Support for the standard ATAPI command to change CDs has already been
added to the 2.0 kernel ide-cd driver. However, the Sanyo 3 CD changer
was under developement before this relatively new ATAPI command was
established. As a result the standard ATAPI changer support does not
work with the Sanyo 3 CD changer. But through the help of Jeff Lightfoot
who is stationed in Japan, I now have been provided the information
required from Sanyo on how to support the changer functionality of the
Sanyo 3 CD changer. A patch to enhance the ide-cd driver has already been
created and is available at: http://orion.it.luc.edu/~bgallia/cdrom.html
If you or any Linux user you know owns the Sanyo 3 CD changer then please
make them aware of this patch! They will have to upgrade to the Linux 2.0
kernel if they have not already done so to use it. But once the patch is
put into place, the kernel will support the Sanyo 3 CD changer just the
same as it supports any other IDE/ATAPI multiplatter CDROM drive. Users
will have to check the linux/Documentation/cdrom/ide-cd file for more
information including the cdload.c source code required to request a
switch of CDs.
Since this is a relatively trival patch (makes some small changes to only
3 functions in only the ide-cd.c file), I hope to submit this patch to
Linus to be included in either the 2.0.2 or 2.1.0 kernel (as he sees fit).
Scott Snyder, the maintainer of the IDE CDROM driver, has already looked
at the patch and seems to approve it's use for being included in the
Linux kernel.
If anyone has any success/horror stories with using the patch then feel
free to email me at: bgallia@luc.edu