Hi,
thanks for all your corrections and suggestions. I enhanced the man page
and added you into footer as "consultant" if you don't mind.
Attaching the enhanced version.
Cheers,
Honza
On 08/22/2012 05:15 PM, Thomas Schmitt wrote:
Hi,
not being in charge for dvd+rw-tools i am curious enough to read
and comment on the proposed man page.
Honza Horak wrote:
If a DVD-RW medium is in the later one,
Shouldn't that be "latter" rather than "later" here ?
a non-virgin DVD-RW in Sequential Recording
mode needs to be blanked before writing a new initial session
One should stress that only -blank=full makes a used sequential DVD-RW
capable of performing multi-session. Fast blanked DVD-RW can only do
Disk-At-Once. (Some drives confess the inability, some do not. None can.)
Full blanking lasts as long as full writing.
So formatting DVD-RW is very desirable for multi-session use cases.
Virgin BD and DVD+RW media need to be initally formatted prior
usage.
"initially" rather than "initally".
One should replace "need" by something like "may".
DVD+RW get formatted by growisofs as needed when a burn run is desired.
(I once tested that when i had no own stake in operating optical drives.)
BD-R media may get formatted when they are still empty.
I understand growisofs 7.1 does this automatically and unconditionally
when a burn run is desired. (This is not always a good idea, though.)
growisofs_mmc.cpp:
case 0x41: // BD-R SRM
if ((disc_info[2]&3) == 0) // blank
bd_r_format (cmd);
I also understand that BD-RE get formatted automatically:
case 0x43: // BR-RE
if ((disc_info[2]&3) == 0) // blank
bd_re_format (cmd);
I think the main use cases for dvd+rw-format are:
- Formatting DVD-RW to make them overwritable
- Blanking used DVD-RW to make them sequentially writable from scratch
- Formatting BD-R, BD-RE, and DVD-RAM with custom spare area sizes
- Re-Formatting BD-RE and DVD-RAM to change their spare size
Use -blank=full to change
This sentence looks incomplete.
Under Linux it will most likely be an ide-scsi device such as "/dev/scd0."
Cough. ide-scsi is dead since kernel 2.6 came out.
Further it seems that "sr0" has finally won the battle against "scd0".
Maybe one should mention /dev/hda for older Linux 2.6 with IDE/ATAPI
and /dev/sr0 for newer Linux or SATA or USB. (Have there ever been
DVD drives with SCSI bus interface ?)
Overview of drives with suffienct access permissions:
xorriso -devices
or
cdrskin --devices
To blank a CD-RW, you have to use another utility, e.g. wodim:
wodim blank=all -immed dev=/dev/cdrom
Blanking CD-RW in "all" mode lasts long and is not necessary for the
purpose of re-usability. It might serve privacy and it might revive
media which were spoiled by a bad drive.
Normally one uses "fast".
I could offer
xorriso -outdev /dev/cdrom -blank all|fast|as_needed
or
cdrskin blank=all|fast|as_needed -immed dev=/dev/cdrom
"as_needed" is a wizzard-ish mode which decides by itself what must
be done to get a medium which can be written from scratch.
To blank a BD or DVD+RW, run:
One should mention that this is not blanking but simply overwriting
old data to make them (nearly) unreadable.
(The command also applies to formatted DVD-RW and to DVD-RAM.)
Now i am curious whether Andy Polyakov is still around.
Have a nice day :)
Thomas
diff -up dvd+rw-tools-7.1/dvd+rw-format.1.format dvd+rw-tools-7.1/dvd+rw-format.1
--- dvd+rw-tools-7.1/dvd+rw-format.1.format 2012-08-23 17:28:25.536770452 +0200
+++ dvd+rw-tools-7.1/dvd+rw-format.1 2012-08-23 17:30:14.043767054 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+.TH DVD+RW\-FORMAT 1 "21 Aug 2012" "dvd+rw\-tools 7.1"
+.SH NAME
+dvd+rw\-format \- formatting and blanking DVD and BD media program.
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+.B dvd+rw\-format
+[\fB\-force\fP[\fB\=full\fP]]
+[\fB\-lead\-out|\-blank\fP[\fB\=full\fP]]
+[\fB\-ssa\fP[\fB\=none|default|max|XXXm\fP]]
+.I /dev/dvd
+
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+\fBdvd+rw\-format\fP is a part of \fBdvd+rw\-tools\fP suite and allows to
+format virgin DVD+RW or BD media for the first use or blank already
+written DVD\-RW, DVD+RW and DVD\-RAM media.
