External DVD Writer issues

Sheila_Flanagan · July 7, 2024, 7:06pm

This is the first time I have tried to use this external DVD/CD writer (OWC Model #OWCMR3USD24) and am on my MX Linux machine. The manufacturer’s website says it works with Windows & Mac OS and has downloads for drivers and other software to use for controlling the drive (eject, etc.) but I assume Linux can find the device and apply the most logical driver available, as the drive is recognized.

I can see the dvd title in file manager but trying to mount the drive fails. After waiting some time, I hit “unmount” and the ejecting device displays stating that it may take some time. And from there, although the system is useable, it continues to say there is a running operation in mounting or unmounting the drive. I am unable to select “restart” due to this and have to use a hard reboot to kill the process as task manager is unsuccessful.

I did try booting into Garuda and ran updates. Not sure if the following relates to this device not mounting, but since it had never had an error prior to this, just wondering:

(9/21 Reloading device manager configuartion...
^[[3~^[[3~Timed out waiting the udev queue being empty.
error: command failed to execute correctly

So I am wondering if there needs to be some specific driver or other libraries installed in order for it to work.

I opened Handbrake (DVD ripper) and selected the source /dev/sr-0 (as found in dmesg below) but it continued to scan the drive without ever successfully loading the DVD. I assume this is because the device was never mounted.

I ran dmsg for any info on the drive. I am inserting only what I think is related to this USB-connected device:

