DVD Writing
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An overview of DVD writing tools and methods. |
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DVD |
CD Burning Tips |
Writing (or "burning") DVDs requires a different approach than burning CDs. DVDs offer much higher capacities, and the standard CD writing tools will not suffice.
This HOWTO covers a narrow scope for now: writing data onto DVDs using the command line.
Contents |
Required packages
- You still need the standard CD writing tools known as cdrtools (which can be replaced by cdrkit, if desired).
- You also need the new DVD writing tools known as dvd+rw-tools, found in the [extra] repository.
Procedure
This HOWTO will use the command growisofs from the dvd+rw-tools package. If you've ever written CDs from the command line before, you'll know the process of first creating an iso9660 file (mkisofs), and then burning it to CD (cdrecord). growisofs merges these steps, so you don't need extra storage space for the ISO file anymore. Another advantage is that multisession writing has been simplified.
Overview
Essentially, writing a new DVD follows this procedure:
$ growisofs -Z /dev/cdrw -r -J /path/to/files
where /dev/cdrw is your DVD writer device.
To continue a DVD (write an additional session) you use:
$ growisofs -M /dev/cdrw -r -J /path/to/files
To burn an ISO image to disc use:
$ growisofs -Z /dev/cdrw=/path/to/iso
- -Z
- start at the beginning of the DVD using the following device
- -M
- start after the last session on the disc using the following device
- -r
- Rock Ridge support with sane permission settings (recommended, extended UNIX info)
- -J
- Joliet support (recommended, extended info for Windows NT and Windows 95)
$ readcd -v dev=/dev/cdrw -f image.isoas per CD Burning Tips, then use the growisofs example above to burn the ISO to a new blank disc.
Example
Although the above might suffice for you, some users require extra settings to successfully write DVDs.
A simple DVD writing template:
$ growisofs -Z /dev/cdrw -v -l -dry-run -iso-level 3 -R -J -speed=2 -joliet-long -graft-points /files/=/path/to/files/
- -Z
- as seen above, this starts a new DVD; to continue a multisession DVD, use -M
- -v
- increase verbosity level (more output)
- -l
- breaks DOS compatibility but allows for longer filenames
- -dry-run
- simulate writing (remove this flag if you are sure that everything is set up correctly)
- -iso-level 3
- defines how strict you want to adhere to the iso9660 standard (-iso-level 1 is very strict while -iso-level 4 is very loose)
- -R
- see above
- -J
- see above
- -speed=2
- start burning at 2X speed
- -joliet-long
- allows longer Joliet file names
The final part needs more explanation:
-graft-points /files/=/path/to/files/
This specifies that files will be stored in the subdirectory /files rather than the DVD root. See the mkisofs manual for details.
Re-writable DVDs
The process for burning re-writable discs is almost the same as for normal DVDs. However, keep in mind that virgin DVD+RW media needs to be initially formatted ("blanked") prior to usage. Blanking can be done using the program dvd+rw-format like this:
$ dvd+rw-format /dev/cdrw
where /dev/cdrw is your DVD writer device.
Troubleshooting
Permission denied
If you encounter the a permission error, ensure you are a member of the group "optical":
# usermod -aG optical username