+Typical use cases of using \fBdvd+rw\-format\fP is formatting DVD\-RW to
+make them overwritable, blanking used DVD\-RW to make them sequentially
+writable from scratch, formatting BD\-R, BD\-RE and DVD\-RAM with custom
+spare area sizes or re-formatting BD\-RE and DVD\-RAM to change their spare
+size.
+It is not possible to format CD\-RW by \fBdvd+rw\-format\fP,
+you can use \fBcdrskin\fP, \fBxorriso\fP or \fBwodim\fP utility instead,
+see section \fBEXAMPLES\fP.
+
+A DVD\-RW accepts two disc modes: the \fISequential Recording\fP
+and the \fIRestricted Overwrite\fP. If a DVD\-RW medium is in the latter one,
+it will behave much like DVD+RW.
+By default DVD\-RW discs are in Sequential Recording mode, but
+can be put into Restricted Overwrite mode using \fBdvd+rw\-format\fP
+when no options given.
+Be aware, that only \-blank=full, which lasts as long as full writing,
+makes a used sequential DVD\-RW capable of performing multi\-session,
+while fast blanked DVD\-RW can only do Disk-At-Once.
+
+Virgin DVD\-RW can be directly written without
+the need of a formatting operation, however a non-virgin DVD\-RW in
+Sequential Recording mode needs to be blanked before writing a new
+initial session. Since a DVD\-RW medium in the Restricted Overwrite
+mode behaves much like DVD+RW, it can be written again without prior
+formatting the media.
+
+Virgin BD and DVD+RW media may be initially formatted prior
+usage. Any-time later, \fBgrowisofs\fP program will take care of formatting
+it automatically whenever appropriate, while further formatting is not
+recommended, however it is possible.
+
+.SH OPTIONS
+.TP
+.BI \-force[\=full]
+Perform formatting even if the medium is formatted already. This is not
+recommended for BD and DVD+RW media, since they need to be
+formatted only once. Use \fB\-format=full\fP to perform full (lengthy)
+reformat in case of DVD\-RAM or (lengthy) Full Certification in case of
+BD\-RE.
+.TP
+.BI \-lead\-out
+Relocates the lead-out next to outermost written sector as well as makes
+sure there is no virgin surface before it. This can make the medium more
+compatible with some DVD players. Previously written data is not
+affected by this operation.
+.TP
+.BI \-blank[\=full]
+Wipe data from DVD\-RW media. Blanking is used automatically in case of
+BD and DVD+RW media. Use \fB\-blank\=full\fP to change
+DVD\-RW back to Sequential Recording mode.
+.TP
+.BI \-ssa[\=none|default|max|XXXm]
+Grow, eliminate, reset to default or maximize \fISupplementary Spare Area\fP.
+
+.SH EXAMPLES
+Actual device names vary from one operating system to another. We use
+\fI/dev/dvd\fP as a collective name or as symbolic link to the actual
+device if you wish. Under Linux it will most likely be a
+device such as "/dev/sr0" or "/dev/hda" for older Linux 2.6.
+
+To blank a CD\-RW, you have to use another utility, e.g. wodim:
+
+ \fBwodim\fP \fBblank=fast\fP \-immed dev=\fI/dev/cdrom\fP
+ \fBcdrskin\fP \fBblank=all|fast|as_needed\fP \-immed dev=\fI/dev/cdrom\fP
+ \fBxorriso\fP \fB\-outdev\fP \fI/dev/cdrom\fP \fB\-blank all|fast|as_needed\fP
+
+To blank a DVD\-RW and put in the incremental sequential mode, run:
+
+ \fBdvd+rw\-format\fP \fB\-blank=full\fP \fI/dev/dvd\fP
+
+To blank a DVD\-RW and put in the Restricted Overwrite mode, run:
+
+ \fBdvd+rw\-format\fP \fB\-force\fP \fI/dev/dvd\fP
+
+To overwrite data of BD, DVD+RW, DVD\-RW or DVD\-RAM run:
+
+ \fBgrowisofs\fP \fB\-Z\fP \fI/dev/dvd\fP\=\fI/dev/zero\fP
+
+To blank a DVD\-RAM, you can use:
+
+ \fBdd\fP if\=\fI/dev/zero\fP of\=\fI/dev/dvd\fP
+
+To relocate lead-out sector, run:
+
+ \fBdvd+rw\-format\fP \fB\-lead\-out\fP \fI/dev/dvd\fP
+
+.SH NOTES
+Note that DVD+RW re-formatting procedure does not substitute for
+blanking. If you want to nullify the media, e.g. for privacy reasons,
+do it explicitly with 'growisofs \-Z \fI/dev/dvd\fP\=\fB/dev/zero\fP'.