usb 4-4: new SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[24366.850952] usb 4-4: New USB device found, idVendor=1e91, idProduct=de2c, bcdDevice= 1.00
[24366.850963] usb 4-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=1
[24366.850967] usb 4-4: Product: Mercury Pro Optical
[24366.850970] usb 4-4: Manufacturer: Other World Computing
[24366.850972] usb 4-4: SerialNumber: 2211248805C6
[24366.852939] usb-storage 4-4:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[24366.853332] scsi host2: usb-storage 4-4:1.0
[24367.916358] scsi 2:0:0:0: CD-ROM            HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSD5  LV00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[24367.916838] scsi 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 5
[24367.954769] sr 2:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[24367.968476] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] scsi3-mmc drive: 48x/48x writer dvd-ram cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray
[24367.968479] cdrom: Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
[24367.974631] sr 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
[24447.530191] usb 4-4: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[24447.543015] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[24447.543021] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 02 00
[24447.543023] I/O error, dev sr0, sector 4096 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[24447.548178] sr 2:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[24477.742333] usb 4-4: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[24477.766864] sr 2:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[24507.944910] usb 4-4: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[24513.963491] sr 2:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[24513.963949] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_ABORT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=66s
[24513.963953] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 02 00
[24513.963955] I/O error, dev sr0, sector 4096 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 2 prio class 2
[24513.963964] Buffer I/O error on dev sr0, logical block 1024, async page read
[24513.963968] Buffer I/O error on dev sr0, logical block 1025, async page read
[24544.812078] usb 4-4: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[24544.825539] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[24544.825548] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 00 36 80 00 00 00 80 00
[24544.825551] I/O error, dev sr0, sector 14286848 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 64 prio class 2
[24544.831053] sr 2:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[24544.969578] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=0s
[24544.969587] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] 
[24544.969591] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 Add. Sense: Read of scrambled sector without authentication
[24544.969594] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 00 36 80 15 00 00 01 00
[24544.969596] I/O error, dev sr0, sector 14286932 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[24544.969606] Buffer I/O error on dev sr0, logical block 3571733, async page read
[24545.180181] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=0s
[24545.180191] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] 
[24545.180195] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 Add. Sense: Read of scrambled sector without authentication
[24545.180199] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 00 00 04 01 00 00 01 00
[24545.180202] I/O error, dev sr0, sector 4100 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[24545.180214] Buffer I/O error on dev sr0, logical block 1025, async page read
[24576.046361] usb 4-4: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[24576.060292] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[24576.060300] sr 2:0:0:0: [sr0] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 02 00
[24576.060302] I/O error, dev sr0, sector 4096 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[24576.065958] sr 2:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[24606.253622] usb 4-4: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[24606.279497] sr 2:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[24636.453884] usb 4-4: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[24642.476408] sr 2:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[24822.697451] INFO: task scsi_eh_2:34937 blocked for more than 122 seconds.
[24822.697463]       Tainted: P           OE      6.5.0-1mx-ahs-amd64 #1 Debian 6.5.3-1~mx23ahs
[24822.697467] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
[24822.697469] task:scsi_eh_2       state:D stack:0     pid:34937 ppid:2      flags:0x00004000
[24822.697477] Call Trace:
[24822.697480]  <TASK>
[24822.697485]  __schedule+0x3c5/0xb60
[24822.697497]  schedule+0x61/0xe0
[24822.697503]  io_schedule+0x46/0x70
[24822.697510]  blk_mq_get_tag+0x11e/0x2b0
[24822.697516]  ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10
[24822.697523]  __blk_mq_alloc_requests+0x1bc/0x350
[24822.697530]  blk_mq_alloc_request+0x239/0x280
[24822.697536]  ? _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x27/0x60
[24822.697547]  scsi_alloc_request+0xf/0x30 [scsi_mod]
[24822.697588]  scsi_error_handler+0x1df/0x590 [scsi_mod]
[24822.697622]  ? __pfx_scsi_error_handler+0x10/0x10 [scsi_mod]
[24822.697650]  kthread+0xf4/0x130
[24822.697657]  ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[24822.697664]  ret_from_fork+0x31/0x50
[24822.697673]  ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[24822.697679]  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30
[24822.697689]  </TASK>
[24945.578401] INFO: task scsi_eh_2:34937 blocked for more than 245 seconds.
[24945.578410]       Tainted: P           OE      6.5.0-1mx-ahs-amd64 #1 Debian 6.5.3-1~mx23ahs
[24945.578414] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
[24945.578415] task:scsi_eh_2       state:D stack:0     pid:34937 ppid:2      flags:0x00004000
[24945.578422] Call Trace:
[24945.578424]  <TASK>
[24945.578432]  __schedule+0x3c5/0xb60
[24945.578443]  schedule+0x61/0xe0
[24945.578448]  io_schedule+0x46/0x70
[24945.578453]  blk_mq_get_tag+0x11e/0x2b0
[24945.578458]  ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10
[24945.578465]  __blk_mq_alloc_requests+0x1bc/0x350
[24945.578471]  blk_mq_alloc_request+0x239/0x280
[24945.578476]  ? _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x27/0x60
[24945.578485]  scsi_alloc_request+0xf/0x30 [scsi_mod]
[24945.578520]  scsi_error_handler+0x1df/0x590 [scsi_mod]
[24945.578549]  ? __pfx_scsi_error_handler+0x10/0x10 [scsi_mod]
[24945.578575]  kthread+0xf4/0x130
[24945.578581]  ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[24945.578587]  ret_from_fork+0x31/0x50
[24945.578593]  ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[24945.578598]  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30
[24945.578606]  </TASK>
[24945.578609] INFO: task (udev-worker):35513 blocked for more than 122 seconds.
[24945.578612]       Tainted: P           OE      6.5.0-1mx-ahs-amd64 #1 Debian 6.5.3-1~mx23ahs
[24945.578615] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
[24945.578617] task:(udev-worker)   state:D stack:0     pid:35513 ppid:570    flags:0x00004006
[24945.578621] Call Trace:
[24945.578622]  <TASK>
[24945.578624]  __schedule+0x3c5/0xb60
[24945.578630]  schedule+0x61/0xe0
[24945.578635]  schedule_preempt_disabled+0x18/0x30
[24945.578640]  __mutex_lock.constprop.0+0x3b4/0x700
[24945.578647]  blkdev_put+0x3c/0x1d0
[24945.578655]  blkdev_release+0x2b/0x40
[24945.578658]  __fput+0xf2/0x2a0
[24945.578663]  task_work_run+0x5a/0x90
[24945.578667]  do_exit+0x360/0xb20
[24945.578672]  do_group_exit+0x31/0x80
[24945.578677]  get_signal+0x997/0x9d0
[24945.578681]  ? blkdev_read_iter+0x6b/0x1c0
[24945.578684]  arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x3e/0x2a0
[24945.578690]  exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x18c/0x1d0
[24945.578697]  syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x1b/0x40
[24945.578704]  do_syscall_64+0x6b/0xc0
[24945.578710]  ? __count_memcg_events+0x73/0xc0
[24945.578716]  ? count_memcg_events.constprop.0+0x1a/0x30
[24945.578721]  ? handle_mm_fault+0x9e/0x350
[24945.578727]  ? preempt_count_add+0x4b/0xa0
[24945.578732]  ? up_read+0x3b/0x80
[24945.578737]  ? do_user_addr_fault+0x18c/0x640
[24945.578744]  ? fpregs_assert_state_consistent+0x26/0x50
[24945.578747]  ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x40/0x1d0
[24945.578753]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8
[24945.578761] RIP: 0033:0x7f9141f8b19d
[24945.578765] RSP: 002b:00007ffd27939548 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000000
[24945.578769] RAX: fffffffffffffffc RBX: 000055673c2871a0 RCX: 00007f9141f8b19d
[24945.578771] RDX: 0000000000000200 RSI: 000055673c2b4998 RDI: 000000000000000e
[24945.578773] RBP: 0000000000200000 R08: 000055673c385780 R09: 00007f9142065e40
[24945.578775] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 000055673c2b4970
[24945.578777] R13: 0000000000000200 R14: 000055673c2871f8 R15: 000055673c2b4988

