Ubuntu DVD Writing Lockups

I switched to Ubuntu from Slackware a couple of weeks ago now, and most of my hardware worked off the bat (it is worth noting that it all worked OK in Slackware).

There were two casualties, one was my onboard network card, the other was my DVD Writer. Luckily I don't burn DVDs all the time, but this weekend when I tried (after installing K3B) I found that the computer locked solid part way into the burn. Everything was frozen: mouse, keyboard, network, the lot.

On testing I found that my CD Writer (I've got a CD Writer and a DVD writer installed - don't ask) worked fine, but the DVD burner locked the PC solid every time, even when doing a simulated burn.

So what is going wrong? Windows XP can burn DVDs without problems. Slackware Linux can also burn DVDs without breaking a sweat. Ubuntu 8.04 - nope.

A bit of research courtesy of Google revealed that a lot of people have had this problem - and there is a solution to it.

Chances are if you are having this issue then your motherboard has either a VIA or AMD based chipset (mine is a VIA). Ubuntu have changed the way that IDE drives are accessed, switching to new pata_via and pata_amd modules from the original via82cxxx and amd74xx ones.

There is a problem with these modules, and that is that for some reason if you have a 40-wire IDE cable (the old fashioned black and grey one) attached to your burner it will fail to work reliably. Switching to a new 80-wire one (blue, grey and black) fixes the problem.

I've got to admit, I'm not keen on this as a solution. If the module doesn't detect the hardware configuration properly but other operating systems do then that suggests an inherent problem with the modules.

A bit more research revealed this to be a likely cause.

So, while we look for an 80-wire IDE cable to test this with, can we get the burning working again?

Yes we can.

A forum post here (which also includes the info on the 80-wire cable) gives the following advice (tweaked for the 2.6.24-19 kernel).

BIG FAT WARNING - You are responsible for any changes you make to your system - back up anything important before continuing. . . . .

0. download and unzip ide-modules.zip

1. sudo cp via82cxxx.ko amd74xx.ko /lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/kernel/drivers/ide/pci/

2. sudo depmod -a

3. sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-local

4. add 2 following lines:

blacklist pata_via
blacklist pata_amd

5. sudo update-initramfs -u

6. sudo reboot

You may also want to check your /etc/fstab if you have any custom drive mappings in here - as it will change your /dev/sd?? devices back to /dev/hd?? ones.

A big hint for this is to take advantage of the partition UUID when mapping your partitions.

You should see that Ubuntu has already mapped your root and swap partitions using UUID strings.

To convert your own fstab to UUIDs do the following (don't forget to take a copy of your existing fstab just-in-case):

1 - run the following command against the partition you want to change (change hdd7 to whatever your partition is), eg:

sudo vol_id /dev/hdd7

This will return the UUID of the partition.

c90cc868-2b06-4f77-9ddc-d0a7e16f200b

2 - Next, open your fstab and amend the parition line to include your UUID

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

Change the line as follows:

/dev/hdd7 /mnt/linstor1 reiserfs defaults,noatime,nodiratime,data=writeback 0 0

to

UUID=c90cc868-2b06-4f77-9ddc-d0a7e16f200b /mnt/linstor1 reiserfs defaults,noatime,nodiratime,data=writeback 0 0

The UUID is constant regardless of whether the partition is recognised as hd?? or sd??.

Update 1: I've managed to get hold of a spare 80 wire IDE cable, so once I get the chance to strip my PC down I'll put things back so I'm using the pata_via module and test burning again.

Update 2: Strange but true, I've already got an 80 wire IDE cable installed, but just to show willing I swapped it for the new one, removed the replacement modules, basically undid everything I'd done to fix the problem and rebooted.

And. . . . . . . . .

It still freezes when burning DVDs. So at the moment my only choice is to use the replacment modules (and next kernel upgrade I might have to re-compile them myself).

Not fun. Not fun at all.

Just-Eat? Just Wait more like!

The great British take-away! OK, so we know that take-aways aren't exactly the healthy option, but every now and then the temptation is too great and a pizza is the only cure.

