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How to get a DVD/CD player working on a Raspberry PI 4 ?

Greenslade

Greenslade

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Jun 14, 2021
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I have used a Raspberry pi 4 for some time I just tried to use a DVD/CD player. I put a disc in there but nothing happens. It try s to load the disc but fails I have tried it with a few discs and the same issue. But when I try it on my Mac it works every time .https://youtu.be/GD2RlAg4DCI?t=10 it does not show like on Lee the Pi man,s video why? This is the only post I have put on here with no replies
 
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  1. What does the /etc/fstab configuration file look like? Does it contain an uncommented (i.e. not starting with #) line with a path to an optical device in it?
  2. Does the drive have (external) power? You need to plug the drive into wall outlet for that.
 
Peter1986C said:
  1. What does the /etc/fstab configuration file look like? Does it contain an uncommented (i.e. not starting with #) line with a path to an optical device in it?
  2. Does the drive have (external) power? You need to plug the drive into wall outlet for that.
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I am not sure what you mean on 1.
2. It is an unpowered one that does not need power. And is connected to the USB3 port.
I have to admit I have never tried it on the PI. I saw Lee,s video and thought I would try it.
Battery mice are a pain too, the red light is on but the mouse is not working.
I have just tried it again and all the folders on the desktop have an x on them.
 
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A RPi's USB ports alone are unlikely to give enough power for an optical drive.
My remark on the /etc/fstab file was, whether there is a line in there that mentions something like "/dev/cdrom" or similar and whether that line does not start with a hash (#) symbol (the # would tell the OS too ignore that line, which in this situation would mean no optical drive is to be "spotted" by the system at boot).
BTW, I am I correct to assume you are on Raspberry Pi OS or are you on a different Linux distribution?
 
Peter1986C said:
A RPi's USB ports alone are unlikely to give enough power for an optical drive.
My remark on the /etc/fstab file was, whether there is a line in there that mentions something like "/dev/cdrom" or similar and whether that line does not start with a hash (#) symbol (the # would tell the OS too ignore that line, which in this situation would mean no optical drive is to be "spotted" by the system at boot).
BTW, I am I correct to assume you are on Raspberry Pi OS or are you on a different Linux distribution?
Click to expand...
I tried it on a couple of OS,s but not on Raspberry PI OS. I tried it on Twister and a couple of other OS,s . I have 12 OS,s. It was trying to load up I saw the drive-in there
but it failed to load. It only uses one lead unlike his.
 
Which Linux distro are you on right now (on the Pi 4)? I am trying to "get a picture" so it is easier for both of us if you let me know. :)
 
Peter1986C said:
Which Linux distro are you on right now (on the Pi 4)? I am trying to "get a picture" so it is easier for both of us if you let me know. :)
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Twister.I tried it today with a powered hub still no joy.
File system Root has an X on it. I got it on Raspberry pi os it came up saying low power I put the powered hub on it came up. It asked me how I wanted it opened it showed all the files on the disc. Opened VLC
clicked Media on VLC open Disc.
chose Play Playlist
Failure DVD read could not open the Disc
VLC is unable to open the MRL
The light is out on the DVD player.
I don,t know how to eject the player.
It is working on my PC.
 
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So there seem multiple factors at play at the same time then, as I see it.
  • somehow, there are still power issues for the drive even with the powered hub. The hub is likely to give a maximum of 5v at 0.5 amps (assuming USB 2 specs, else it's a little bit more) which is not much for an optical drive (afaik those draw more than 2.5watt with some operations, but I could be mistaken).
  • On RaspberryPi OS, at least the drive seems to be recognised and mounted as an optical drive. It seems though that VLC can not read the DVD, so it may be copy protected.
  • The X on root filesystem probably means that you have no rights to access it. I doubt that that is part of your DVD problem though.
 
Peter1986C said:
So there seem multiple factors at play at the same time then, as I see it.
  • somehow, there are still power issues for the drive even with the powered hub. The hub is likely to give a maximum of 5v at 0.5 amps (assuming USB 2 specs, else it's a little bit more) which is not much for an optical drive (afaik those draw more than 2.5watt with some operations, but I could be mistaken).
  • On RaspberryPi OS, at least the drive seems to be recognised and mounted as an optical drive. It seems though that VLC can not read the DVD, so it may be copy protected.
  • The X on root filesystem probably means that you have no rights to access it. I doubt that that is part of your DVD problem though.
Click to expand...
The DVD player is USB 3. I don,t see why it plays fine on my Mac. :)
 
To be honest I am confused as well right know. I am feeling like I am taking shots in the dark too much to be of much constructive help. :(
Have you considered asking help on forums dedicated to your Linux distribution of choice?
 
Peter1986C said:
To be honest I am confused as well right know. I am feeling like I am taking shots in the dark too much to be of much constructive help. :(
Have you considered asking help on forums dedicated to your Linux distribution of choice?
Click to expand...
Not really they don,t seem very helpful.Past experiences with them.Thanks for trying to sort it out for me anyway. :)
 
I am also having this problem. When I plug in the external DVD, it reads the disk - mounts then issues a "DVD was removed without ejecting" message. This process repeats over and over.

I'm running a Debian version and the HW is Raspberry Pi4.

Has anyone figured this out?

I can supply the syslog files if that would help.
 
Greenslade said:
The DVD player is USB 3. I don,t see why it plays fine on my Mac. :)
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Sorry to hit this really late but does Raspberry Pi have USB3 they offer more power than USB2 my external DVD actually has 2 USB plugs to supply it enough power
 
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