gboyce@badbelly.com replies:

> Unless you're running the 2.6 kernel, you need to use the
> ide-scsi module in order to do CD burning.

i tried this first, no change (as expected, having read
the second sentence).

> In grub or lilo, you need to append hdd=ide-scsi to your
> kernel commandline.

i added this as instructed and everything worked as
advertised.  thank you.

then david kramer wrote:

> Also, you can enter
> cdrecord -scanbus

i did try this previously and though i got a lot of info
back, i didn't know what to do with it.

and jerry feldman suggested:
> If you run KDE, the k3b utility does a very nice job of
> burning CDs.

thanks, i bet you're right, but i'm not.  still coasting
along with fvwm2 and comfortable with it and the fact that
it's pretty easy on system resources.

thanks all, my immediate problem seems to be solved.

dan

j. daniel moylan
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