DVD mount but CDROM doesn't

[pbucko]

New problem on G4 desktop running 10.4.7.

I can mount DVD as usual (appear in finder).
I cannot mount Audio CD (I've tried several which worked in the past) I get diskarbitrationd[67]: unable to mount /dev/disk2 (status code 0xFFFFFFFC).
Nothing appears in Finder.

I can READ disk using Toast -- I see the tracks and can copy them onto desktop -- so it appears that some _way_ Finder is using to mount disk is different from Toast's.

Trying a non-audio CD, I see this odd behavior: data is mounted okay, but the image on the desktop in the finder, and the image on the folder's title bar is a standard "folder" icon, not the standard "CDROM" image. Also, in Finder window sidebar, the CD (in the sidebar) appears with a standard 'hard disk' icon, not the CDROM icon.

The mount code makes me think perhaps it's a hardware failure, but the other glitches (plus, the fact that I can read the disk using Toast) leads me to believe perhaps it's a software error.

[trevor]

What happens when you create a brand new user on this computer and try to do the same tasks from that new user?

Trevor

[pbucko]

brand new user has same problem: data CDs appear as 'file folders' rather than CD images, and Music CDs don't mount in finder at all. (rats! I thought you might be on to something).

[pbucko]

Same problems when I use an external CD drive.

The drive will appear in Disk Utility, but no partitions are listed (for an Audio CD). Associated with the drive name (in DU) is the size of data on the disk -- again, I know the disk is being read: Console shows (with this external drive) diskarbitrationd[67]: unable to mount /dev/disk3 (status code 0xFFFFFFFC).

Any thoughts on what the negative status code might represent? mount only has postive codes.

[ThreeDee]

Did this happen right after the upgrade? That could be part of the problem.

[pbucko]

It was working as expected June 19. I updated to 10.4.7 on July 2... I believe I saw similar failure July 9th, so the upgrade is indeed the most recent "change" to the system.

I have some other 10.4.7 systems which are not showing this problem, updated at the same time.

[freimacosxheit]

Have you tried repairing hard drive using Onyx or others?

It happened to my G4/350 and I have tried the following to get it worked once:

- Housekeeping the hard drive with more than 2 GB of storage space.
- Rebooted and it detected and played the music CD.
- When the CD contents was copied by iTunes, it did not work anymore.

[pbucko]

Trying OnyX, and DiskWarrior -- no change to behavior. But... OnyX allowed me to enable Debug menu for Disk Utility. Now I see the following errors, on data CD disk insertion. Similarly for Audio CD.

GetDiskIconWithType: icon == nil for disk2
GetDiskIconWithType: icon == nil for disk2s1

Also, in system log, I note error about PioneerSuperDrive kernel extension dependencies.. Result is there is no kernel extention called PioneerSuperDrive (That is: "kextstat | grep Pioneer" is empty.)

I can replicate that error message, assuming that's a problem:
% cd /System/Library/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns
% sudo kextload -t PioneerSuperDrive.kext
kextload: extension PioneerSuperDrive.kext appears to be valid
kextload: cannot resolve dependencies for kernel extension PioneerSuperDrive.kext

(this was updated with 10.4.7) Anyone else with a super drive get this error too?

[voldenuit]

In an attempt of shotgun debugging you could re-apply the 10.4.7 combo updater.

It is troubling that at least one of your kexts lives outside of

/System/Library/Extensions

[pbucko]

we'll never know now... after playing with a few different kexts, I sufficiently hosed the system that I did a new, full, installation -- Because the disk was still good, I don't believe I actually lost anything of importance -- perhaps it was caused by bad 10.4.7 update.

Thanks for the suggestions.