+
+When growisofs "runs into" blank Blu\-ray Disc media, BD\-RE or BD\-R,
+it gets pre-formatted with minimal spare area size of 256MB.
+
+.SH SEE ALSO
+Most up-to-date information on dvd+rw\-tools is available at
+http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/.
+
+.SH AUTHORS
+Andy Polyakov <ap...@fy.chalmers.se> stands for programming and on-line
+information.
+
+This manpage was created by Honza Horak <hho...@redhat.com> and consulted by
+Thomass Schmitt <scdbac...@gmx.net>.
+
+.SH LICENSE
+\fBdvd+rw\-format\fP is distributed under GNU GPL.
+
diff -up dvd+rw-tools-7.1/growisofs.1.format dvd+rw-tools-7.1/growisofs.1
--- dvd+rw-tools-7.1/growisofs.1.format 2008-03-01 11:40:06.000000000 +0100
+++ dvd+rw-tools-7.1/growisofs.1 2012-08-23 17:28:25.536770452 +0200
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ recordings.
Actual device names vary from one operating system to another. We use
\fI/dev/dvd\fP as a collective name or as symbolic link to the actual
device if you wish. Under Linux it will most likely be an ide\-scsi
-device such as "/dev/scd0." Under NetBSD/OpenBSD it has to be a
+device such as "/dev/sr0." Under NetBSD/OpenBSD it has to be a
\fIcharacter\fP SCSI CD\-ROM device such as "/dev/rcd0c." Under Solaris
it also has to be a \fIcharacter\fP SCSI/ATAPI CD\-ROM device, e.g.
"/dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s2" or "/vol/dev/aliases/cdrom0." And likewise in
@@ -210,11 +210,19 @@ DVD\-RAM or Blu\-ray Disc, as volumes ar
When growisofs "runs into" blank Blu\-ray Disc media, BD\-RE or BD\-R,
it gets pre-formatted with minimal spare area size of 256MB.
+A DVD\-RW accepts two disc modes: the \fISequential Recording\fP
+and the \fIRestricted Overwrite\fP. If a DVD\-RW medium is in the later one,
+it will behave much like DVD+RW.
+By default DVD\-RW discs are in Sequential Recording mode, but
+can be put into Restricted Overwrite mode using \fBdvd+rw\-format\fP.
+See \fBdvd+rw\-format (1)\fP for more info.
+
.SH SEE ALSO
Most up-to-date information on dvd+rw\-tools is available at
http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/.
.PP
-The manpage for \fBmkisofs\fP.
