Description of problem: Kernel does not auto-detect the type of optical media, i.e. audio CD vs. data CD when optical drive is a Optiarc DVD RW AD-7200A (as reported to OS, but externally labeled as a Sony). This is a parallel IDE ATAPI DVD drive. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5 How reproducible: 100% Steps to Reproduce: 1. Insert optical media in to optical drive. 2. 3. Actual results: The kernel reports: "cdrom: This disc doesn't have any tracks I recognize!" A desktop icon is created, but there are no pre-defined actions such as mount (data CD) or play (audio CD). Expected results: Desktop icon created with appropriate actions (mount or play) for the media type (data or audio). Additional info: Possibly related to #440289. Very likely the same problem discussed in this LKML thread: http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0810.0/1323.html Note that this bug does not prevent mounting a data CD from the command line using "mount" or playing an audio CD manually. If I unload the ide-cd module and load ide-scsi instead, then everything works fine. That is, the kernel is able to auto-detect the optical media and the appropriate actions are provided in the desktop icon.
I found a firmware update for the model AD-7200A on Optiarc's web site (www.sonynec-optiarc.us) that fixes the problem. The original firmware was 1.06. The latest is 1.08. Upgrading the firmware requires Windows, which was a pain for me because I had to move the drive to another machine just to do the upgrade. Anyway as far as I'm concerned the issue is resolved. But still, it exposes an inconsistency in the kernel because the media autodetection works fine with 1.06 firmware and ide-scsi, but not with ide-cd.