Author: Joe Barr
The errata page describes the following scenario: “Installing 9.2 and being told unable to install the base system and subsequent reboot reveals that CD-ROM is physically dead.”
MandrakeSoft also says that as of yet, there is no workaround for the problem. LG Electronics CD-ROM drives are used in machines made by Dell, HP, Compaq, IBM and others. They report that LG Electronics says they do not support nor test their CD-ROM drives with Linux.
Gaël Duval told NewsForge by email earlier this evening that “here is an issue with several LG CD-ROM drives and a Linux kernel patch we and potentially other Linux vendors are using in Mandrake 9.2.”
Duval also said “We’re looking for a solution to fix this issue. On some models, upgrading the firmware to its newest release version before using Mandrake 9.2 fixes the problem.”
More details and identification of some of the drives damaged by installing Mandrake Linux 9.2 are given here.
Some of the LG Electronics CD-ROM models reported to have been “fried” are the CRD-8322B used by Compaq and the CRD-8400B used in Dell, IBM, and Compaq machines.
Update: As of Monday morning, the cause for the problem has been identified by some as code introduced to the kernel on August 15th and by others as buggy firmware in the LG drives themselves. Stay tuned. Video at 11.
