Ubuntu 5.10 wont automount DVD/CD-RW

[The Grum]

HI. I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 with a HL_DT_STCD_RW/DVD_ROM_GCC_4240N DVD/CD-RW drive. I just installed Ubuntu 5.10 and everything works pretty well except inserting a data disc does nothing. I can mount it as root via MENU->System->Administration->Disks and can access it fine (I have to unmount it from there as well) but nothing happens as a user.

Attempts to mount (as user) from "Computer" gives the error:

Error: given UDI is not a mountable volume

Device Manager shows (im assuming this is the right thing):

block.device string /dev/hdb (this is correct)

info.udi string /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_HL_DT_STCD_RW/DVD_ROM_GCC_4240N

storage.media_check_enabled false
storage.policy.desired_mount_point string cdrom (tries to mount as /media/cdrom0)
storage.policy.mount_filesystem string auto
storage.policy.should_mount bool true
storage.policy.removable bool true
storage.policy.requires_eject bool true

If more info is needed, please tell me how to copy all the info from Device Manager (no Cut & Paste). Ta.

Thanks in advance

The Grum

[The Grum]

If it helps:

Kubuntu had no problems with the drive. SuSE 10 (KDE, using submount) had the exact same problem Ubuntu is having.

[Parcival]

Do you have the "user" option in /etc/fstab in the line that corresponds with your drive?

[The Grum]

No. From what Ive read, I think HAL adds the entry to fstab when a disc is inserted and remove it once it is ejected. (My USB Stick works fine and there is no fstab entry for that. I havent checked fstab when the stick is inserted.)

[The Grum]

After some hunting around, I found out this is a known bug in Ubuntu.

I havent tried this yet, but the fix seems to be (from ubuntuforums.org):


This is a bug that is being worked on.

The interim fix is via System >> Administration >> Users and Groups

Select the Groups tab an check the box to turn on "Show all users and groups"

Find the groups 'plugdev' and 'cdrom' and add the group member 'hal' to both of them.

Also Make sure that your users are added to these groups as well.

[The Grum]

Ok, that didnt work. It is already set up that way.

Ill just add an icon to mount it manually till a fix comes along.

[Parcival]

No. From what Ive read, I think HAL adds the entry to fstab when a disc is inserted and remove it once it is ejected. (My USB Stick works fine and there is no fstab entry for that. I havent checked fstab when the stick is inserted.)

That's right, there is no fstab entry for USB devices as it's being dynamically created when the USB stick is being plugged in. However, there definitely is an entry for your CD-ROM if it's a built in CD-ROM and not an external USB CD-ROM. If you add "user" to that entry, permission is given to users to mount that specific drive. Without that option only root can do that.

[The Grum]

Yep, you are right. There is an entry for the CD-ROM and it does contain "users".

A workaround I found on another forum involves (in case anyone else is having the same problem):

1) Restart dbus

$sudo /etc/init.d/dbus restart

2) Restart gnone-volume-manager

$killall gnome-volume-manager
$gnome-volume-manager --start

3)Restart gnome-panel

$killall gnome-panel

4)Restart nautilus

$killall nautilus

(A way to run this automatically on login would be great!)

It works, but the CD-ROM wont automount (and there are no dbus messages generated when a disc is inserted). Double-clicking the CD-ROM icon in Computer will mount the drive and add the desktop icon without any problems.

[Parcival]

(A way to run this automatically on login would be great!)

I don't know about Gnome, but in my ~/.kde folder I have a subfolder called "Autostart". All I do is putting scripts I want to be executed at KDE startup into this folder.

So the answer to your question is: make a script out of your shellcommands and look for a place in Gnome where it's being executed when Gnome starts.

[The Grum]

Well, it turns out that my drive is blacklisted for the version of HAL shipped in 5.10. :rolleyes: That might explain why it isnt working.

From http://cvs.freedesktop.org/hal/hal/ChangeLog?view=markup


2005-10-21 Danny Kukawka <danny.kukawka@web.de>

* fdi/preprobe/10osvendor/10-ide-drives.fdi: removed no longer
needed blacklist entry for 'HL-DT-STCD-RW/DVD-ROM GCC-4240N'.
This work fine at least with kernel 2.6.13 (tested with SUSE).


Im happy enough to use the workaround for now as Im definitely not up to compiling a new kernel (yet!).

[The Grum]

In case anyone is having the same problems, there is a fix available.

Open a terminal and type:

$wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/p/pmount/pmount_0.9.6-1_i386.deb

$sudo dpkg -i pmount_0.9.6-1_i386.deb

That should fix most of the problems. I dont need the workaround now, but the DVD drive will still not automount.