to install Linux on another machine without problems.

[danleff]

Not the CD-RW drive but the media. Well, at least if you made sure that you attached the CDRW drive the same way that you had it in the other system, namely if it was jumpered correctly for the cable that it was attached to.

In other words, if jumpered for master, that it was on the secondary IDE cable, at the primary connection to the cable (master). Or if set for slave, to the secondary connection on either the primary or secondary IDE.

Usually, the issue is funky media. Inexpensive discs. Or, just luck that it worked the first time and not the second.

CD-RW media, I have found can be quirky. So, if I keep a disc, or set, I burn them on CD-R media.

[ChessMan]

The media is a CD-R. I used the CD-R to install Linux on my Dell. I've another machine, which I built myself. Using the same CD-R I cannot install Linux on the new machine that I built.

To rule out the possibilty of a problem with the CD-RW drive, I swapped it for the CD-RW drive that was in my Dell. I continued to have a similar error.

The computer is built properly (the jumpers are set correctly for example). The new computer also currently has a working Windows XP operating system on it now. I'm attempting to make it a dual boot machine like I did with my Dell.

[danleff]

If you were able to read other burned data or images made with the original (self built system) media, then you are probably looking at a media burn issue.

For example, iso images burned at faster than 8X. This is a common issue that produces varying results and can be difficult to pin down.

Double check the instructions for the CDRW drive for their suggestions on how to set the jumpers. Some drives suggest master or slave, some suggest cable select. I ran into this before.

The remote possibility is a bad ide cable. Consider this as well.

Also, consult the motherboard's web site to see if they have any faq's on CDRW or CDROM issues. This may reveal some possibilities.

[ChessMan]

The motherboard website has nothing on this, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were a motherboard issue. I did try playing with some BIOS settings.

I've also tried different jumper settings on the CD-RW.

Here's some new info: when I press Alt-F4 for "kernal messages" after I recieve the " I can't ..." error message stated above, the last two lines reads something like "The drive appears confused (ireason = 0x 1)" in reference to the CD-RW. The 3rd last line says something like trying to read from the CD-RW drive or something so that's why I think the last two lines are referring to the CD-RW drive.

Just so everyone is clear as I haven't explicitly stated this, but I'm not having any trouble booting from the CD. The Mandrake install process starts okay, but after detecting USB devices, it moves on to this issue with the CD-RW and the install just stops.

I'm also having difficulty understanding how this can be a problem caused by the CD image. The image worked on the Dell. The image doesn't work on my new computer, with either the new CD-RW drive or the when I swap my old CD-RW drive from the Dell into my new computer.

Finally, the computer is new and has a working copy of windows xp on it. So I've installed quite a bit of software using the CD-RW without any problems. The ide cable therefore cannot be faulty as other issues would have surfaced before now.

Thanks for your input.

[dsorge]

Finally, some folks with the same problem. I was trying to install MDK9.2 on a Dell Laptop, CSx that previously had MDK9.1. The CD works great in every other computer I own. Strange, it boots with the CD but then a minute later, doesn't see it. Went through the same thing as ChessMan.

[ChessMan]

So are you saying that the machine had accepted a Mandrake 9.1 installation, but it currently won't install Mandrake 9.2?

[dsorge]

ChessMan,

Yes, I used to run 9.1 on it without a hitch. I then decided to start with a fresh OS, that being 9.2, when I ran into problems similiar to yours.

[morpheustux]

Drake 9.2 has been known to kill CD-R's from several makers, LG, IBM, COMPAQ.
I am not sure about Toshiba but I believe they were mentioned in a post on the LG web site.
There are some patches out to fix the problems, but it's not pretty. Drake killed my cheap LG CRD-8322B and I have not gotten an OS back on that machine yet.
Go Googling for Mandrake 9.2 CD rom issues and you should find some more info. CDRW have not been reported as having problems.
Sorry I dont have links.
Good Luck

[ChessMan]

My problem isn't caused by the CD-ROM drive as I swapped it for another CD-ROM drive that is known to be okay with Mandrake and the problem persisted.

I don't know about dsorge; maybe his problem is different than mine.

[dsorge]

Well, I am reading several articles about installing MDK9.2 on machines using LG CDROM drives. Apparantly it "jacks" them up, epecially on Dell brand machines. That about covers my issue. Thanks for everybody's insight.