+.BR mkisofs (1),
+.BR dvd+rw\-tools (1)
.SH AUTHORS
Andy Polyakov <ap...@fy.chalmers.se> stands for programming and on-line
diff -up dvd+rw-tools-7.1/growisofs.c.format dvd+rw-tools-7.1/growisofs.c
--- dvd+rw-tools-7.1/growisofs.c.format 2008-03-04 10:15:03.000000000 +0100
+++ dvd+rw-tools-7.1/growisofs.c 2012-08-23 17:28:25.561770698 +0200
@@ -3433,8 +3433,15 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
else if (isatty (0)) warn_for_isofs |= 2;
if (no_tty_check || (warn_for_isofs&2))
- fprintf (stderr,"WARNING: %s already carries isofs!\n",in_device),
+ {
+ fprintf (stderr,"WARNING: %s already carries isofs!\n",in_device);
+ /* we cannot re-write a DVD-RW media in Sequential mode */
+ if ((int)(mmc_profile&0xFFFF) == 0x14)
+ fprintf (stderr,"FATAL: DVD-RW medium is in Sequential mode, you "
+ "need to blank it before writing again.\n"),
+ exit(FATAL_START(EBUSY));
printf ("About to execute '");
+ }
else
fprintf (stderr,"FATAL: %s already carries isofs!\n",in_device),
exit(FATAL_START(EBUSY));
diff -up dvd+rw-tools-7.1/Makefile.format dvd+rw-tools-7.1/Makefile
--- dvd+rw-tools-7.1/Makefile.format 2008-02-27 14:11:27.000000000 +0100
+++ dvd+rw-tools-7.1/Makefile 2012-08-23 17:28:25.569770780 +0200
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ pkg:
$(DIST)/Makefile.m4 \
$(DIST)/dvd+rw-tools.spec \
$(DIST)/growisofs.1 \
+ $(DIST)/dvd+rw-format.1 \
$(DIST)/transport.hxx \
$(DIST)/mp.h \
$(DIST)/win32err.h \
diff -up dvd+rw-tools-7.1/Makefile.m4.format dvd+rw-tools-7.1/Makefile.m4
--- dvd+rw-tools-7.1/Makefile.m4.format 2012-08-23 17:28:25.508770174 +0200
+++ dvd+rw-tools-7.1/Makefile.m4 2012-08-23 17:28:25.570770790 +0200
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ BIN_MODE?=0755
install: dvd+rw-tools
install -o root -m $(BIN_MODE) $(CHAIN) /usr/bin
install -o root -m 0644 growisofs.1 /usr/share/man/man1
+ install -o root -m 0644 dvd+rw-format.1 /usr/share/man/man1
])
ifelse(OS,MINGW32,[
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ BIN_MODE?=04755
install: dvd+rw-tools
install -o root -m $(BIN_MODE) $(CHAIN) /usr/local/bin
install -o root -m 0644 growisofs.1 /usr/local/man/man1
+ install -o root -m 0644 dvd+rw-format.1 /usr/local/man/man1
])
ifelse(OS,SunOS,[
@@ -103,6 +105,7 @@ LDLIBS=-lvolmgt -lrt -lpthread -ldl
install: dvd+rw-tools
/usr/ucb/install -o root -m 04755 $(CHAIN) /usr/local/bin
/usr/ucb/install -o root -m 0644 growisofs.1 /usr/local/man/man1
+ /usr/ucb/install -o root -m 0644 dvd+rw-format.1 /usr/local/man/man1
])
ifelse(OS,HP-UX,[
@@ -141,6 +144,7 @@ LDLIBS=-lrt -lpthread
install: dvd+rw-tools
/usr/sbin/install -o -f /usr/local/bin $(CHAIN)
/usr/sbin/install -o -f /usr/local/man/man1 growisofs.1
+ /usr/sbin/install -o -f /usr/local/man/man1 dvd+rw-format.1
])
ifelse(OS,IRIX,[
@@ -178,6 +182,7 @@ BIN_MODE=04755 # set-root-uid
install: dvd+rw-tools
/sbin/install -u root -m $(BIN_MODE) $(CHAIN) /usr/local/bin
/sbin/install -u root -m 0644 growisofs.1 /usr/local/man/man1
+ /sbin/install -u root -m 0644 dvd+rw-format.1 /usr/local/man/man1
])
ifelse(OS,Linux,[
@@ -202,6 +207,7 @@ install: dvd+rw-tools
install $(minus_o) -m $(bin_mode) $(CHAIN) $(prefix)/bin
[[ -d $(mandir)/man1 ]] || mkdir -p $(mandir)/man1
install $(minus_o) -m 0644 growisofs.1 $(mandir)/man1
+ install $(minus_o) -m 0644 dvd+rw-format.1 $(mandir)/man1
-[[ -f rpl8 ]] && install $(minus_o) -m $(bin_mode) rpl8 $(prefix)/bin || :
-[[ -f btcflash ]] && install $(minus_o) -m $(bin_mode) btcflash $(prefix)/bin || :
])
NAME
dvd+rw-format - formatting and blanking DVD and BD media program.
SYNOPSIS
dvd+rw-format [-force[=full]] [-lead-out|-blank[=full]]
[-ssa[=none|default|max|XXXm]]
/dev/dvd
DESCRIPTION
dvd+rw-format is a part of dvd+rw-tools suite and allows to format
virgin DVD+RW or BD
media for the first use or blank already written DVD-RW, DVD+RW and
DVD-RAM media.