It looks to me like it keeps testing the drive but ultimately fails, since the same process is repeated multiple times. Any assistance greatly appreciated

Sheila

pdecker · July 7, 2024, 7:22pm

I just bought a 5 CD set of Toto from Amazon a few weeks ago and then found I don’t have a working CD drive in the house. My tower has two CD/DVD-RW drives, but neither is connected because I have a couple internal SATA SSDs connected instead.

So, I bought an inexpensive external USB CD/DVD-RW drive. It says Dell on it, but no idea who makes it. This seems to work fine for me to rip the new CDs to mp3. I used Ubuntu 24.04 and a program called “abcde”. Yup, that’s really the name. It did work, but it didn’t tag the resulting mp3 files very well. I manually corrected that but will look for another tool to do my ripping. I don’t do that very often but have thought I might re-rip my CD collection. The theory is that the tech may have improved since I ripped them 10+ years ago originally. Maybe I’ll get better sound and/or smaller files.

To answer your question, I didn’t have any issues with mounting or unmounting that I can recall.

Sheila_Flanagan · July 7, 2024, 7:38pm

Thanks @pdecker. The drive was purchased for the DVD/Blu-ray factor, but of course it R/W CDs as well. I was quite miffed that I spent weeks uploading CDs (when I still had a tower with an active drive) to Apple Music so I could have all my collection “in the cloud” only to find out that in Linux, you cannot download them again with Apple music web browser or “Cider” the Apple Music app for Linux.

So I will now have to spend the time getting my collection “local” so I can listen to them from the pc vs. the disc. I do have one in my car, but who wants to tote around 300+ CDs? LOL. But I did want to transfer all of my DVDs to a separate drive so we could use Kodi, Plex or whatever to watch them from the various tvs in the home, or again, take with me instead of the discs when travelling.

Thanks,
Sheila

kovacslt · July 7, 2024, 8:42pm

Could be that the disc is not readable.
At least not by that drive.
DVD-RW’s usualoy have less reflection, so that could be too.
If the disc is a factory made, CSS may be a problem, you need libdvdcss2 or libdvdread to install.
I’ve seen writeable discs to fade, so they slowly loose readability. I noticed this with Maxell DVD-R discs written at the fastest allowed 16x writing speed.
Can you read this disc in any other drive?
What kind of disc is this?

pdecker · July 7, 2024, 9:09pm

Luckily, I have a USB connection in my car I can use. It has a maximum capacity of 16GB so I can’t fit my whole mp3 collection on a single stick. I do have lots and lots in the car in case I’m in a dead spot somewhere with no cellular, AM, or FM. I dropped my XM subscription.

