EJECT CDROM

[Carlos_8]

Does anyone know of a HPUX command to eject a cdrom.

Right now I umount the cd and press the eject button. I have a few solaris guys that work with me and they want to use something like the solaris 'eject cdrom' command. It's a bragging thing for them!!! I would like to keep my stand with them, " I think HPUX commands make more logical sense than some of Solaris' " and this would help.

Thanks in Advance

[Roberto Gallis]

Hi,
I think you don't need a command like eject because you have to take the media with your hand to leave the cdrom drive empty. The Solaris command eject simply eject the cdrom but the drive is not empty if you don't take the cd with your hand!!! So simply umount your cdrom, press the eject button and take it.
A command like eject is useful if you have a robot that take the cd for you... but very expensive.

Best regards
Roberto

[Steven Sim Kok Leong]

Hi,

I do not think there is an equivalent command in HP-UX. In any case, I do not see the rationale for a CD-ROM drive to eject its CD upon a command for the following reasons:

1) With an eject facility, it allows you to eject the cdrom remotely from afar. However, the reason why you eject the cdrom in the first place is to retrieve it.

2) Ejecting the cdrom drive after un-mounting in HP-UX takes a single finger push (1 finger manipulation) on the eject button while typing "eject cdrom" requires typing 11 characters with fingers on both hands ie. 11 finger manipulations.

3) There is also the risk of protruding the cd-tray in the path of human traffic and risking it being damaged if you intend to eject it and retrieve it later especially for floor-bounded servers.

Just my 2 cents. Regards.

Steven Sim Kok Leong
Brainbench MVP for Unix Admin
http://www.brainbench.com

[James R. Ferguson]

Carlos:

I don't think HP has a command for ejecting a CDROM. However, this thread has a C-program provided by Andreas Voss for achieving this:

http://my1.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,1150,0xb59d0559ff7cd4118fef0090279cd0f9!0,00.html

...JRF...

[Carlos_8]

sorry guys I clicked the wrong button for my reply earlier so disregard the other posting about eject cdrom. I thank all of you for you prompt answers. It just goes to show me the logical sense of HPUX in not having a eject command.

[Bruce Regittko_1]

Hi,

The Solaris eject command works well with the vold mechanism that allows ordinary users the capability to mount/umount cdroms and floppies. Since HP does not have anything like this, there is no eject command.

In our Sun training room, we had a cdrom tray kicked when it opened unexpectedly. A user issued eject but forgot that they were telneted into another system. The wrong tray opened at the same time another student was walking by.

If you do use the C program in an above reply, be careful that your system does not have the cdrom behind a door. If I opened the cdrom via the command line, the tray would strike the door of the D220's case, possibly damaging the drive.

--Bruce

[Jimmy Rogers]

Also, just a point of interest and humor. New servers arrive with DVD's rather than CD-ROM. And the DVD's are mounted sideways, without the little locking levers the CD-ROM's have. There's even a warning about making sure the disk has stopped spinning before ejection, or serious injury can occur. So an eject command could be a dangerous thing, slicing some unaware operator down the middle like a buzzsaw. Ducking, in this case, wouldn't help, resulting in likely decapitation.

Have a nice day,
J.R.

[Carlos_8]

JR
That's the best answer yet, I had to get back into my chair after that laugh!!!!! You deserve ten points.

[Shannon Petry]

I too like the "buzz-saw"! LOL

I disagree with the thought that HP-UX does not need such a command.

While true on Servers this is not good, it really hurts HP's position in the market for workstations. I know many engineers who dont want to work on HP-UX because they can not play their CD's while they work. Yeah, "xmcd" is out their, but not supported, and not user friendly. In SunOS, AIX and Irix, their's a nice built in CD button just like in windblows that lets users eject, play, or open a file manager depending on the cd mounted.....

While it may seem trivial on us Admins, to a users who sits at a box all week, these little things make quite a difference. One guy I know had a walkman stolen every month. The place he worked at got tired of replacing them, so got him a Sparc60. HP Lost that deal!

HP should look at a "VOLD" like product to help their position in the workstation market place.

[Richard Briggs]

Having just compiled xmcd on my 11.00 J class... I love the eject button on the xmcd interface... I wonder what command xmcd sends in the background to the cdrom to make it eject... hmmmmmmmmmmm???????

[Charles Slivkoff]

Along with the lack of true support of the Rock Ridge extensions, the lack of "eject" is a definate "non-user-friendly" piece of HP-UX. I've seen a perl script under Linux that can do it.

Anyone in the labs listening?

This has been a recurring enhancement request at least as long as I've been around (6 years tomorrow, actually).

How about an auto-mount feature for CDROMs too?

-chuck

P.S. I tried decoding the SCSI commands that xmcd uses, but didn't get very far. Any SCSI programmers out there?