No common CD-ROM drive was detected.

Just tested with the most recent Debian Testing (as of 080227), and it shows the same problem.

Tried with the generic.all_generic_ide=1 boot parameter that was clearly documented in the hep page, but it complained that it was not a valid kernel parameter.

I have the exact same problem with a DVD-ROM drive and a CD-RW drive that are both about 8 years old. Both worked fine with Ubuntu 7.10, but Ubuntu 8.04 alternate install complains "No common CD-ROM drive was detected." Ubuntu 8.04 regular install just drops me to the shell with no explanation.

I too tried generic.all_generic_ide=1 but the exact same thing happened: I was told that it was not a valid parameter.

I'm having exactly this same problem when installing ubuntu 8.04 LTS server (alternate CD) in both normal, and expert modes.

It boots perfectly fine from the CD-ROM but when it gets to the stage of detecting and mounting the drive, it fails with the error "No common CD-ROM drive was detected"

For those wondering, it's not a fault of the burning process on the CD, or any fault on the CD as i've checked the CD against what's on the site, and it checks fine. it is not faulty hardwareeither because the CD-ROM drive worked fine with 6.06 LTS. Only ideas I've seen anywhere suggest that it has something to do wqith the SATA drivers installing and blocking the CD-ROM drivers, but this shouldn't effect me as I do not have any SATA hardware on that PC (as far as I know)

I also tried generic.all_generic_ide=1 as an added option but got the message that it was an invalid parameter.

Things to note in my case:

eMachines i400
400 mghtz intel celeron CPU
256 MB RAM
standard double speed IDE (ATAPI) CD-ROM drive set as secondary slave
3 standard IDE hard disk drives ranging from 3.7GB to 4GB in size all properly installed (none are SATA that I'm aware of)
worked perfectly fine with kubuntu 6.06 LTS

Any assistance would be helpful as I have yet to get any help with this issue

Since it's happened to more than one person, I figure it should be a confirmed bug.

This has happened to me on Asus M50vm-b1 laptop. Live-cd boots fine but when I try to run install it hangs. I downloaded the alternate-install 64-bit and it gives me the "no commone cd-rom drive was detected" . Is there any way to load some driver module to fix this?

i had this same problem trying to install Xubuntu on a Powerbook G4.
btw, found the solution on ubuntuforums:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=964904

With XUbuntu alpha-6/karmic-alternate-i386.iso I get the same problem.
The suggested
   modprobe ide-scsi
solution does not work here. It gives:
   FATAL: Module ide_scsi not found.

 The same problem happened to me with xubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.
Apparently pata_opti kernel module(s) is(are) missing.
My suggestion to Ubuntu developpers is to add pata_opti module(s) to
the alternate variant.

Until then, here is a solution that worked for me.

+ On a 'healthy' Ubuntu 9.04 jaunty system, find:

  $ pwd; ls -l pata_opti*; cksum pata_opti*
  /lib/modules/2.6.28-11-generic/kernel/drivers/ata
  -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15224 2009-04-17 06:41 pata_opti.ko
  -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 17880 2009-04-17 06:41 pata_optidma.ko
  1955373515 17880 pata_optidma.ko
  2254948007 15224 pata_opti.ko

  These can also be accessed on a LiveCD running system.

+ Copy these 2 files onto a USB memory stick.

+ Plug the USB stick to the box, being installed with
  {,X,K,G,L,?}Ubuntu-?.??-alternate-*

+ When the message "No common CD-ROM drive was detected" appears,
  hit 'Alt-F2' to get into a terminal shell.

+ Mount the USB partition. For example:
    # mkdir /tmp/sda1;
    # mount /dev/sda1 /tmp/sda1
  Or find the right device by browsing /var/log/syslog.

+ Load the modules. For example:
    # cd /tmp/sda1
    # insmod pata_opti.ko
    # insmod pata_optidma.ko # This may not be necesary ??

+ Optionally, you may umount the USB partition -
    # cd /; umount /tmp/sda1

+ Go back to the installation view, by hitting Alt-F1.
  Proceed with 'Continue' and when prompted to enter CDROM device, enter:
    /dev/sr0

For me it worked, the CDROM was well recognized and the installation continued.

I do have other unrelated grub-install problems. But this is a separate story.

Same problem with Ubuntu 9.10 Alternate install for Intel x86_64 (AMD64) in a Dell M1330 notebook. I have 8.04 installed just fine using the alternate cd.