DVD-RAM not usable under OS X

[toby]

With 5.0.236 I still see the anomalous behaviour described in this earlier thread: http://forums.dantz.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=Desktopworkgrupx&Number=4783&page=&view=&sb=&o=

 

 

 

I cannot use my DVD-RAM archive with Retrospect under OS X. Although the DVD-RAM members mount OK, Retrospect retrieves always fail with:

 

Device trouble: “4-DISEGNO ARCHIVE-DVD”, error 204 (device busy).

 

 

 

Any news? Rebooting into OS 9 just to retrieve is a -major- annoyance. (The only other time I have to reboot into OS 9 is to use my SCSI (Adaptec controller) tape drive with Retrospect, which is another story.)

[AmyJ]

Error 204 (device busy) is reported when the backup device is being communicated to by two different processes, or there is hardware trouble that impairs communication with the device. Like all 200- series errors, error 204 is always generated by the backup device.

 

 

 

That the behavior is not replicating itself in OS 9 with the same drive, same software and same computer would indicate either a third-party software conflict in OS X, or a communication problem between OS X and the drive.

[toby]

Dantz should be able to reproduce the problem. The drive mounts on the desktop and no other software has trouble accessing it. Retrospect claims to be able to use removable media that can be mounted. I am still stuck with a problem and no solution.

 

 

 

Are you saying 204 is a file system error return? (which with HFS(+) would normally be negative). At this level, dealing with a *mounted* volume, Retrospect should be using file manager calls only and would not see any errors at a lower level. Can you explain, given this context, what is meant by "generated by the device"? (Is Retrospect having trouble recognising the mounted volume as an archive member and aborting, *before* opening the member file and reading from it?)

 

 

 

This problem occurs with both external SCSI (via Adaptec 2930CU) and internal ATA DVD-RAM (both Matsushita PD-2 LF-D100).

 

 

 

I think "third party software conflict" can be easily ruled out; these are plain OS X installations. The problem exists with 10.2 and earlier versions. Since it manifests with both SCSI adapter and built-in ATA, this looks to me like either a Retrospect issue or an OS X issue. Unfortunately I am not aware of any mechanism for reporting bugs to Apple, so if Dantz doesn't want to claim it, this annoyance won't be fixed any time soon...