On Wed, 2007-10-10 at 16:50 +0200, Nigel Henry wrote: > On Wednesday 10 October 2007 10:27, Simon Slater wrote: > > On Tue, 2007-10-09 at 17:48 +0200, Nigel Henry wrote: > > > On Tuesday 09 October 2007 15:06, Simon Slater wrote: > > > > On Mon, 2007-10-08 at 19:15 +0200, Nigel Henry wrote: > > > > > Hi Simon. This is probably no help whatsoever, but a bit of googling > > > > > brought up the same problem for Fedora 7 on fedora forum from about 3 > > > > > months ago. > > > > > > > > > > Someone there found that FC6 picked up their optical drive ok, but F > > > > > 7 didn't. Also someone found that an i686 kernel, version > > > > > 2.6.21-1.3255.fc7 picked up the optical drive ok (that was a testing > > > > > kernel at the time), whereas the earlier kernel didn't. The original > > > > > kernel from my install cdroms for Fedora 7 is 2.6.21-1.3228. > > > > > > > > > > What is your current kernel? Is Fedora 7 fully updated? > > > > > 2¢ worth of probably useless info > > > > > > > > > > Nigel. > > > > > > > > All info gladly taken on board, Nigel. The drive worked with boot.iso > > > > CD where I did an NFS install (see an earlier thread). The Fedora 7 > > > > DVD was purchased. I have not run yum update yet. It can take a long > > > > time on dialup. > > > > > GRUB menu shows: > > > > Fedora (2.6.20-2925.9.fc7xen) > > > > and Fedora-base (2.6.21-1.3194.fc7) > > > > > > > > This problem happens when booting to either. On our system I would > > > > retain the Xen kernel to play with virtualization, but on the system > > > > that I'm setting up the base kernel is all that is needed. > > > > > > You see that could well be the problem, as your kernel is even earlier > > > than my original one (3228), and the guy on the fedora forum got his > > > drive detected using a 3255 one, which was a testing kernel at the time. > > > > > > I've just tried my earliest 3228 kernel, and the optical drive is > > > detected ok, but when I went to install Fedora 7 on the same machine that > > > has FC1,2,3,4, and 5 on it, along with Debian installs, etc, it wouldn't > > > boot on my new combi optical drive, although live cdroms, booted ok, and > > > I also put the first disk in for FC5, and that booted ok. I had to use > > > smart boot manager on a floppy disc to get the first disc for Fedora 7 to > > > boot. > > > > > > Based on what I've seen on various lists, combination drives create more > > > problems than a drive dedicated to a specific format, and different > > > makes/models of the combo drives appear to compound the problem. Some > > > just work, others don't, but that's no help to the end user though. > > > > > > > I have deliberately avoided toying with different kernels, or even > > > > updating the kernel for that matter, until my knowledge of Linux grows > > > > some more. I still haven't got ftape working with FC6 yet, it needs > > > > kernel modules being compiled as I recall. I suppose that I don't need > > > > to now with the new DVD burner. > > > > > > > > I'll have a closer look on Fedora Forum, thanks. > > > > > > This is the one that I found using, optical drive not detected on Fedora7 > > > as a search on google. > > > http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=160361 > > > > > > It is the first on the list, but thought the possible kernel related > > > problem was worth posting to you. > > > > > > > -- > > > > Regards > > > > Simon > > > > > > Regarding kernel updates and Yum: > > > > > > I use Apt, and Synaptic for updates, and all kernels are saved, but if > > > you are using Yum, it only keeps 2 kernels as default. Personally I don't > > > like that, and prefer to decide myself as to how many kernels I want > > > available. > > > > > > You can change the way that Yum deals with kernels though, but Yum has > > > been updated on Fedora 7, so the place to edit has changed. > > > > > > Originally this was in /etc/yum/pluginconf.d, and a file named > > > installonlyn.conf existed. By default there are the following 2 lines. > > > enabled=1 > > > tokeep=2 > > > The first enables the plugin, and the second, how many kernels to keep. > > > > > > Even though I don't use Yum, I always edit the file, and set the first > > > line as enabled=0, thus saving all kernels. > > > > > > Some updates later on Fedora 7, Yum itself is updated, and what I've > > > written above no longer applies. > > > > > > As I've said, I don't use Yum, but to make sure you keep all kernels > > > after the yum package has been updated, you need to add a line to > > > /etc/yum.conf as below. ( I put it after the metadata line) > > > > > > installonly_limit=0 > > > That's a zero, not an uppercase o. > > > > > > Apologies for rambling on about kernels. I just don't like my kernels > > > being trashed by updates. > > > > > > Nigel. > > > > As I said, I know very litle about the kernel side of things so feel > > free to ramble. I guess my kernel lerning starts now. > > > > > > -- > > Regards > > Simon > > Hi Simon. I think the first thing I'd do is get all the updates, which will > include the latest kernel, but before running yum update, I would change the > enabled line in /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/installonlyn.conf, so that it reads. > enabled=0 > > This way there's no chance of losing any older kernels when doing the update. > > After all the updates are installed, which will include a newer version of > yum, look again in /etc/yum/pluginconf.d, and you will see that the > installonlyn.conf is now named installonlyn.conf.rpmnew, which verifies that > the new version of yum is no longer using this file. > > Now look in /etc/yum.conf, and using a text editor add the line. > installonly_limit=0 > This once again will disable the removal of any kernels by the new version of > yum, so that future kernel updates will not result in the removal of the > oldest. > > Now reboot, using the new kernel, and try the combi optical drive. I'm not > saying that the new kernel will resolve the problem, but it might, and the > updates are worth doing anyway, as loads of stuff has been updated since you > installed from the dvd. > > All the best. > > Nigel. > I'll try this today, Nigel. There will be a bit of fiddling first though. I have kept this laptop off the internet so far, to simulate what I'll need for the one our freind will use. Also I think it is a winmodem. So I'll either give it access to the internet through the FC6 box with the modem and update that way, or maybe upgrade one of the FC6 boxes to F7 and save the yum updates to cache and upgrade the laptop from there. I'll finish the morning cuppa first... -- Regards Simon
