I am trying to make the spare area of a BD-R be something larger than the default. I was hoping to run something like: ./dvd+rw-format -ssa=4G /dev/dvd But when I execute this command, it says that it is invalid for the detected media.This is not intentional. In other words it's a bug and it will be looked into. Suggested code modification might be appropriate, but I'd rather not say it without double-checking. In a course of few days.
The source code change mentioned in originating post is correct and will be included [though in modified form] to next dvd+rw-tools update.
After making the above change, it then gets past this portion of the code and gets down to where the actual formatting is going to take place. I get this message: sr0: CDROM (ioctl) error, command: Test Unit Ready 00 00 00 00 00 Deferred sr00:00: sense key Medium Error Additional sense indicates Format command failed
This I can't reproduce. In other words I managed to format BD-R disc with -ssa=4G, i.e. unit succeeded to format it with ~4GB spare area. Have you managed to record BD-R in this particular unit at all? Same question about BD-RE? What I'm trying to say is that the unit might simply be broken... Another option is a kernel bug, maybe in SATA support (as you mentioned it's SATA connected). Have you managed to record a DVD?
Side note about spare area capacity. There is something they call TDMA, Temporary Disc Management Area, residing in Lead-In. As you allocate spare area, part of it will be reserved for *additional* TDMA regions. Relevant question is what part of it? MMC specification says that default value is up to vendor and in Panasonic case it seem to be 1/2 of spare area capacity. This means that if you ask your unit for spare area utilization data right after format, you'll see that 1/2 of it is already used. Well, it's not actually used, but reserved for TDMAs. Whether it's excessive or not, time will show. Meanwhile I'm considering adding extra option to dvd+rw-format, which would allow you to specify which portion of spare area will be reserved for TDMA. A.