CF-27 DVD drive issues

Hello all,

I have a couple of way old CF-27's and I have been wanting to install Linux on them. I have a CD-ROM drive for them but some Linux distributions are larger than what a CD can hold hence my need for a DVD drive. I bought a couple of CF-VDR291U drives from different sellers on eBay and while they show up in the BIOS as UJDA750 and UJDA760, they do not appear to read the DVDs or even boot from them. However, CDs get read and boot correctly though. I tried the Low and High speed settings in the BIOS with no luck. Do I need the 282 model of the DVD drive or have I just gotten a couple of dead DVD drives? Please advise and any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Roger

 

perhaps a driver of some sort loaded in/with grub?
Just a swag as I am not a linux expert

 

I even tried booting from a brand new just opened Windows 7 Home 32-bit DVD and the drive just blinks for 30 or more seconds when the computer turns on and then stops blinking and proceeds to boot from the HDD. I can boot from CDs without issue. I've tried DVD-R, DVD+RW (burned at 4x), DVD+R (burned at 4x). I'm rather lost in what the issue here is.

 

Read these threads..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/cf-27-linux-install-using-boot-floppy-and-usb.353561/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/cf-27-hdd-died-help.526852/#post-6809383

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/installing-xp-on-a-cf27-mk1.225336/#post-3288393

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/cf27-battery-and-hdd.563366/#post-7279128

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/toughbook-cf-27.659879/page-2#post-8486633

 

Hello Shawn,

Just read all the threads but they don't really address my issue. I have used Plop to boot from USB but it's USB 1.1 which is painfully slow for a larger than CD distribution. I have the BIOS already set to boot from CD/DVD. The DVD drives both have booted CDs, they just do not seem to even recognize DVDs of any kind. If I have a DVD in the drive with the CF-27 off, I turn it on and the drive light flashes for 30+ seconds which, to me, it means that it's trying to recognize the disc inserted. CDs take only a few seconds before the CF-27 proceeds with the POST and boot process. I was hoping to confirm on this forum that the CF-VDR291U drives can indeed be used to read DVDs on a CF-27 or have I just gotten a hold of some bum drives?

Thanks!
Roger

 

I reread everything, including this thread.

Probably a pair of bad DVD drives.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ghbook-cf-27-and-dvd-rom.376456/#post-4790568

http://toughbooktalk.com/public_downloads/HDD & CDD swap/CF-28 CD to DVD Swap.htm



http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...utorial-lots-of-pictures.162276/#post-2391442

 

I saw those posts too. I may have to go that route if I get desparate. Otherwise, I guess you're right. They must be bad. One of the drives I already sent back to the seller on eBay and he says he tested it when it arrived on a CF-29 with no issues, skips, errors, etc so that's why I started this thread. I have been in touch with the seller of the 2nd DVD drive that doesn't work and he said he has another he will test and send it out if it's good and I can send back this potentially faulty one. Thanks for all your help and advice!

Roger

 

What Linux distro are you trying?

libdvdcss may need to be added once you have the linux installed.

More later company arrives.

 

I have installed Q4OS v1.8.8 and downgraded the SMP kernel to i586. Screen works out of the box. Good and responsive GUI. I got the sound working by compiling the firmware module. Still need to get the touchscreen working, haven't had time to look at that. I've also run WattOS 8 and have been trying to run WattOS 9 but that image requires a DVD drive hence this whole thread. I created a USB stick from the .ISO image and booted from it using a Plop CD but that USB 1.1 is really slow so I wanted to take the DVD drive route. I even popped in a USB 2.0 CardBus card and booted from it using Plop and the PCMCIA version but once the Linux kernel boots from USB, it kind of forgets what PCMCIA is and cannot proceed with booting. I only tried WattOS 9 for that though and maybe other distros are more compatible with PCMCIA booting.

 

I'm not familiar with Q4OS.

The two things that come to mind are libdvdcss (from package manager) and adding yourself to group "disk".

Let me test a DVD drive or two in my CF-27. I have more than two.

