Provided by: cdrskin_1.5.6-1.1build1_amd64 
NAME
cdrskin - burns preformatted data to CD, DVD, and BD via libburn.
SYNOPSIS
cdrskin [options|track_source_addresses]
DESCRIPTION
cdrskin is a program that provides some of cdrecord's options in a compatible way for CD
media. With DVD and BD it has its own ways. You do not need to be superuser for its daily
usage.
Overview of features:
Blanking of CD-RW and DVD-RW.
Formatting of DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, BD.
Burning of data tracks or audio tracks with CD-TEXT to CD,
either in versatile Track at Once mode (TAO)
or in Session at Once mode for seamless tracks.
Multi session on CD (follow-up sessions in TAO only)
or on DVD-R[W] (in Incremental mode) or DVD+R[/DL] or BD-R.
Single session Disk-at-once on DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-R DL.
Single session or emulated ISO-9660 multi-session
on overwriteable DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, BD-RE
or on data file or block device.
Extraction of audio tracks and CD-TEXT to hard disk files.
Bus scan, burnfree, speed options, retrieving media info, padding, fifo.
See section EXAMPLES at the end of this text.
General information paragraphs:
Track recording model
Write mode selection
Recordable CD Media
Sequentially Recordable DVD or BD Media
Overwriteable DVD or BD Media
Drive preparation and addressing
Emulated drives
Track recording model:
The input-output entities which get processed are called tracks. A track stores a stream
of bytes.
More than one track can be burned by a single run of cdrskin. In the terms of the MMC
standard all tracks written by the same run constitute a session.
Normally, each track is initiated by one track source address argument, which may either
be "-" for standard input or the address of a readable file. Alternatively, option
cuefile= may be used to read a session description from a text file and to read the
session content from a single data file.
If no write mode is given explicitly then one will be chosen which matches the
peculiarities of track sources and the state of the output media.
Some media types can be kept appendable so that further tracks can be written to them in
subsequent runs of cdrskin (see option -multi). Info about the addresses of burned tracks
is kept in a table of content (TOC) on media and can be retrieved via cdrskin option -toc.
This information is also used by the operating systems' CD-ROM read drivers.
In general there are two types of tracks: data and audio. They differ in sector size,
throughput and readability via the systems' CD-ROM drivers and by music CD players. With
DVD and BD there is only type data.
If not explicitly option -audio is given, then any track is burned as type data, unless
the track source is a file with suffix ".wav" or ".au" and has a header part which
identifies it as MS-WAVE or SUN Audio with suitable parameters. Such files are burned as
audio tracks by default.
While audio tracks just contain a given time span of acoustic vibrations, data tracks may
have an arbitrary meaning. Nevertheless, ISO-9660 filesystems are established as a format
which can represent a tree of directories and files on all major operating systems. Such
filesystem images can be produced by programs mkisofs or genisoimage or xorriso. They can
also be extended by follow-up tracks if prepared properly. See the man pages of said
programs. cdrskin is able to fulfill the needs about their option -C.
Another type of data track content are archive formats which originally have been
developed for magnetic tapes. Only formats which mark a detectable end-of-archive in their
data are suitable, though. Well tested are the archivers afio and star. Not suitable seems
GNU tar.
Write mode selection:
In general there are two approaches for writing media:
A permissive mode selected by option -tao which needs no predicted track size and can use
multi-session capabilities if offered by drive and medium.
A more restrictive mode -sao (alias -dao) which usually demands a predictable track size
and is not necessarily capable of multi-session. It can be used to write CD-TEXT and it is
the only one that works with option cuefile=.
If none of the options -dao, -tao or -sao is given then the program will try to choose a
write mode which matches the defined recording job, the capabilities of the drive and the
state of the present media.
So the mentioning of write modes in the following paragraphs and in the examples is not so
much a demand that the user shall choose one explicitly, but rather an illustration of
what to expect with particular media types.
