> A bit of further research showed that the recent incarnations of cdrecord > and cdrecord-Prodvd can use plain old /dev/hdx IDE device interface. I also > understand that this feature can also be used on 2.4.x). However, the > manual for dvd+rw-tools (http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/) still > points the user to the ide-scsi pseudo-device (and hints at patching the > kernel for other purposes).
It might sound controversial from the first reading, but disputes around ide-scsi in cdrecord context are actually spinning around addressing method, dev=X,Y,Z vs. dev=/dev/xxx, not ide-scsi module per se. Now note that unlike cdrecord, dvd+rw-tools address devices by their /dev/xxx entries from day one so to say. Moreover, in fact you can use *either* /dev/hdX or /dev/scdN under *either* 2.4.x or 2.6.x with dvd+rw-tools (with varying result maybe, but that's another story). > Is this need still current ? If so, are there plans to suppress this > requirement ? You most likely wonder why does it say "*make sure* it [IDE unit] "routed" through ide-scsi" on the page? And not for example "*optionally* "route" it through ide-scsi"? Several reasons: - page addresses most common user so to say; - 2.6 is not out yet, 2.4 is still the one which most common user uses; - the common user most likely wants to burn CD with cdrecord in his DVD burner as well; - this last reason is not for most common user, but ide-scsi is required for the kernel DVD+RW support; But the truth is that ide-scsi route was never *required* for user-land dvd+rw-tools account, and you always could and will always be able to pass the device name as it would appear in /dev/fstab. Note that growisofs manual page, "authoritative" source of information, does say "Under Linux it [device entry] will most likely be an ide-scsi device such as /dev/scd0." Note "most likely":-) > If not, shouldn't the manual be updated ? The advice to "route" through ide-scsi is nothing but "most practical" for the time being. As 2.6 is taking off, I'm considering to clarify the situation, but it doesn't change the fact that dvd+rw-tools work and are supported under Linux 2.6 as it is now [and you don't even have to recompile it!]. Well, I should mention that explicit support for 2.6 was implemented in dvd+rw-tools 5.6 along with addressing associated kernel issues (as mentioned on the dvd+rw-tools page). A.