Somehow Mandrake 8.1 is seeing my dvdrom as my cd and vice versa. For example: when I try to install software through the manager it will open the dvdrom and ask for the installation disc but it won't install from the dvdrom. I have to open the cdrom and insert the disc to make it work. Also my cdrom won't play music discs, only my dvd will. And lastly when I try to run Xine it tells me it can't mount dvd/hdd so I'm thinking it's because it has the drives mixed up. I installed a new sound card and I've tried switching the inputs back and forth but that didn't work. What else should I try? Sorry I don't have my fstab here at work but I can post it later when I get home if need be.

it's pretty sure it's down to fstab. check where /dev/dvd and /dvd/cdrom point to, it's likely you'll want to swap the links around. try ejecting the drives...

eject /dev/dvd

if that opens the cd drive then you'll want to swap the links over.

ls -l /dev/dvd /dev/cdrom
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Oct 25 19:46 /dev/cdrom -> /dev/hdg
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Jan 24 22:58 /dev/dvd -> /dev/hdf

ln -sf /dev/hdg /dev/cdrom
ln -sf /dev/hdf /dev/dvd

the /dev/dvd and cdrom files are only pretend, and can safely be overwritten.

acutally tho, you're on MD81, which uses devfsd instead of a flat system, which might make that not work, in which case wiring up the devices backwards in fstab should do the trick, i just think that's a little bit of a cludge.

Thanks for the help. I'm still in the infancy stage here so I have 1 question. If the results of my ls -l look like this (or similar)

ls -l /dev/dvd /dev/cdrom
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Oct 25 19:46 /dev/cdrom -> /dev/hdg
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Jan 24 22:58 /dev/dvd -> /dev/hdf

The I can just do the ln -sf like below in a console as su instead of overwriting my fstab?

ln -sf /dev/hdg /dev/cdrom
ln -sf /dev/hdf /dev/dvd

Thanks again.

well, it's a nicer solution, more concreet, but like i said devfsd will nuke them as the /dev directory is created automaticall on boot if you use that.

Ok here's the response I get from an

[root@dsl-xx-xxx-xx-xxx trent]# ls -l /dev/dvd /dev/cdrom
lr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 13 Feb 12 18:10 /dev/cdrom -> cdroms/cdrom0
lr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 3 Feb 12 18:10 /dev/dvd-> hdc

Ok and the part that says /dev/dvd->hdc is inside a blinking red box?????? I did an eject dev/cdrom and sure enough it opened my dvdrom.

Here's my fstab. Sorry for look but the wordwrap messes it up a bit.

/dev/hda6 / ext2 defaults 1 1
none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0

/dev/hda8 /home ext2 defaults 1 2

/dev/scd0 /mnt/cdrom auto user,iocharset=iso8859-1,umask=0,exec,codepage=850,ro,noauto 0 0

/dev/hdd /mnt/cdrom2 auto user,iocharset=iso8859-1,umask=0,exec,codepage=850,ro,noauto 0 0

/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto user,iocharset=iso8859-1,umask=0,sync,exec,codepage=850,noauto 0 0

/dev/hda1 /mnt/windows vfat iocharset=iso8859-1,umask=0,codepage=850 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0

/dev/hda7 swap swap defaults 0 0

hmm, ok a number of thigns there then, you'ev got the dvd installed as sec slave, without a master, so i'd recommend you changed the jumpers on it to master. this will then make it into hdc, removing the flashing red jobby. you'd then also need to change the reference in fstab from hdd to hdc. You're defintiely using devfs (from the cdroms/cdrom0 bit) so i don't htink remaking symlinks will be persistant, and including them in a startup file is a bit of a pants solution. for now, change the dvd drive to hdc and see if that fixes all the problems. depending on how devfs works (something i know nothing about), you probelms *might* dissapear. if not, come back.

that's a really manky hostname you got there, you should be able to set your hostname to whatever you want using the 'hostname' program

Ok so I think I'm making a bit of progress. I changed the fstab to /dev/hdd for the dvd and then changed it in the properties which I guess is the symlink???? So now when I eject /dev/dvd my dvdrom opens, however, it also opens when I /dev/cdrom too.

The biggest thing is just to get the cdrom to play cds and the dvd to play dvds. I've been fooling around with xine and now it actually can locate my dvd. Only problem is it says it can't find a demuxer blah blah blah. Is there anything else you can see in that fstab that looks weird? Every time I see someone post their's it says iso 9660.

Oh and about that user name. If you mean the X's I was logged onto the net and have a static IP so I'd rather not post it all over the net. Hell if I get hacked I might as well atleast make them work for it right?

Thanks for all your help again Acid.

with the symlink thing... /dev/dvd is pointing to /dev/hdc yes? but hdc is the sec master, which is not connected on your system. you should open her up, and change the jumpers on the dvd drive to master, meaning it will then BE hdc, and that nasty thing will go away. THEN you should really change hdd to dvd in the fstab, meaning that most progs that use /dev/dvd will always be able to acces it as hdc, regardless of how they get there.

hostname, no, my computer is called trevor, your's is called dsl-xx-xxx-xx-xxx. i know which i prefer... it's easy to change.

Well yeah I think th symlink was like that. Here's what I did. I logged in as root, changed the fstab from /dev/cdrom2(which I'm guessing was my dvd)/hdc to show now as /dev/dvd/hdd. Then I logged out and then back in as myself and went to the dvd icon. Right click-properties-changed the link in the drop down to /dev/hdd to match the fstab. Everything is working now, well with the exception that if I do eject /dev/dvd and /dev/cdrom they both open my dvd. Does that sound right?? I tried testing with xine to make sure the dvd works but I've got a lot of encrypted dvds and can't find the certain thing I need to play these (yeah I know it "illegal")

Sorry I misunderstood about the host name thing. I just got my dsl up and running and didn't even know it showed my host name that way. Guess I'll have to figure out how to change that next.

well, as for dvd, get the captaincss d4d plugin, or better, use MPlayer (mplayerhq.hu) instead. works great, have a search around for discussions.

cdrom drive, erm well i'd say try changing the /dev/cdrom symlink to /dev/hdb (i presume it is on primary slave...?) instead of cdrom0, as that *should* only be a link to hdX, maybe that's picked up the wrong drive. alternatively, change the fstab entry to set it directly to /dev/hdb or whichever device it is.

I looked all over for the d4d plug-in but most of the sites are gone. I'll give the mplayer a go and see what happens.

It seems like Mandrake makes the cdrom scd0. I've seen a few others post that as well. I'll go make the switch and maybe that'll straighten me out. Once again thanks for all the help.

oh pants, yeah scd0. that's used to allow cd burners to work.. you ARE using a burner i take it? if not, that explains a lot... IF not, remove the words ide-scsi=hdX in /etc/lilo.conf and re run lilo

Dang thanks for saying something. I had no idea the scd0 meant it was a burner, which I am using. So i haven't changed the fstab yet and will just leave it the way it is for now.

Oh I forgot to ask if mplayer came with any type of d4d plugin like the css one?