[wplug] cd rip hangs on Debian testing / 2.6.9 kernel

[Rick Reynolds]

I upgraded to Etch right about a month after the cut-over.  Previous to 
that I had been running Sarge with a 2.6.9 kernel.  Now I'm running Etch 
with the same kernel.

A few weeks ago I did an 'apt-get dist-upgrade' and my ability to rip 
CDs was broken.  cdparanoia (what I usually use) would just hang while 
attempting to get data from the CDROM drive.  I attempted various other 
packages (grip, cdda2wav) and they all hung in the same manner.  
Attempting to rip as root didn't work either, so it didn't appear to be 
a permissions issue.  Playing CDs worked fine, however.

I pored over the output at boot and noticed a kernel message 
(paraphrasing) 'Your kernel does not have capabilities, some functions 
may not be available.'  After looking into what that meant, I found that 
there is a kernel module named 'capability' that was not getting 
loaded.  After adding it to my /etc/modules file, I was able to rip CDs 
again.

Well, something has broken on my system in the last week that is 
producing identical symptoms.  I cannot rip from my CDROM drive no 
matter what tool I use.  They all just hang.  And as before, I can play 
a CD without a problem and attempting to rip as root hangs.

I've checked that capability is indeed loaded, so it isn't a repeat of 
the last problem.

It seems that the method for accessing the CDROM device directly -- for 
ripping, that is (??) -- is in flux a bit in the kernel and/or user 
space tools.  Anyone have knowledge of this area of Linux development 
and can point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Rick Reynolds
-- 
 Never work for a sawmill that's so behind that they don't have time to 
sharpen the blades. -- Will Hayes, Software Engineering Institute