Linux Friendly Hardware Database ??

[Dave Stevens]

On Wednesday 16 January 2008 01:16:01 am Michael A. Peters wrote:
> Many moons ago I bough a Sony DVD burner.
> It worked in Linux from day one - worked extremely well.
>
> I finally ran out of my supply of DVD-R and bought another 50 spindle.
> It will not burn to them - first spitting out the disk and sucking back
> in, and then failing when it comes to the burn.
>
> I googled the error and found that my drive is old enough that for the
> new media types, I need to update the firmware on the drive. Went to get
> the new firmware, and read the instructions. You can not update the
> firmware from a DOS boot floppy, you update the firmware from within
> Windows.
>
> That's a bit of a problem for me, I do not have windows, and this is NOT
> the kind of task I would expect to work in wine (though I may be wrong,
> I kind of doubt it would).
>
> So I'm on the hunt for a new DVD burner, but I'd like to find one that
> allows firmware updating via boot floppy or bootable flash drive. I'm
> having trouble finding one.
>
> Is there a hardware database of Linux friendly hardware that takes into
> account things like firmware updates?
> I hate having to replace hardware that otherwise functions perfectly,
> but just needs new firmware.

I sympathize. In the same situation I removed the CD burner and installed it 
temporarily in a Windows box, updated the firmware, and returned it working 
to the LInux computer.

Dave




-- 
There is no single government agency that views sustainability through a broad 
lens, taking into account the values of the people affected by government 
decisions. Any model of sustainability that is driven solely by an economic 
engine is deficient if it is incapable of taking into account social values. 

Mr. Justice David Vickers, BC Supreme Court in Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British 
Columbia,2007