SATA/IDE converter on DVD drive access

[def_mornahan]

I've googled and searched the forums and I don't know what else to do at this point...newegg is calling my name...but I figured I'd give this one last try before I throw out a perfectly good piece of hardware.

I have just replaced the motherboard, processor, memory (or if you prefer, I have a new computer and have recycled the case and drives from my old one). The mobo has one IDE cable connection and is otherwise SATA. It replaces a 2004 vintage mobo, obviously IDE only. So I got a couple of $10-12 two-way converters (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812186078) to link up my old DVD drive and Zip250 drive (no jokes, please).

Now, the converters are obviously doing something right, because I can boot the LiveCD from this DVD drive. But neither drive shows up in Ubuntu (I installed Precise and have upgraded to Quantal) and I can't figure out what device name to try to use to locate them. They aren't under /dev/sd* (my IDE hard drives and USB3 external drive are) and they aren't under /dev/hd* (nothing). Can anyone suggest something else for me to try?

[Doug S]

Since they are both removeable drives, I would have expected to see them as /dev/sr* devices.

[def_mornahan]

Oh. I've never heard of that. I don't have anything come up for ls /dev/sr*, though.

[Doug S]

Then sorry I don't know what is wrong for you.
Just for reference, at the moment I have 3 Ubuntu server 12.04 computers turned on. One has two cd-rom drives, via IDE cable(s):

doug@s10:~$ ls -l /dev/sr*
brw-rw---- 1 root cdrom 11, 0 Jan 25 10:05 /dev/sr0
brw-rw---- 1 root cdrom 11, 1 Jan 25 10:05 /dev/sr1
doug@s10:~$ ls -l /media
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Dec 29 00:38 cdrom
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    7 Dec 29 00:35 floppy -> floppy0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Dec 29 00:35 floppy0

One has one cd-rom drive, via sata cable:

doug@s15:~/temp1$ ls -l /dev/sr*
brw-rw---- 1 root cdrom 11, 0 Jan 22 16:13 /dev/sr0
doug@s15:~/temp1$ ls -l /media
total 2
dr-xr-xr-x 2 4294967295 4294967295 84 Jan 22 15:34 cdrom

And the last one, my main server, has one cd-rom drive, via an unknown cable (the lid is on and I don't recall):

doug@doug-64:/etc/apache2/sites-available$ ls -l /dev/sr*
brw-rw---- 1 root cdrom 11, 0 Jan 24 08:01 /dev/sr0
doug@doug-64:/etc/apache2/sites-available$ ls -l /media
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 12 09:08 cdrom
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    7 Oct 12 09:03 floppy -> floppy0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 12 09:03 floppy0

[def_mornahan]

I finally thought to grab the dmesg output. These lines look significant:

[ 1.675764] ata1: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 300)
[ 1.702319] ata1.00: ATAPI: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4167B, DL11, max UDMA/33
[ 1.733603] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/33
[ 1.748588] ata1.00: failed to clear UNIT ATTENTION (err_mask=0x1)
...
[ 7.373845] ata1: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 300)
[ 7.433050] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/33
[ 7.448191] ata1.00: failed to clear UNIT ATTENTION (err_mask=0x1)
[ 7.448199] ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 1.5 Gbps
[ 7.448203] ata1.00: limiting speed to UDMA/33:PIO3
[ 13.016174] ata1: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310)
[ 13.023297] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/33
[ 13.026449] ata1.00: failed to clear UNIT ATTENTION (err_mask=0x1)
[ 13.026455] ata1.00: disabled

So how DOES one "clear UNIT ATTENTION"?

[Doug S]

I wonder if you need to use IDE mode instead of AHCI mode, for better backwards compatibility?
Just a few minutes ago I saw these references while looking for something else:
http://en.usenet.digipedia.org/thread/18729/38160/
http://www.diffen.com/difference/AHCI_vs_IDE
I think AHCI mode for SATA is a BIOS.