Sheila_Flanagan · July 7, 2024, 10:10pm

Hi @kovacslt , this is a commercial DVD and the title of the disc shows up in file manager. Doesn’t that mean Linux can read the disc info?

I am not sure why the drive shows up there but will not mount. Also, the errors in Garuda as well as MX Linux indicate some type of issue. I did install libdvdcss2 as it was recommended for using Handbrake to rip commercial DVDs due to copywright.

Thanks,
Sheila

berninghausen · July 7, 2024, 11:44pm

I called XM to cancel the trial subscription packaged with our newly leased Solterra. The salesman pleaded so pathetically that I let him renew the subscription for $6 a month instead of $20. I’ve heard they go to $4 if you are a really hard case. We have the power of cancellation; we should always use it.

Sheila_Flanagan · July 7, 2024, 11:49pm

Yes, @pdecker, I also have a USB port on the bluetooth stereo, but I am not sure what the max is. I could have sworn it played once with my 128gb flash drive I made for that purpose, but the last few times I inserted it, it did nothing.

That would be fine to have multiple USB drives, but first they have to get onto the computer from CD…

If I can get the dern thing to work, I will spend a few hours over the next few weeks getting them all ripped again.

I do have the Apple Music subscription, so I can play them from there, but as you said, we often have areas without signal, so need the “real thing” for such times.

Sheila

nevj · July 8, 2024, 12:45am

That sounds likely. Detecting the hardware is one thing. Driving it properly is another.
Search the repo for drivers
Also look for firmware.
Google the device and see if you can find a driver name
Have you tried to boot from a DVD with that device?

I have one that works with linux. It is Samsung SE208. It uses 2 usb ports.

Sheila_Flanagan · July 8, 2024, 1:55am

I already have and all I found was a couple of threads where someone using Ubuntu had the same issue, but it was 3 years ago and the only advice was “use Windows.”

This is strange though, I found it no longer available, but on Amazon.uk where the OS was listed as “LINUX”

The US Amazon listing says “no driver required” and the internal drive:

Standard Mechanism

LG WH16NS40 16X 5.25" Internal Blu-ray Disc Rewriter

So I may try seeing if there is a driver/packages for the LG model of the blu-ray disc writer itself.

I would have no way to “boot” from it as that would require a CD or DVD with Linux on it. I have no way to make one as I only use flash drives and have no other CD writing drive.

You can only find the drivers/software on the maker’s site for Windows/Mac. No support for Linux.

I am going to keep connecting it to a different computer with different distros to see if one of them helps point me to the solution. Not sure if I could use my “make Windows software run in Linux” app to see if that works or even test it in my W10 VM.

Thanks,
Sheila

nevj · July 8, 2024, 2:27am

Hi Sheila,
That is a SATA CD writer.
Maybe something in sata drivers would help
Anything that works with Mac has a good chance or working with Linux.
Maybe look at udev rules… it is a hotplug device.
Regards
Neville

kovacslt · July 8, 2024, 6:14am

It was long ago, but as I can remember, without libdvdcss I could not access the content of the scrambled disc. For me It was mounted, the files showed up, but when copying files from there I got tons of read errors and such.
VLC played the disc, but the image was distorted, blocky, striped, so was a mess.
After having libdvdcss installed, VLC could play the disc flawlessly.
I don’t remember I tried to copy the files from the disc with the filemanager then, but I’m quit sure I used vobcopy to mirror the whole disc to files on my internal disc, so I could go on with working on it. Vobcopy then invovlved libdvdcss and descrambled the content, and saved a bit-perfect copy of VIDEO_TS folder and its contents, of course without the CSS.
As you have Handbrake, and have libdvdcss# installed, I think you should be ready to go.
Did you try just to rip the DVD with Handbrake?