Being a child of the internet age (well, second childhood anyway) I rather like being able to order and pay for my takeaways online rather than having to hunt out menus, phone the restaurant (how old-fashioned!) and hope that I've got enough cash on me to pay for it.

Dominoes Pizza used to be my online take-away of choice, although at the time it was a choice of one. Now, however many companies are vying for our online orders. So alongside established regulars like Dominoes and Pizza Hut (which sadly doesn't deliver to where I live) are newcomers Just-Eat.

The Just-Eat service doesn't just provide pizzas. They provide online services for existing local take-away restaurants, so depending on where in the country you live they may provide links to Kebab Shops, Indian Restaurants, Chinese Takeaways or Fish and Chip shops. A copy of the restaurants menu is provided online, and you place the order over the web.

If you aren't sure about paying upfront for your meal then you can also choose to pay cash-on-delivery. After placing the order you'll receive an e-mail confirmation of the order, as well as an order number and an estimated delivery time (around 45 minutes for our local take-away).

I've used this service a few times in the past couple of months, and generally speaking it has worked well, with the food arriving within the estimated time.

Last night, however, things didn't go as smoothly. After placing the order, paying for it, and receiving the e-mail confirmation I sat down to watch TV, safe in the knowledge that some take-away treats were winging their way towards me. This was at 9.25pm. The estimated delivery time was 10:05pm.

Time passes. So does the delivery deadline.

More time passes. By 10:30pm I was getting a bit concerned. But, as it was a Friday night maybe they were busy. Patience is a virtue.

Even more time passes. By 10.45pm patience may be a virtue, but starvation was a distinct possibility. At this point I gave in and phoned the restaurant to check on the order.

"Ah, erm, we haven't had any internet orders."

After a short discussion the restaurant's manager (and even though this wasn't their fault) they re-took the order, sent it out to me, and even though they couldn't get in touch with anyone at Just-Eat to double-check it, they sent me my meal without charging me a second time for it.

The manager even phoned me back to apologise about it, and to let me know that the couldn't reach anyone at Just-Eat regarding this.

As Just-Eat do have a complaints procedure I filled in a complaints form and submitted it.

This is the confirmation that you receive:

Your query message has been sent to Just-Eat.co.uk!

Our Customer Care personel will look into your query as soon as possible and get back to you with a reply at the earliest possible time. Usually this happens within 10-20 minutes. Please note that during busy hours reply can take longer.

Thank you for contacting us!

Can take longer? I'm still waiting for any contact from them (as a side note - I suppose I should be worried about the spelling mistakes on the website. Can you spot the one in the above message which was copied directly from their site?).

The meal finally arrived at 11:25pm - two hours after ordering, and an hour and a quarter after the estimated delivery time. I've got to admit that by the time I received it I didn't really want it any more, but as I couldn't get in touch with anyone at Just-Eat, canceling the order wasn't an option.

Checking through their website it appears that their customer service stops at 10pm. This is a bit of a problem for take-aways, as they tend to deliver through to the early hours of the morning. So if you do have any problems "out of hours" as it were, then forget any help from their customer services. They've already gone home. Presumably picking up a take-away en-route rather than trusting to their online ordering service.

Next time I feel a bit peckish on an evening I think I'll just make a sandwich. It'll be healthier, cheaper, and I'll get the damn thing when I want it rather than a couple of hours later.

Blogger / Blog*Spot Blues

I'm guessing that you probably heard the wailing and gnashing of teeth that accompanied todays unscheduled Blogger meltdown.

If you check out the Blogger help forum it was full of very annoyed bloggers who were unable to access their blogs or administration areas.

Now, things like this can (and do) happen on any system, and shouting at the people trying to fix it does not help resolve things. One thing that I feel would have helped would have been an official announcement made sooner and in a visible place, such as on the front page of the Blogger dashboard. This would have prevented the firestorm of complaints that followed.

Blogger is a free service (and a good one too) so let's not blow a couple of hours of downtime out of proportion, and give the good folks at Google a chance to resolve things properly.