CD/DVD problem

[EricJonsson]

So I'm running a HTPC box with Ubuntu Server 10.04, Lucid.

eric@Gimli:~$ uname -a
Linux Gimli 2.6.32-27-server #49-Ubuntu SMP Thu Dec 2 02:05:21 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Problem is, I can't access CD's or DVD's. Like, it won't let me mount them. My devices are set up like this:

eric@Gimli:~$ ls -l /dev/{cd,dvd}*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 2011-01-10 13:02 /dev/cdrom -> sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 2011-01-10 13:02 /dev/cdrw -> sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 2011-01-10 13:02 /dev/dvd -> sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 2011-01-10 13:02 /dev/dvdrw -> sr0
eric@Gimli:~$ file /dev/sr0
/dev/sr0: block special

At first I actually thought it was a hardware problem, but I've now tried with two different pieces of DVD drives with no success. I'm currently using this one:

eric@Gimli:/media$ dmesg | grep CD
[    1.931721] ata2.00: ATAPI: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C, SB04, max UDMA/100
[    3.534510] scsi 1:0:0:0: CD-ROM            TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C  SB04 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    3.541691] Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
[    3.542003] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0

Now, if I try to mount a DVD:

eric@Gimli:~$ sudo mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom
mount: /dev/sr0: unknown device
eric@Gimli:~$ sudo mount -t udf /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom
mount: no medium found on /dev/sr0

The drive doesn't show up when I run sudo blkid, (is this normal?) but the eject command works.

... Which is absolutely puzzling to me. Any help troubleshooting this is much appreciated, the fiancee is nagging me about her favorite DVD flicks.

[ubermike]

I am having a very similar problem. I am unable to mount a DVDs, it is like it is just not recognised. CDs play without a problem.

The weird part is that the problem just manifested out of no where. I was reading DVDs just fine one minute then the next it refused to recognise it.

I have tried loading every codec under the sun but that did not fix the problem. I have also upgraded to the latest Ubuntu (11.10) but the problem still persists.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[EricJonsson]

I should note that for me back in January, it was indeed a hardware problem -- I had hooked up too many devices to my (rather weak) PSU, the DVD-drive was the straw that broke its back. It was strong enough to recognize it during boot, but not enough to keep the laser firing.