I use my CF-27 w/DOS for radio tweaking.

You are using force USB 1.1 in plop????

Hmmm another squirrel to chase...the pcmcia forgetfulness.

You're no rookie so check out antiX17 non-pae.

 

Yes, if you can test a DVD drive on your CF-27, that may give me some peace of mind.
I can't remember if I had to configure it as Force USB 1.1 in Plop when I am booting a stick from the onboard USB port. But I didn't select that with the PCMCIA USB 2.0 controllers. I have an Adaptec AUA-1420A and a D-Link DUB-C2.
I had checked out antiX17 but after I think the screen went dim after I dumbed down the display to 800x600. I have tried 16.3 and it worked correctly with 800x600 at bootup.

 

I thought I had an answer but....my 27 won't read DVD either. Arch attempted to load but turned out to be a CD.

Point of interest is that my DVD shows up as Master in bios. Hmmmmmm.................thinking.

I haven"t read Shawn's links yet.

More after dinner.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ghbook-cf-27-and-dvd-rom.376456/#post-4791047

The dwagon says it here.

1. Hardware decoder.
2. Software decoder.
3. No bios and ec found........I looked.

Let me know. The post was from 2009 but that's more modern than our 27's.

 

I think he's referring to if you want to watch DVD movies, that's what the decoder would be for. I just want to boot from DVD like I do with CDs. Strange that the BIOS says it recognizes the DVD/CD-RW drive and that you can enable the option in BIOS setup to even boot from CD/DVD. The DVD drive light flashes and flashes with a DVD inserted and then comes to a stop after 30 or more seconds. CDs take only a few seconds to be seen. I've even tried an original just-opened out of the package Windows 7 Home 32-bit DVD to see if if would recognize, not necessarily boot to the Windows Setup, just stop flashing after a few seconds once it catches the track or whatever it does to recognize media.

 

Did you solder the jumper to make it a master? In my experience... When you swap out the old CD for the DVD you needed to solder a jumper to force it as master.

 

I shouldn't have to since I bought the DVD/CD-RW model for CF-27/28/29, right? Unless both sellers swapped the original contents out for other DVD drives.

 

I could swear those were all CD Roms back in the day... Which is why there was such a movement out there to swap over the DVDs. Only a handful of the DVD were coded as master and would work right out of the box. I always soldered the back of the PC board to force it to master. I wrote a tutorial on that in 2007 I think. It is somewhere around here.

 

What about CF-VDR282U and CF-VDR291U, those are supposedly DVD-ROM/CD-RW drives from Panasonic that are for the MP TB's. I've tried 2 of the 291U's but neither are reading DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD+R or even a brand new just opened Microsoft Windows 7 DVD. Is the 282 a more compatible drive for the CF-27 or should either work?

 

I stumbled on an original faceplate (all black) CF-VDR282u.

Windows 7 bootable DVD attempted to run and quit on insufficient ram.

Mint 17.2 attempted to boot but quit on error partway through. (settings were forcepae nomodeset) Again I think it was too much for the tiny bit of ram.

If I find another one I'll try it too, but PANASONIC DRIVE PACK DVD-ROM & CDR/RW DRIVE PACK seems to work.

IOW mine would use the DVD but I have insufficient ram for the DVDs I found so far.

 

No worries that the DVD didn't start the setups, it's that they were at least reading and processing the data on the DVDs whereas the two DVD drives (291U) I tried were not. I'll probably start looking for a 282U since I have your findings. Thanks so much to all for taking the time to look into this!

 

I know where you can find a 282...

 

Where do I send my money?!? PayPal, check, etc...

 

Check PM.

 

The only distro i got to work on a cf-27 was Damn Small Linux but it is no longer maintained.

 

arch linux should run on it, it's made to run on a pent 2.

 

Hi,
Its great to see the CF-27 is still being used and discussed.

 

Another distro to look into (for older lower spec computers) is Puppy. It has Slackware and Ubuntu based editions, as well as an older Wary Puppy edition. ISOs are around 130 MB or so.