Re: Geting rid of ide-scsi ?
> A bit of further research showed that the recent incarnations of cdrecord
> and cdrecord-Prodvd can use plain old /dev/hdx IDE device interface. I also
> understand that this feature can also be used on 2.4.x). However, the
> manual for dvd+rw-tools (http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/) still
> points the user to the ide-scsi pseudo-device (and hints at patching the
> kernel for other purposes).
It might sound controversial from the first reading, but disputes around
ide-scsi in cdrecord context are actually spinning around addressing
method, dev=X,Y,Z vs. dev=/dev/xxx, not ide-scsi module per se. Now note
that unlike cdrecord, dvd+rw-tools address devices by their /dev/xxx
entries from day one so to say. Moreover, in fact you can use *either*
/dev/hdX or /dev/scdN under *either* 2.4.x or 2.6.x with dvd+rw-tools
(with varying result maybe, but that's another story).
> Is this need still current ? If so, are there plans to suppress this
> requirement ?
You most likely wonder why does it say "*make sure* it [IDE unit]
"routed" through ide-scsi" on the page? And not for example
"*optionally* "route" it through ide-scsi"? Several reasons:
- page addresses most common user so to say;
- 2.6 is not out yet, 2.4 is still the one which most common user uses;
- the common user most likely wants to burn CD with cdrecord in his DVD
burner as well;
- this last reason is not for most common user, but ide-scsi is required
for the kernel DVD+RW support;
But the truth is that ide-scsi route was never *required* for user-land
dvd+rw-tools account, and you always could and will always be able to
pass the device name as it would appear in /dev/fstab. Note that
growisofs manual page, "authoritative" source of information, does say
"Under Linux it [device entry] will most likely be an ide-scsi device
such as /dev/scd0." Note "most likely":-)
> If not, shouldn't the manual be updated ?
The advice to "route" through ide-scsi is nothing but "most practical"
for the time being. As 2.6 is taking off, I'm considering to clarify the
situation, but it doesn't change the fact that dvd+rw-tools work and are
supported under Linux 2.6 as it is now [and you don't even have to
recompile it!]. Well, I should mention that explicit support for 2.6 was
implemented in dvd+rw-tools 5.6 along with addressing associated kernel
issues (as mentioned on the dvd+rw-tools page). A.
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