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CD-ROM problem



"Shlomo Solomon" writes:
 > Hi,

<Part about installing Slackware from cdrom and then not being able to
mount the cdrom deleted>

 > I tried adding sbpcd=0x340 (and a few other addresses) as a
 > parameter to the LILO boot line. I also tried adding this as an
 > "append" to the lilo.conf file - but either I misunderstood the
 > installation instructions or did something wrong -- OR BOTH.

First of all, slackware boot files stink, so it might be that
everything's fine, but the system can't mount the cdrom at boot time
(do you even have a cd in the drive at boot time?  If it's not there,
it can't mount it, which is a good reason for not mounting CDs at boot
time to begin with.)

So, first of all, carefully read all your boot messages.  Towards the
beginning there should be some message about trying to detect the
cdrom drive and either doing it or failing.  Towards the end will be
the messages you already saw about not being able to mount the stupid
thing. 

As for how to see the boot messages (and Important system log messages
in general):
   1. slackware comes with the dmesg command (or something like that)
      which will list them out.
   2. Find out where the standard slackware setup stores your log
      messages, maybe the /var/adm/ directory in one or more files.
      All startup messages should be found there.  Checking
      /etc/syslog.conf might tell you.

In my log messages, I see something like this:

Jun  7 12:55:34 bogart kernel: hda: Conner Peripherals 200MB - CP3204F, 202MB w/64K
B Cache, CHS=683/16/38, MaxMult=128
Jun  7 12:55:34 bogart kernel: hdb: Conner Peripherals 420MB - CFS420A, 406MB w/64K
B Cache, CHS=826/16/63, MaxMult=64
Jun  7 12:55:34 bogart kernel: hdc: FX400_02, ATAPI, CDROM drive

This shows that the CDROM drive was detected when the ide interface
driver was brought up.  For the Soundblaster CDROM drive it wouldn't
necessarily be right after the hard disks.

Anyway, if the cdrom drive is detected, try inserting a CD and
mounting it by hand.  I forget what device your cdrom would be, but
assuming it's /dev/sbpcd, and assuming you have a /cdrom directory at
which you'd like to mount the cdrom, you'll do something like the
following (as root):

   mount -t iso9660 /dev/sbpcd /cdrom

(You might need a readonly flag on the mount command.  Check the man
pages for details.)

If the cdrom isn't detected during boot, it still might be that the
driver is in your kernel, but it's misconfigured.  I'd presume that
the sbpcd=xxxx tries already covered that base, but you can check the
CDROM HOWTO, and that howto detailing all the boot parameter settings
(and maybe the SOUND HOWTO) to make sure.

If it's still not detected, it might be a slackware installation bug.
I believe that Slackware doesn't necessarily install the same kernel
as it used during installation.  Either:

   1. Install a different kernel from the slackware distribution that
      includes drivers for your CDROM (I believe slackware comes with
      a set of precompiled kernels that you can install), or
   2. Install gcc and the linux kernel sources and compile and install
      it yourself.

 > I know that eventually, to run LINUX properly, I'll have to start
 > learning about kernels, compiling, and all the other "fun" stuff.
 > But in the meantime, is there a way I can get access to the CD ?
 > BTW, since I didn't yet install the C compiler, I can't "play" with
 > the kernel, etc until I get access to my CD to install the tools
 > I'll need - unless of course I copy some stuff to my DOS partition
 > - I do have access to that, so I guess I am doing some things
 > right.

That's a solution.  Another possibility is to just boot using the
slackware boot/root installation disks and continue installation from
there.

Good luck,

Dr. Harvey J. Stein
Berger Financial Research
abel@netvision.net.il


References: