I've been tinkering with the dvdrecord and dvd+rw-tools packages trying to get a good dvd burn backup process going, and I found what appears to be a bug in the dvd+rw-format tool. Problem: Issuing a "dvd+rw-format <cdrw device designation>" is supposed to start formatting and then after a minute or so, move the format process to the background, and then format on the fly as you add data. >From the page http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/ "... To make formatting process reasonably fast, less than 1 minute, the media gets formatted only partially, as you can notice by observing a progress indicator displayed by dvd+rw-format. The final indicator value varies from firmware to firmware, values as low as 1.6% were observed. But it does not mean that you can only write that little. The unit keeps formatting transparently, as you add more data. ..." However, using the dvd+rw-format on my Memorex DVD-RWs, it starts formatting yes, then appears to stop. But I check for the process and it is nowhere to be found. I try adding data (with growisofs -Z), and it craps out with the following error... I try reforcing a format, and it craps still out. After that, whatever I try to do with the media, it always craps out with the same error: :-( track is not formatted for fixed packet size amd64-2:~# dvd+rw-format -force=full /dev/dvdrw * DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 4.10. * 4.7GB DVD-RW media in Restricted Overwrite mode detected. * formatting /:-( track is not formatted for fixed packet size It may be the 64 bit version of the util, or it may just be my particular environment. Word has it that K3b uses dvd+rw-tools and growisofs, and K3b appears to be flawless, so I don't know where the problem actually lies, but I know its a problem... Solution: (workaround, actually) After tinkering with dvdrecord and blanking versus formatting, I found a way to recover the proper formatting so that the disc is now usable. It appears that when it craps out, it sets the media information of "State of Last Session:" to "incomplete". The solution is to blank the disc with dvdrecord, and THEN format it with dvd+rw-format. 1. dvdrecord -blank=all -dev=ATAPI:0,0,0 This process takes at least as long as it does to format the disc. (This, despite the appearance/assumption that only 10 - 15 percent of the disc ever got formatted...) When you run that, it looks like it's just sitting there, but after 25 or 30 minutes, it finishes. When it does, you'll notice (with dvd+rw-mediainfo) that the "State of Last Session:" is now "empty" and the media is now "Sequential" as opposed to "Restricted Overwrite." Good. By forcing a full format from that point, I've now twice been able to "recover" discs that I thought were coasters. Saved another $0.50 ! :-) 2. dvd+rw-format -force=full /dev/dvdrw amd64-2:~# dvd+rw-format -force=full /dev/dvdrw * DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 4.10. * 4.7GB DVD-RW media in Sequential mode detected. * formatting 99.9\ amd64-2:~# Backed up data from there with growisofs -Z /path/to/files (1.5 G of files) and have had not trouble. The good news is that you only need to format once. Moreover, too many formats are said to reduce the life of the media. Next time when I format a virgin disc however, I'm going to try the forced full format, rather than the "do as you please" format. As you will learn (or may already know) DVD-R discs apparently do NOT need to be formatted first. Haven't tried them yet though. My versions: amd64-1:~# dpkg -l | grep dvd ii dvd+rw-tools 5.21.4.10.8-2 DVD+-RW/R tools ii dvdbackup 0.1.1-3 tool to rip DVD's from the command line ii dvdrtools 0.1.5-4 DVD writing program ii libdvdread3 0.9.4-5.1 Simple foundation for reading DVDs Linux amd64-1 2.6.12-1-amd64-k8 #1 Thu Aug 18 03:05:27 CEST 2005 x86_64 GNU/Linux Hardware: Benq DVD DW1640 with latest revision firmware BSLB Hope this helps someone. |