Recordable CD Media:
CD-R can be initially written only once and eventually extended until they get closed (or
are spoiled because they are overly full). After that they are read-only. Closing is done
automatically unless option -multi is given which keeps the media appendable.
Write mode -tao is able to use track sources of unpredictable length (like stdin) and to
write further sessions to appendable media. -sao produces audio sessions with seamless
tracks but needs predicted track sizes and cannot append sessions to media.
CD-RW media can be blanked to make them re-usable for another round of overwriting.
Usually blank=fast is the appropriate option. Blanking damages the previous content but
does not make it completely unreadable. It is no effective privacy precaution. Multiple
cycles of blanking and overwriting with random numbers might be needed.
Sequentially Recordable DVD or BD Media:
Currently DVD-RW, DVD-R[DL], DVD+R[DL], and BD-R can be used for the Sequential recording
model. It resembles the model of CD media. Only DVD-RW can be blanked and re-used from
scratch.
DVD-RW are sequential media if they are in state "Sequential Recording". The media must
be either blank or appendable. Newly purchased DVD-RW and DVD-R media are in this state.
Used DVD-RW get into blank sequential state by option blank=deformat_sequential .
With DVD-R[W] two write modes may be available:
Mode DAO has many restrictions. It does not work with appendable media, cannot do -multi
and writes only a single track. The size of the track needs to be known in advance. So
either its source has to be a disk file of recognizable size or the size has to be
announced explicitly by options tsize= or tao_to_sao_tsize= .
DAO is the only mode for DVD-R media which do not offer feature 21h Incremental Streaming
(e.g. DVD-R DL). DAO may also be selected explicitly by option -sao . Program growisofs
uses DAO on sequential DVD-R[W] media for maximum DVD-ROM/-Video compatibility.
The other mode, Incremental Streaming, is the default write mode if it is available and if
the restrictions of DAO would prevent the job. Incremental Streaming may be selected
explicitly by option -tao as it resembles much CD TAO by accepting track sources of
unpredicted length and being able to keep media appendable by option -multi . It does not
work with DVD-R DL and minimally blanked DVD-RW. The only restriction towards CD-R[W] is
the lack of support for -audio tracks. Multiple tracks per session are permissible.
The write modes for DVD+R[/DL] and BD-R resemble those with DVD-R except that each track
gets wrapped in an own session. There is no -dummy writing with DVD+R[/DL] or BD-R.
Quite deliberately write mode -sao insists in the tradition of a predicted track size and
blank media, whereas -tao writes the tracks open ended and can be applied to appendable
media.
BD-R may be formatted before first use to enable the Defect Management which might catch
and repair some bad spots at the expense of slow speed even with flawless media.
Note: Option -multi might make DVD media unreadable in some DVD-ROM drives. Best reader
compatibility is achieved without it (i.e. by single session media).
Overwriteable DVD or BD Media:
Currently types DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM and BD-RE can be overwritten via cdrskin.
Option -audio is not allowed. Only one track is allowed. Option -multi cannot mark a
recognizable end of overwriteable media. Therefore -multi is banned unless ISO-9660
images shall be expandable by help of option --grow_overwriteable_iso . Without this
option or without an ISO-9660 filesystem image present on media, -toc does not return
information about the media content and media get treated as blank regardless whether they
hold data or not.
Currently there is no difference between -sao and -tao. If ever, then -tao will be the
mode which preserves the current behavior.
DVD+RW and DVD-RAM media need no special initial formatting. They offer a single
continuous data area for blockwise random access. BD-RE need explicit formatting before
use. See blank=as_needed or blank=format_defectmgt .
DVD-RW are sold in state "Sequential Recording". To become suitable for the Overwriteable
DVD recording model they need to get formatted to state "Restricted Overwrite". Then they
behave much like DVD+RW. This formatting can be done by option blank=format_overwrite .
Several programs like dvd+rw-format, cdrecord, wodim, or cdrskin can bring a DVD-RW out of
overwriteable state so that it has to be formatted again. If in doubt, just give it a try.
Drive preparation and addressing:
The drives, CD, DVD, or BD burners, are accessed via addresses which are specific to
libburn and the operating system. Those addresses get listed by a run of cdrskin --devices
or cdrskin --device_links.
On Linux, they are device files which traditionally do not offer w-permissions for normal
users. Because libburn needs rw-permission, it might be only the superuser who is able to
get this list without further precautions.
It is consensus that chmod a+rw /dev/sr0 or chmod a+rw /dev/hdc is less security sensitive
than chmod u+s,a+x /usr/bin/cdrskin. The risk for the drive is somewhat higher but the
overall system is much less at stake. Consider to restrict rw-access to a single group
which bundles the users who are allowed to use the burner drive (like group "floppy").
For drive permission examples on Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris, see cdrskin/README.
If you only got one CD capable drive then you may leave out cdrskin option dev=. Else you
should use this option to address the drive you want.
cdrskin option dev= not only accepts the listed addresses but also traditional cdrecord
SCSI addresses which consist of three numbers: Bus,Target,Lun. On Linux there is also a
related address family "ATA" which accesses IDE drives not under control of Linux SCSI
drivers: ATA:Bus,Target,Lun.
See option -scanbus for getting a list of cdrecord style addresses.
Further are accepted: links to libburn-suitable device files, device files which have the
same major and minor device number, and device files which have the same SCSI address
parameters (e.g. /dev/sg0).
Emulated drives:
Option --allow_emulated_drives enables addressing of pseudo-drives which get emulated on
top of filesystem objects. Regular data files and block devices result in pseudo-drives
which behave much like DVD-RAM. If the given address does not exist yet but its directory
exists, then it gets created as regular file. Other file types like character devices or
pipes result in pseudo-drives which behave much like blank DVD-R. The target file address
is given after prefix "stdio:".
E.g.: dev=stdio:/tmp/my_pseudo_drive
Addresses of the form "stdio:/dev/fd/<number>" are treated special. The number is read
literally and used as open file descriptor. With dev="stdio:/dev/fd/1" the normal standard
output of the program is redirected to stderr and the stream data of a burn run will
appear on stdout.
Not good for terminals ! Redirect it.
Pseudo-drives support -dummy. Their reply with --tell_media_space can be utopic. -dummy
burn runs touch the file but do not modify its data content.
Note: --allow_emulated_drives is restricted to stdio:/dev/null if cdrskin is run by the
superuser or if it has changed user identity via the setuid bit of its access permissions.
The ban for the superuser can be lifted by a skillfully created file. See section FILES
below.
OPTIONS
--help Show non-cdrecord compatible options.
-help Show cdrecord compatible options.
Note that some of the help texts are quite wrong - for cdrecord as well as for
cdrskin (e.g. -format, blank=, -load). They are, nevertheless, traditional
indicators for the availability of the listed options. Some frontend programs make
decisions after reading them.
-version
Print cdrskin id line, compatibility lure line, libburn version, cdrskin version,
version timestamp, build timestamp (if available), and then exit.
Alphabetical list of options which are intended to be compatible with original cdrecord by
Joerg Schilling:
-atip Retrieve some info about media state. With CD-RW print "Is erasable". With DVD
media print "book type:" and a media type text. With BD media print "Mounted
Media:" and media type text.
-audio Announces that the subsequent tracks are to be burned as audio. The source is
supposed to be uncompressed headerless PCM, 44100 Hz, 16 bit, stereo. For little-
endian byte order (which is usual on PCs) use option -swab. Unless marked
explicitly by option -data, input files with suffix ".wav" are examined whether
they have a header in MS-WAVE format confirming those parameters and eventually raw
audio data get extracted and burned as audio track. Same is done for suffix ".au"
and SUN Audio.
