Hello everybody,

I'm new in this forum. Been running Slackware 13.37 (64bits) for a couple of months and so far so good. It works really fast but there is one troubling issue I've been unable to fix on my own.

It seems like KDE is doing something wrong every time I insert a CD/DVD. The device notifier seems to work ok, it tells me what's in the device but then I use dolphin or any other application to open the device and the entire system seems to crash. The window and the task bar freeze and the HD light stays on while the console allows me to do nothing because it says I can't write to the FS.

I've been working on my /etc/fstab file but it doesn't seem to make any difference:

/dev/sdb6 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/sdb5 / ext4 defaults 1 1
/dev/sdb7 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/win7 ntfs-3g fmask=111,dmask=000 1 0
/dev/sdb2 /mnt/data ntfs-3g fmask=111,dmask=000 1 0
/dev/sr0 /mnt/dvd auto ro,user,noauto,exec 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0

Mounting /dev/sr0 from console with no KDE running is no issue. It only crashes when starting KDE with a CD in the device or inserting it when KDE is running.

I'm running alien's KDE 4.6.4 and multilib but it does the same on a clean slackware installation.

Any help will be really appreciated.

Thanks!

I 13.37 64 bit with multi-lib as well. I looked at my /etc/fstab, and I have the line for /dev/sr0 commented out.

When I inset a DVD, I get the pop-up asking what app I want to start. Clicking on File Manager option opens the file manager without a problem. I tried this in both KDE and XFCE. Only difference is the FM that opens.

The DVD gets mounted in /media/ not in /mnt. I have never investigated the mechanism that is mounting the DVD ( just a guess UDEV probably has something to do with it ), since it gets mounted, I don't think you need the line in fstab. Try commenting it out, and running umount -a and try again; or boot and try again.

The line for /dev/sr0 was commented out in the first place but it wasn't working either. I tried running KDE as root and even using another DVD device but it keeps crashing.

:-)

What do you mean by 'crashing'? Is the only way out a cold boot? ( power off power on )? Is this some type of lock up with the system running?

Have you looked in the system logs for a clew as to what is going on?

Yep, it's the only way out. After the X crashing you get to the console sometimes but there's no way to shut down the system there. Apparently the root filesystem is turned to read only. This is some stuff I get:

mkdir hello -> Read-only file system
reboot -> bash: /sbin/reboot: Input/output error
mount -> long text telling me /etc/fstab is read-only

It looks like mounting the DVD screws the other filesystems, doesn't it? I managed to perform a "mount" before the crash and I got this:

/dev/sr0 on /media/X2PVOL_EN type iso9660 (ro,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,vid100,gid100,iocharset=utf8,mode0400,dmode=0500)

What logs should I check? Today I've checked almost every file in /var/log but I cound't find anything related. I remember finding a line that may be linked to the crash in some log but I can't remember what was the file.

Thanks!

Have you tried these key combinations when the system locks up?

Ctrl + Alt + Backspace This will restart the x-server. It will log you out, but does not take the system down.

Ctrl + Alt + F1 up to F6 should give you a bash prompt. From here you can shutdown without just powering off. That is to be avoided if at all possible.

Logs, look in /var/log/messages and /var/log/syslog.

I would also recommend you install Webmin for just this type of problem. It can be accesses from another system on the same lan, you can view logs, get a bash prompt etc. through Webmin. It can help you get a handle on what is going on. Powering off only gets you logged back in with no idea why you were locked out.

If the system is truly dead, then you may want to consider re-installing. I would not do that until you are sure all of the above ideas are exhausted.

Just a way to check the system but....

Do you have another DVD drive you can swap out and install in place of the current one to see if it might be a hardware problem (aka failing drive)?

Yes, I use these combinations to close the x-server and get back to console but I can't do much there because I get 'Read-only file system' and 'I/O error' messages. As far as logs is concerned I've checked both files but there's nothing there.

I also re-installed several times using both 32 and 64 bit slackware but finally I got fed up and configured the system leaving the problem unsolved.

I switched off my DVD drive and tried with another one but that makes no difference.

This is quite weird, isn't it? I'll keep trying and checking my logs and post if I come up with something.

Are you doing a full install?

What kernel are you using?

Yes, I'm doing a full install and using the default kernel:

Linux pollux 2.6.37.6 #3 SMP Sat Apr 9 22:49:32 CDT 2011 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9400 @ 2.66GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

It seems CD/DVD mounting is not the issue. I can let KDE mount a CD and then read it from the console. The system only hangs when opening applications like dolphin or system settings. BTW mounting a CD from console works OK until I start KDE or I open dolphin on a running KDE and then the system hangs.

It is not recommended to use the Huge kernel, that is only meant for installing. There are other kernels on the install DVD.

I would recommend you switch kernels, and see if the problems continue. See this link, about 2/3rd's of the way, it tells you how to change kernels, and create an initrd file. It also describes the reasons for switching.

The link-->http://genek.net/LinuxAdventures/sys...ackconfig.html

Thanks! I'll do it. :-)

Done with no luck, it does the same on generic kernel. :-(

Furthermore, generic kernel doesn't allow me to start linux with a disk inserted. I get something like this:

ata6.00: status: { DRDY }
ata6: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)

It keeps repeating this for a while, then it shows some lines regarding I/O errors on sdb5 (my root partition) and eventually ends up with a kernel panic. Again it looks like it screws sdb5 filesystem.

I removed the disk and reboot and everything started fine but KDE keeps hanging the system on CD insertion.

This is crazzy, I've tried everything... any other ideas?

How have you got the BIOS for this drive set? If you have a bootable DVD inserted on startup, the system may try to load it. That should not cause problems, other than the system boots from the DVD rather than the HD. You may have a problem with the BIOS settings for the drive.

When you did the install, did you install from the same drive? Sounds like a dumb question, however I have seen a few threads where the install works OK, and then the drive doesn't work after the install. This is usually a BIOS setup issue.

Is this a new system, or is this an update on a known working system?

I did nothing on BIOS for this drive but Ubuntu and Windows7 have no issues with it so I guess it must be fine.

BTW I installed slackware 13.37 (64) from the same drive and spent some days on testing the distribution and learning how to make everything work. When everything but the CD issue was fine I performed a clean installation in order to solve it but the problem seems to exist in the very first place.

I've actually been 2 months trying to figure it out with no success before posting here.