*NEW* Burning DVD/CDs with
the X-CD-Roast GUI
A GUI frontend for cdrtools has been installed called
xcdroast. It requires version 2.0 or higher of cdrtools,
and uses cdrecord-ProDVD to write DVDs. As well, to burn
DVDs, you must add a security key that is required due
to the restrictions imposed on DVD writers. In xcdroast,
goto Setup->Options to find the cdrecord-ProDVD key
field called CDR_SECURITY key. The key will, reportedly,
expire after a certain time period, so a new key can
be found in the README at the following address:
ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/cdrecord/ProDVD/README
The provided key is for private/research/educational
purposes.
You can find X-CD-Roast by running /usr/bin/xcdroast
on idun.
While X-CD-Roast provides a significant number of features,
the most useful options for performing simple file backups
can be found by going to "Create CD/DVD"->"Master
Tracks". From here, you can add items from the File/Directory
view into the Session view. By unchecking "Display directories
only", it is possible to select individual files. Next,
click on "Create session/image" where you can burn to
an image file (ISO) or write directly to disc using the "Master
and write on-the-fly" button. Make sure to check the "Enable
protection from Buffer Underruns" option, especially
if you are burning across the network.
Note that the typical CD type should be set to 80 min
(700 MB), and the typical DVD should be set to 4.7 GB.
It is also in the "Create session/image" tab that the
option to erase/clear CD/DVD-RWs can be found at "Blank
CD/DVD+-RW".
*Important: Make sure that the correct "Write Device" has
been selected from the pull-down menu. The device listing
is only updated manually from the Setup menu, so devices
might be listed that are no longer installed on the machine.
The website and full documentation for X-CD-Roast can
be found at:
http://www.xcdroast.org/
Burning DVD/CDs at the command line
Command
line DVD/CD authoring in Linux is accomplished by using
mkisofs and cdrecord(.ProDVD). mkisofs is used to package
the data to be burned into a pre-mastered image in an
ISO9660 format (other formats like JOLIET and HFS are
also possible) called an ISO file (usually with a .iso
extension). A .iso file can be mounted in the normal
fashion and accessed as a read-only file system. cdrecord
(or cdrecord.ProDVD) can write to a writable CD or DVD
from either a .iso file or directly from another device
(ie CD-to-CD copying). All settings for cdrecord are
also used with cdrecord.ProDVD to burn DVDs.
The newest versions of these tools are distributed together
in a package called cdrtools (all versions after 2.0).
cdrecord.ProDVD might have to be downloaded separately.
You should ensure that you have version 2.0 or newer
of these tools. You can check this by running any of
these programs with the extension ‘--version’.
To confirm that your CD/DVD drive has been
configured, as root, type:
$ cdrecord --scanbus
This will list all detected drives on the
SCSI bus. Linux interacts with both IDE and USB devices
through a SCSI emulation layer, so all devices should
be seen as SCSI devices, regardless of what interface
they are actually connected with.
Once you have confirmed that your drive
has been properly configured, you can prepare an .iso
file with mkisofs in the following manner:
$ mkisofs -o test.iso -Jrv -V test_disk
/home/gmd/
In this example:
- -o names the new .iso image file (test.iso)
- -J uses Joliet naming records, for Windows compatibility
- -r uses Rock Ridge naming conventions for UNIX/Linux
compatibility, and makes all files publicly readable
(can also use -R)
- -v sets verbose mode, for a running commentary as
the image is created
- -V provides a volume ID (test_disk); this is the
disk name that shows up in Windows Explorer
- Last in the list are the files selected for packaging
into the .iso (everything in /home/gmd/)
See the end of this document for some extra
info on mkisofs.
Now you can mount the .iso for verification. It is probably
a good idea to create a test directory:
$ mkdir /test_iso
$ mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0 test.iso /test_iso
Look at the directory contents; all of
the files should be there and readable. If they are not,
the image is bad, and if you burn it onto a disk, you'll
end up creating a coaster.
Now, before the .iso can be burned, we must determine
the SCSI target for burner. This can be done using the ‘–scanbus’ command:
The output from the above has been modified to show
only the relevant line. In the above, the target for
the burning is ‘2,0,0’. We can now write
the disc:
$ cdrecord -v -eject –dao speed=8 dev=2,0,0 test.iso
This should successfully burn the disc,
while showing you a nice progress report.
Some important cdrecord options (not all used in the
above):
- -v sets Verbose mode. This will display the progress
of the writing process plus some extra information.
- -dummy means he recorder will perform the entire
recording process with the laser off. This is useful
to determine how fast a system can handle burning.
- -dao sets Disk-at-once burning (also called Session
at once).
- -eject tells the program to eject the disc after
completing the write process
- speed=# sets the speed factor for the writing process.
Is a multiple of the base writing speed (150KB/s for
CDROM, 170KB/s for CD-Audio). If not speed option is
specified, the CDR_SPEED environment variable will
be used.
- blank=type this option allows blanking a re-writable
DVD/CD before writing. Types: all – blanks the
entire disk, but takes a long time; fast – minimally
blanks the entire disk, good most of the time; unclose – unclose
the last session; session – blank the last session.
- dev=target sets the SCSI target for the recorder.
This target can be determined using the --scanbus command
on cdrecord. A typical target would be ‘1,0,0’.
It is possible to set a target that is on a remote
system, but you’ll have to refer to the more
detailed documentation for how to accomplish this.
If no dev option is used, cdrecord will try to get
the device from the CDR_DEVICE environment variable.
- driverotps=burnfree this option allows the use of
buffer underrun protection that is common in most new
drives. The default is to have burnfree set to off,
but is very useful to ensure that the no errors occur
during the burn process.
If the overall speed of a system is sufficient, cdrecord
can run without first creating an .iso file. Just use the
pipe:
mkisofs –R /home/gmd | cdrecord –v –dao dev=2,0,0 –
mkisofs
- -path-list file gives the name of a file containing
a list of directories and filenames to be added to
the .iso filesystem. This list is processed after any
that appear on the command line. If the argument is ‘-‘ then
the list is read from the standard input (ie. keyboard).
- -V volid specifies the volume ID to be written onto
the disc. This name is assigned to the disc when mounted,
or when loaded in MSWindows.
Top | Back |