I bought a SATA DVD Writer to by-pass the problem. Samsung, 'Writemaster' SH-W163A DVD writer, which you can pick up online for GBP 25-30 in the UK. Be sure to buy a SATA cable and a molex to SATA converter so you can use the power. Not an elegant solution but good for the desperate. Except now I can't watch films because hdparm doesn't work with sata.
-- JMicron PATA/SATA Controller does not work https://launchpad.net/bugs/57502 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
