Knoppix 4.0 makes my dvd-drive BenQ DW-1640 crash!

**Jackie78** · 08-20-2005, 07:18 AM

Hi,

I just tried to boot the brand new Knoppix Linux 4.0 DVD with my BenQ 1640 dvd-writer attached to my Asus A8V motherboard (Secondary Master).

Knoppix starts to boot from that DVD, but then stops with an error saying
"Accessing Knoppix DVD at /dev/hdc.......insmod: error inserting modules/kloop.co' -1: bad file.
Booting stops at that point.

Now comes the interesting part: from this point on, the drive is hanging, neither does it eject the dvd, nor does it stop spinning. It can also not be recognized by the system bios anymore (no device), even pressing reset doesn't help. The only way to reactivate the drive in this state is to switch off the whole system and switch it on again. Up to now, I cannot say if there are any permanent damages to my drive, but it seems to be a temporary problem.

I am now interested in the following:
- can anybody reproduce what my experience?
- can anybody tell me what happend here, and whom to blame?

If you need more information let me know.

cu,

Jackie

**UnderScore** · 08-20-2005, 07:49 AM

- can anybody reproduce what my experience?
- can anybody tell me what happend here, and whom to blame?

I got my NEC ND-3540A DVD burner today. Popped into the system, upgraded the firmware from cdfreaks and then burned Knoppix 4.01 on a Verbatiam DVD+R at 8x speed. It took about 8 minutes to burn. The burned DVD+R works perfectly in my system.

How did you get the DVD ISO file? Did you use bitttorrent or did you download from a web or ftp mirror? If you did not use bitttorrent, have you checked either the MD5 or the SHA1 checksums & made sure the DVD ISO file is perfect & not corrupt? You might be wondering: "Why would you want to prove that it is a perfect download or that the DVD was burned perfectly?" The answer is: If the ISO that was downloaded has a small error, or if the DVD was burned on bad media, or if the DVD was burned too fast, it will result in crashes, lockups, and strange errors. We have seen this happen consistenly for years.

These types of questions are all documented at the Downloading FAQ http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Downloading_FAQ. So how can we help you? Perhaps you have already done them but you must do some simple tests to rule out the chances that the DVD or ISO download is the cause of the problems. If you choose not to do those tests, then there is no way we can help you determine the cause of the problems.

You asked about "whom to blame". Please see the Disclaimer.

**Jackie78** · 08-20-2005, 07:55 AM

Hi,

as I alreaday mentioned, the dvd is working perfectly, I can boot it flawlessly on other machines, or copy it to another one. The Md5 sums of course match, I check that regularely before burning an image. The image is from the torrent networtk of course, or is there another official source already?

I want to point out again that the problem is not that the software crashes, my major concern is that a piece of hardware (in this case my dvd drive) crashes after trying to boot knoppix. I can reproduce that behaviour here anytime.

What really makes me wonder is why knoppix is trying to access that device as /dev/hdc - does it think my dvd drive is a harddrive an use a wrong routine to access?

Please also note that after the knoppix splash-screen where I can select the boot , the error-message mentioned above is the first (and only) message I receive.

**UnderScore** · 08-20-2005, 08:13 AM

I apologize for you having to repeat yourself. I should have read your post better.
I am sorry that all I can say is wow. I have never heard of a working optical disc that can lock a system up but it is now certainly within the realm of possiblities.

**pixxelle** · 08-20-2005, 02:26 PM

I have a similar problem with my new Plextor DVD R-RW PX-740A.

I discovered this while trying to install Ubuntu 5.04, and then after its failure did a comparison with my KNOPPIX 3.8.1 live cd which had worked previously before adding the newer drive. All were MD5'd successfully and on name brand media.

After a lot of scrolling I got this...

end_request: I/O error, dev hdc, sector 745056
Buffer I/O error on dev hdc, logical block 186264
hdc:drive not ready for command
cloop: read error at pos 37817527 in file /cdrom/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX, 34592 bytes lost
cloop: read error -3 uncompressing block 16086
65536/0/34592/0 378317527-378352119
Buffer I/O error in device cloop0, logical block 514778
Bus error /linuxrc: cannot create /var/run/utmp:dir nonexistent
kernel panic - not syncing: VFS:unable to mount root fs on unknown block (1,3)

So I'm dead in the water until I put another CD drive in my Dell Optiplex. Maybe I'll see if there is a firmware update.

[edit: a bit later...] So here's something interesting I happened to dig up. My Plextor has the same chipset as the BenQ 1640 listed in this thread! Go look here. http://www.anandtech.com/storage/sho...spx?i=2482&p=2 A firmware upgrade for me didn't help. I think we're both hosed... bummer...

**Jackie78** · 08-20-2005, 03:16 PM

Hi,

the Benq 1640 and the Plex 740 are identical hardware, only their firmware is different!

But still I am very sure that the problem is not caused by a defective media, my DVD is flawlessly right

Since you got a Dell PC, I doubt that the rest of our hardware is comparable, I have an Athlon XP64 on an Asus A8V Board. So it seems we have to make the drive (firmware?) or Knoppix responsible for that behaviour. Maybe one of the Knoppix developers can have a closer look?

cu,

Jackie

**pixxelle** · 08-20-2005, 03:37 PM

>>Maybe one of the Knoppix developers can have a closer look? <<

Well, since both Knoppix and Ubuntu are related to Debian, maybe Debian developers in general might want to have a look.

So I'm gonna put another older drive in my box. Since we do have quite disparate hardware 'cept for the DVD drives, my opinion is that the drive *is* the problem here.

I might try another distro that is not Debian related, just for kicks...

Good luck to you.

**UnderScore** · 08-20-2005, 04:04 PM

end_request: I/O error, dev hdc, sector 745056
Buffer I/O error on dev hdc, logical block 186264
hdc:drive not ready for command
cloop: read error at pos 37817527 in file /cdrom/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX, 34592 bytes lost
cloop: read error -3 uncompressing block 16086
65536/0/34592/0 378317527-378352119
Buffer I/O error in device cloop0, logical block 514778
Bus error /linuxrc: cannot create /var/run/utmp:dir nonexistent

cloop errors usually indicate that the CD/DVD media itself is bad or was burned too fast. Evidence of this can be found in these forums. You can search the forum or see a google search.

Then again it may be related to a Knoppix problem. There will be a 4.02 bug fix release soon.