Sheila_Flanagan · July 8, 2024, 9:03am

I did point to the drive in Handbrake and it never stopped scanning. I assume because it is in some type of “loading” scenario by the system. If I only open file manager and do not select the drive, there does not appear to be any attempt to load. If I even click on it (highlight it), it starts the little CD icon spinning and never stops.

As I said, on one system, that caused me to not even be able to kill that process and had to resort to hard reboot.

Thanks,
Sheila

kovacslt · July 8, 2024, 9:16am

Is there any other disk you can try in that drive?

Sheila_Flanagan · July 8, 2024, 9:26am

I have only tried the one DVD, which plays fine in a regular DVD player. I will try a CD and a different DVD to see if results differ.

Well certainly inserting a CD worked. I heard the disc spin and then Thunar window opened with the contents of the CD.

A different DVD? And not sure it matters, but after the CD worked, inputting another DVD worked. A Thunar window opened with the DVD contents.

Now I will try to use a ripper/burner app and see if that works.

Will update soon.

Thanks so much @kovacslt.

Sheila

kovacslt · July 8, 2024, 9:56am

So if that’s the case I tend to blame your original disc.
Well, and your drive.
I beleive, that disc may has some aging, so somewhat fading already. (Maybe scratches are present too?)
The DVD player you used to play it, still can adapt to that fading, and can play it, but for your external drive that’s already too much.
If the content on that disc is extremely procious and impossible to get from other source, probably a different model from a different vendor may be able to read it.
I used to produce many-many DVD’s before and I liked Lite-On drives more than LG drives, they seemed to be much more reliable and lasting, but need to admit, I never-ever had a bluray device, only DVD-RW devices.

Sheila_Flanagan · July 8, 2024, 10:07am

I was thinking back on what I did after installing Handbrake & libdvdcss2. I don’t think I ever removed that DVD or rebooted MX Linux. Later, I did have to reboot after some changes/updates. Maybe that is why it started working?

I did not even use Handbrake, but opened Brasero and found that it also makes 1:1 copies of DVDs. So I made the copy and it took about 3 min to complete. It made an .iso, and I was able to “play” the file with VLC.

I will put the first disk back in now. If it works, then what I suspect is the case: that I needed to remove the disc, reboot & then reinsert. If it throws me back to a non-loading pattern, I will know that it is, indeed, the disc.

Thanks again, @kovacslt!

Sheila

Sheila_Flanagan · July 8, 2024, 10:21am

Well, you were right @kovacslt. Once I inserted the original disc, the same issues returned. Undeterred, I ejected & reinserted it. Then Brasero found it, but unlike the other DVD burn, this time it kept trying to retrieve the DVD keys and was never successful. I finally cancelled it and decided you were right. It is the disc itself.

Such a simple solution, but I did not even think that would be an issue since I had just watched the original disc in a player.

Thanks for the info on DVD writers vs. players. I did not know that and had always assumed if it played in a standard DVD player, it should be read just fine in a computer.

Sheila

berninghausen · July 8, 2024, 1:56pm

I was almost embarrassed when I bought my SFF HP 6300 from NewEgg for $80. I think it was part of a large company upgrade trade-in, so it was probably gently used in a cubicle somewhere. I flushed Windows 7, added RAM and an SSD, and it works great. The best thing is that IT STILL HAS A CD R/W DRIVE.

Dropping optical drives might not be the best idea; they don’t take up much room in most desktops. Otherwise, Amazon lists a ton of external optical drives.

Sheila_Flanagan · July 8, 2024, 2:09pm

Yes, I agree. And I had always kept my older ASUS desktop because it had one. But had to give it to my mom this year when her laptop died.

But I had bought this one at low cost of $80 because it not only did the R/W DVDs/CDs, but blu-ray discs and can write to the new M-discs for storing important data without fear of disc failure or degeneration over time.

Sheila