SuSE Linux 6.4: Unreadable CDs

Support knowledgebase (kgw-6.4-cd-unreadable)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: Version 6.4
This article refers to an older version of SuSE Linux. Therefore some of the informations given in this article may be outdated or the article may contain stale links.

Symptom:

You are logged into a non-root account and would like to access one of your SuSE Linux CDs. Mounting works fine, but then every try to access a file below the mount point (usually /cdrom) only leads to the message
Permission denied.

Cause:

There is a corresponding bug in CD 1 and CD 2 of the first release of SuSE Linux 6.4 (US and german editions): On these CDs, the access rights for the root directory are erroneously set to drwx------ root,root (instead of the usual drwxr-xr-x root,root). On mounting, these access rights inevitably take effect and deny any access by non-superusers.

This bug is fixed in more recent releases of SuSE Linux 6.4.

Solution:

Unfortunately, there isn't a true solution -- these CDs can in principle be accessed only by the superuser.

Workaround: Use the option norock when mounting one of these CDs. This option disables the RockRidge extension to the iso9660 file system, which accounts (among others) for long file names and Linux access rights. Some cooperation of root is still necessary, though. There are two possibilities:

  1. Issue as root: /bin/mount -onorock /cdrom

  2. Create a new mountpoint and a special entry into /etc/fstab for the problematic CDs:
    /bin/mkdir -m000 /cdrom-norock
    >>/etc/fstab echo <<EOF
    /dev/your-cd-Device /cdrom-norock  iso9660 ro,noauto,user,norock 0 0
    EOF
    
    # and later...
    /bin/mount /cdrom-norock
    

Another purpose of this SDB article is to save you a futile hunt for configuration or hardware errors in your system, which may very well be in flawless shape.


Keywords: 6.4, BUGS, INSTALLATION, PROBLEMS, CDROM, MOUNT, PERMISSION

Categories: Frequently asked Questions

SDB-kgw-6.4-cd-unreadable, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 19. Mai 2000
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 30. Jul 2000 by kgw (sdb_gen 1.40.0)