[NTLUG:Discuss] DVD,CD-RW combo

[Mark Bickel]

> From: lists at 123india.com
> Date: 23 Jan 2001 13:11:04 -0800
> Subject: [NTLUG:Discuss] DVD,CD-RW combo
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Hello to everyone. I'm new to the list (and new to the US). Our lab is going to purchase a DVD,CD-RW combo
> from DELL. DELL says that DVD and CD-RW don't work with Linux (this is a factory preinstalled RedHat-7.0 
> machine). Is this correct or should I go ahead and buy the gadget? I've used separate DVD and CD-RW drives
> on Linux before.

There are several issues here:

Reading CD: This should work but I'm not personally garaunteeing it. It should appear as a
            standard IDE/ATAPI device (i.e. /dev/hdc or whatever)                   
Reading CDR: see above. There are several different chemical formulas, each with its own
             requirements as far as what wavelength lasers will work to read it.
Reading CDRW: see above.

Burning CDR: This may work. I don't know. I looked at the cdrecord homepage for supported
             hardware and it wasn't listed as supported or unsupported. That may be because
             this is a fairly new device and it may not have been tested yet, or they have
             not updated the page to reflect it. I notice that the Ricoh MP7040A, 7040S,
             7060S, 7080A, and 9060A are all listed as supported. Note that A means ATAPI
             and S means SCSI. Personal opinion: I find SCSI CDR devices less problematic.
             If you want the latest/most accurate info I suggest you email the developer.
              
All the GUI CDR applications that I know use cdrecord. Check out the cdrecord homepage:
http://www.fokus.gmd.de/research/cc/glone/employees/joerg.schilling/private/cdrecord.html

Burning CDRW: see above.

Reading DVD: Should work if you configure your kernel properly. You will need a recent kernel
             such as 2.2.14 or higher with UDF, MTRR, and DVD IOCTL patches applied. You will
             want to also install the LiVid utilities. Read the DVD HOWTO:
             http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/DVD-Playing-HOWTO.html

Viewing DVD movies: I'll not link to it here, but there is something called DeCSS ...
            I've heard of people doing this from inside a VMWare session running Windoze.

> Also, I'm planning to subscribe dial-up-internet from Southwestern Bell. Does this work with Linux?

Yes, it should. There are a number of NTLUGers that use SWB as their ISP.

Good Luck!
Mark Bickel at ericsson.com