Q: G3 DVDs work, I/O error with CD-ROMs... what's wrong?

[Orig. sent on 26 Dec, re-sent because I never saw it in inbox or on Gmane.]

Hi...

 At first I wasn't going to post about the I/O errors I've been getting when
trying to read files from CD-ROM on my G3 here, because I assumed it was a
hardware problem.  (I got it second-hand, and beggars can't be choosers, as
they say.)  However, I have since discovered that I can play a DVD from
start to finish with no problems at all, so it seems to me that the drive
itself must be OK.  Here are the symptoms I've found:

1. I can play a normal, "store-bought", DVD all the way through, including
commentary and alternative audio tracks, with no problems or errors (using
xine).
2. I CANNOT play a VCD or SVCD without errors, freezes, or slow-downs at
(apparently) random points.
3. I can copy small (a couple of MB) files from a CD-ROM all right.
4. I CANNOT copy (or play, in the case of video files, which comprise the
majority of files I have burned to CD) large files (50 MB and larger) from
CD-ROM without receiving "input/output error" messages.
(5. I booted and installed this machine from a 2.4 LiveCD, so apparently the
drive worked acceptably well at that time.)

 (I have no data-only DVDs available for testing.)

 I have tried using hdparm -E to set the CD-ROM speed to various values,
including zero, with no change in these observed problems.  Also, using
hdparm to change DMA settings for this drive has no effect.  Here's some
info about this box... but note that the "system" shown by lshw is wrong;
it's only a G3!  Everything else it shows is correct, as far as I can tell.

kernel: Linux nenene 2.6.9-gentoo-r1 #1 SMP Tue Nov 16 20:43:19 EST 2004 ppc
7400, altivec supported PowerMac3,3 GNU/Linux

nenene root # lshw -short
H/W path        Device             Class          Description
=============================================================
                                   system         PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics
/0                                 bus
/0/fff00000                        memory         Apple PowerMac3,3 3.4f1
BootROM built on 08/08/00 at 22:02:19
/0/0            /proc/device-tree  memory         OpenFirmware 3
/0/1                               memory         System memory
/0/1/0                             memory         SDRAM PC100-222S
/0/1/1                             memory         SDRAM PC100-222S
/0/1/2                             memory         Memory bank
/0/1/3                             memory         Memory bank
/0/2                               processor      7400, altivec supported
/0/2/0                             memory         L1 Cache
/0/2/1                             memory         L2 Cache (unified)
/0/3                               processor      PowerPC,G4
/0/3/0                             memory         L1 Cache
/0/3/1                             memory         L2 Cache (unified)
/0/100                             bridge         UniNorth AGP
/0/100/10       /dev/fb0           display        Rage 128 PF/PRO AGP 4x
TMDS
/0/101                             bridge         UniNorth PCI
/0/101/d                           bridge         DECchip 21154
/0/101/d/2                         storage        AHA-7850
/0/101/d/3                         bridge         Mini-PCI bridge
/0/101/d/3/c                       storage        ABP940-U / ABP960-U
/0/101/d/3/d                       communication  OX16PCI954 (Quad 16950
UART) function 0
/0/101/d/3/d.1                     bridge         Oxford Semiconductor Ltd
/0/101/d/7                         generic        KeyLargo Mac I/O
/0/101/d/7/0    ide0               bus            Channel 0
/0/101/d/7/0/0  /dev/hda           disk           IBM-DTLA-307030
/0/101/d/7/0/1  /dev/hdb           disk           Maxtor 6Y120P0
/0/101/d/7/1    ide1               bus            Channel 0
/0/101/d/7/1/0  /dev/hdc           disk           HITACHI DVD-ROM GD-7000
/0/101/d/8                         bus            KeyLargo USB
/0/101/d/9                         bus            KeyLargo USB
/0/101/d/a                         bus            TSB12LV26 IEEE-1394
Controller (Link)
/0/102                             bridge         UniNorth Internal PCI
/0/102/f        eth0               network        UniNorth GMAC (Sun GEM)

 Has anyone fixed a problem like this?  Do you know what else I might try?

Thanks,

-- 
// Carl Hudkins :: PGP 50238D9E
//
//               ==]  What would Jeeves do?  [==
//


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