Option -audio may be used only with CD media and not with DVD or BD.
blank=type
Blank a CD-RW, DVD-RW, or format a DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, BD. This is combinable
with burning in the same run of cdrskin. The type given with blank= selects the
particular behavior:
as_needed
Try to make the media ready for writing from scratch. If it needs
formatting, then format it. If it is not blank, then try to apply
blank=fast. It is a reason to abort if the media cannot assume thoroughly
writeable state, e.g. if it is non-blank write-once.
This leaves unformatted DVD-RW in unformatted blank state. To format DVD-RW
use blank=format_overwriteable. Blank unformatted BD-R stay unformatted.
(Note: blank=as_needed is not an original cdrecord option.)
The following blank types are specific to particular media familes. Use them if
special features are desired.
all Blank an entire CD-RW or an unformatted DVD-RW. (See also
--prodvd_cli_compatible, --grow_overwriteable_iso)
fast Minimally blank an entire CD-RW or blank an unformatted DVD-RW. (See also
--prodvd_cli_compatible, --grow_overwriteable_iso)
deformat_sequential
Like blank=all but with the additional ability to blank overwriteable DVD-
RW. This will destroy their formatting and make them sequentially
recordable. Another peculiarity is the ability to blank media which appear
already blank. This is similar to option -force but does not try to blank
media other than recognizable CD-RW and DVD-RW.
(Note: blank=deformat_* are not original cdrecord options.)
deformat_sequential_quickest
Like blank=deformat_sequential but blanking DVD-RW only minimally. This is
faster than full blanking but may yield media incapable of Incremental
Streaming (-tao).
format_if_needed
Format a media if it is not formatted yet, and if cdrskin supports
formatting for the media type, and if formatting will not happen
automatically during write. This currently applies to unformatted DVD-RW,
DVD-RAM, BD-RE, and blank unformatted BD-R. Eventually the appropriate
default formatting is chosen. If other media or states are encountered then
nothing happens.
The following formatting types are more specialized to particular media
families.
format_overwrite
Format a DVD-RW to "Restricted Overwrite". The user should bring some
patience.
(Note: blank=format_* are not original cdrecord options.)
format_overwrite_quickest
Like format_overwrite without creating a 128 MiB trailblazer session. Leads
to "intermediate" state which only supports sequential write beginning from
address 0. The "intermediate" state ends after the first session of writing
data.
format_overwrite_full
For DVD-RW this is like format_overwrite but claims full media size rather
than just 128 MiB. Most traditional formatting is attempted. No data get
written. Much patience is required.
This option treats already formatted media even if not option -force is
given.
For DVD+RW this is the only supported explicit formatting type. It provides
complete "de-icing" so no reader slips on unwritten data areas.
format_defectmgt
Format DVD-RAM or BD to reserve the default amount of spare blocks for
defect management.
The following format_defectmgt_* enable the user to submit wishes which
nevertheless have to match one of the available formats. These formats are
offered by the drive after examining the media.
format_defectmgt_cert_off
Disable the usual media quality certification in order to save time and
format to default size. The certification setting persists even if
subsequent blank= options override the size of the format selection.
Whether formatting without certification works properly depends much on the
drive. One should check the "Format status:" from --list_formats afterwards.
format_defectmgt_cert_on
Re-enable the usual media quality certification and format to default size.
The certification setting persists like with format_defectmgt_cert_off.
Whether there happens certification at all depends much on the media state
and the actually selected format descriptor.
format_defectmgt_max
Format DVD-RAM or BD to reserve a maximum number of spare blocks.
format_defectmgt_min
Format DVD-RAM or BD to reserve a minimum number of spare blocks. It might
be necessary to format format_defectmgt_none first in order to get offered
the most minmal spare blocks sizes for format_defectmgt_min.
format_defectmgt_none
Format DVD-RAM or BD-RE to the largest available payload in the hope to
disable defect management at all. This may or may not have a speed
increasing effect. Unformatted blank BD-R will be left unformatted.
format_defectmgt_payload_<size>
Format DVD-RAM or BD. The text after "format_defectmgt_payload_" gives a
number of bytes, eventually with suffixes "s", "k", "m". The largest number
of spare blocks will be chosen which enables at least the given payload
size.
format_by_index_<number>
Format DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM or BD. The number after "format_by_index_"
is used as index to the list of available format descriptors. This list can
be obtained by option --list_formats. The numbers after text "Format idx"
are the ones to be used with format_by_index_. Format descriptor lists are
volatile. Do neither eject nor write the media between the run of
--list_formats and the run of blank=format_by_index_ or else you may get a
different format than desired.
help Print this list of blanking types.
