Can't Mount CD-ROM on Presario 5200

[Dario Alcocer]

On Thu, Aug 15, 2002 at 11:31:36PM -0700, DJA wrote:
> Linux configured the drive as /dev/cdrom and attempts to mount it at 
> /mnt/cdrom, but dmesg says the drive is recognized as /dev/hdb. I have 
> tried mounting partitions hdb1-hdb4 (like with a Zip drive) but no go.

CD-ROMs don't use partitions.  The problem is probably that /dev/cdrom
(which is usually a symlink to the real /dev node) is pointing to
whatever the installer saw.  Update the symlink to point to /dev/hdb.

> Initially, the boot messages said that no drive was found for hdb. WTF?
> Is an ATAPI CD-ROM substantially different from an IDE drive? 

Well, I believe both use ATAPI as a command set; IDE happens to be
the transport mechanism for the commands.  IIRC, ATAPI is SCSI
repackaged for IDE transport.

> I found a reference to a "hdb=cdrom" parameter for the bootloader, but I 
> don't know where (or how) to add this line to Grub (I know how to get 
> into the Grub configuration at boot, but not where to add the line).

This kernel parameter tells how the kernel should talk to hdb, which
is a separate issue from /dev/cdrom.  I'd leave the parameter in
and fix the /dev/cdrom symlink first.

HTH,

-- 
Dario Alcocer -- Sr. Software Developer, Helix Digital Inc.
alcocer at helixdigital.com -- http://www.helixdigital.com