problems with HP DVD Writer 400 on HP-xw4200 Linux workstation

[Gabriella Schmidt]

I tried to use the HP DVD Writer 400 on a xw4200 Workstation as the only CD/DVD/RW device.
The first problem had been, that I could not boot
the RedHat network installation CD (boot.iso)
even though Red Hat says:
Certified Desktop/Workstation Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3

Component:
CD-ROM Drive
Status:
Compatible
Comments:
HP 48X CD-ROM Drive
HP 16X DVD-ROM Drive
HP 48X CD R/W Drive
HP 48X DVD-ROM/CDRW Combo
HP 8X DVD+RW 400i Kit
Driver Location:
Red Hat Linux Installation CD
Ease Of Install:
4

As workaround I created a USB stick with the syslinux files on it and the network installation was done without problems.
But even in the running RHEl system the drive no CDROM or DVD are recognized.

The boot options are:
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS (2.4.21-27.0.1.EL)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.21-27.0.1.EL ro root=LABEL=/ hda=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.21-27.0.1.EL.img

and dmesg shows:
hda: attached ide-scsi driver.
scsi2 : SCSI host adapter emulation for IDE ATAPI devices
Vendor: HP Model: DVD Writer 400c Rev: HH19
Type: CD-ROM ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0 at scsi2, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 40x/40x writer cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray

[Gabriella Schmidt]

Lokks like a hardware problem: I replaced the DVD Writer. From the second I can boot without problems (even run the diagnostic CD :-).