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How to "blank" / "zero out" / "nullify" a dvd-rw?



Hi all.

I'm trying to "blank" / "zero out" / "nullify" a dvd-rw that has
previously had data written to it, so that I can give that dvd-rw to
someone else and they wont see the data. (NB I'm _not_ worried about
"magnetic/optical history", the FBI, the CIA etc).
Please note that I DO NOT necessarily want to turn the disk back to
the way it was when it was still in its plastic wrapper.

I've read at http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/ that lots of
re-formatting can be bad for the disk, so the recommended way to
"blank" a dvd-rw is to use:

growisofs -Z /dev/hdc=/dev/zero

But this gives me the following error:

~# growisofs -Z /dev/hdc=/dev/zero
Executing 'builtin_dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdc obs=32k seek=0'
/dev/hdc: "Current Write Speed" is 2.0x1352KBps.
:-[ WRITE@LBA=0h failed with SK=5h/ASC=30h/ACQ=05h]: Wrong medium type
:-( media is not formatted or unsupported.
:-( write failed: Wrong medium type

But (and this is the strange part), if I format the disk using
"dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/hdc" (which works), then "growisofs -Z
/dev/hdc=/dev/zero" works perfectly THE FIRST TIME - it only fails the
second time I try to do it.

Question - is my understanding wrong here? Should "growisofs -Z
/dev/hdc=/dev/zero" always work? If not, is there a way to "blank" /
"zero out" / "nullify" a dvd-rw which won't permanently destroy the
disk if I do it 20 times?

I've included the output from "dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/hdc" at the end
of this mail, in case it helps. Thanks in advance, Jaime :-)

~$ dvd+rw-mediainfo
usage: dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/dvd
nonroot@server:~$ dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/hdc
INQUIRY:                [PIONEER ][DVD-RW  DVR-110D][1.22]
GET [CURRENT] CONFIGURATION:
 Mounted Media:         14h, DVD-RW Sequential
 Media ID:              TDK502sakuM3
 Current Write Speed:   2.0x1385=2770KB/s
 Write Speed #0:        2.0x1385=2770KB/s
 Write Speed #1:        1.0x1385=1385KB/s
 Speed Descriptor#0:    00/2298495 R@2.0x1385=2770KB/s W@2.0x1385=2770KB/s
 Speed Descriptor#1:    00/2298495 R@1.0x1385=1385KB/s W@1.0x1385=1385KB/s
READ DVD STRUCTURE[#10h]:
 Media Book Type:       00h, DVD-ROM book [revision 0]
 Legacy lead-out at:    2298496*2KB=4707319808
READ DVD STRUCTURE[#0h]:
 Media Book Type:       32h, DVD-RW book [revision 2]
 Last border-out at:    2045*2KB=4188160
READ DISC INFORMATION:
 Disc status:           complete
 Number of Sessions:    1
 State of Last Session: complete
 Number of Tracks:      1
READ FORMAT CAPACITIES:
 formatted:             2297888*2048=4706074624
 00h(800):              2297888*2048=4706074624
 10h(10):               2297888*2048=4706074624
 15h(10):               2297888*2048=4706074624
READ TRACK INFORMATION[#1]:
 Track State:           complete incremental
 Track Start Address:   0*2KB
 Free Blocks:           0*2KB
 Track Size:            2297888*2KB
 Last Recorded Address: 2297887*2KB
FABRICATED TOC:
 Track#1  :             14@0
 Track#AA :             14@2297888
 Multi-session Info:    #1@0
READ CAPACITY:          2297888*2048=4706074624



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