Typical use cases of using dvd+rw-format is formatting DVD-RW to
make them over‐
writable, blanking used DVD-RW to make them sequentially writable from
scratch, format‐
ting BD-R, BD-RE and DVD-RAM with custom spare area sizes or
re-formatting BD-RE and
DVD-RAM to change their spare size. It is not possible to format CD-RW
by dvd+rw-for‐
mat, you can use cdrskin, xorriso or wodim utility instead, see section
EXAMPLES.
A DVD-RW accepts two disc modes: the Sequential Recording and the
Restricted Overwrite.
If a DVD-RW medium is in the latter one, it will behave much like
DVD+RW. By default
DVD-RW discs are in Sequential Recording mode, but can be put into
Restricted Overwrite
mode using dvd+rw-format when no options given. Be aware, that only
-blank=full, which
lasts as long as full writing, makes a used sequential DVD-RW capable
of performing
multi-session, while fast blanked DVD-RW can only do Disk-At-Once.
Virgin DVD-RW can be directly written without the need of a formatting
operation, how‐
ever a non-virgin DVD-RW in Sequential Recording mode needs to be
blanked before writ‐
ing a new initial session. Since a DVD-RW medium in the Restricted
Overwrite mode
behaves much like DVD+RW, it can be written again without prior
formatting the media.
Virgin BD and DVD+RW media may be initially formatted prior usage.
Any-time later,
growisofs program will take care of formatting it automatically
whenever appropriate,
while further formatting is not recommended, however it is possible.
OPTIONS
-force[=full]
Perform formatting even if the medium is formatted already. This
is not recom‐
mended for BD and DVD+RW media, since they need to be formatted
only once. Use
-format=full to perform full (lengthy) reformat in case of
DVD-RAM or (lengthy)
Full Certification in case of BD-RE.
-lead-out
Relocates the lead-out next to outermost written sector as
well as makes sure
there is no virgin surface before it. This can make the medium
more compatible
with some DVD players. Previously written data is not affected
by this opera‐
tion.
-blank[=full]
Wipe data from DVD-RW media. Blanking is used automatically in
case of BD and
DVD+RW media. Use -blank=full to change DVD-RW back to
Sequential Recording
mode.
-ssa[=none|default|max|XXXm]
Grow, eliminate, reset to default or maximize Supplementary Spare
Area.
EXAMPLES
Actual device names vary from one operating system to another. We use
/dev/dvd as a
collective name or as symbolic link to the actual device if you wish.
Under Linux it
will most likely be a device such as "/dev/sr0" or "/dev/hda" for older
Linux 2.6.
To blank a CD-RW, you have to use another utility, e.g. wodim:
wodim blank=fast -immed dev=/dev/cdrom
cdrskin blank=all|fast|as_needed -immed dev=/dev/cdrom
xorriso -outdev /dev/cdrom -blank all|fast|as_needed
To blank a DVD-RW and put in the incremental sequential mode, run:
dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/dvd
To blank a DVD-RW and put in the Restricted Overwrite mode, run:
dvd+rw-format -force /dev/dvd
To overwrite data of BD, DVD+RW, DVD-RW or DVD-RAM run:
growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero
To blank a DVD-RAM, you can use:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/dvd
To relocate lead-out sector, run:
dvd+rw-format -lead-out /dev/dvd
NOTES
Note that DVD+RW re-formatting procedure does not substitute for
blanking. If you want
to nullify the media, e.g. for privacy reasons, do it explicitly
with 'growisofs -Z
/dev/dvd=/dev/zero'.
When growisofs "runs into" blank Blu-ray Disc media, BD-RE or BD-R, it
gets pre-format‐
ted with minimal spare area size of 256MB.
SEE ALSO
Most up-to-date information on dvd+rw-tools is
available at
http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/.
AUTHORS
Andy Polyakov <ap...@fy.chalmers.se> stands for programming and on-line
information.
This manpage was created by Honza Horak <hho...@redhat.com> and
consulted by Thomass
Schmitt <scdbac...@gmx.net>.
LICENSE
dvd+rw-format is distributed under GNU GPL.