-checkdrive
Retrieve some info about the addressed drive and then exit. Exits with non-zero
value if the drive cannot be found and opened.
-copy Create the subsequent tracks with permission for an unlimited number of copies.
cuefile=path
Read a session description from a cue sheet file in CDRWIN format. Base the tracks
on a single file which is given in the sheet by command FILE. To enable CD-TEXT
from the cue sheet file, cdrskin option -text has to be present.
cdrskin currently supports TRACK datatypes AUDIO and MODE1/2048 which may not be
mixed. Data source may be of FILE type BINARY, MOTOROLA, or WAVE.
Non-CDRWIN commands ARRANGER, COMPOSER, MESSAGE are supported.
Cue sheet file commands CATALOG and ISRC may be overridden by option mcn= and by
input_sheet_v07t= purpose specifiers "UPC / EAN" and "ISRC". This does not affect
their appearance in CD-TEXT, but only on Q sub-channel.
The track numbers may be overridden by option cd_start_tno=.
-dao Alias for option -sao. Write CD in Session at Once mode or DVD-R[W] in Disc-at-once
mode.
-data Subsequent tracks are data tracks. This option is default and only needed to mark
the end of the range of an eventual option -audio or -xa1.
Options -mode2, -xa, and -xa2 get mapped to -data, not using the desired CD sector
formats and thus not taking advantage of eventual higher payload.
-xa1 Subsequent tracks are data tracks with input suitable for CD-ROM XA mode 2 form 1.
This differs from -data input by 8 additional header bytes per block. cdrskin will
not write CD-ROM XA but rather strip the header bytes and write as -data tracks.
dev=target
Set the address of the drive to use. Valid are at least the addresses listed with
options --devices or --device_links, X,Y,Z addresses listed with option -scanbus,
ATA:X,Y,Z addresses listed with options dev=ATA -scanbus, and volatile libburn
drive numbers (numbering starts at "0"). Other device file addresses which lead to
the same drive might work too.
If no dev= is given, volatile address "dev=0" is assumed. That is the first drive
found being available. Better avoid this ambiguity on systems with more than one
drive.
The special target "help" lists hints about available addressing formats. Be aware
that deprecated option --old_pseudo_scsi_adr may change the meaning of
Bus,Target,Lun addresses.
driveropts=opt
Set "driveropts=noburnfree" to disable the drive's eventual protection mechanism
against temporary lack of source data (i.e. buffer underrun). A drive that
announces no such capabilities will not get them enabled anyway, even if attempted
explicitly via "driveropts=burnfree".
-dummy Try to perform the drive operations without actually affecting the inserted media.
There is no warranty that this will work with a particular combination of drive,
media, and write mode. Blanking is prevented reliably, though. To avoid inadverted
real burning, -dummy refuses burn runs on anything but CD-R[W], DVD-R[W], or
emulated stdio-drives.
-eject Eject the disc after work is done.
-force Assume that the user knows better in situations when cdrskin or libburn are
refusing because of concerns about drive or media state.
Caution: Use option -force only when in urgent need.
This option enables the attempt to blank media which are classified as unknown or
unsuitable, and the attempt to use write modes of which libburn believes they are
not supported by the drive.
Another application is to enforce blanking or re-formatting of media which appear
to be in the desired blank or format state already.
This option enables a burn run with option -dummy even if libburn believes that
drive and media will not simulate the write mode but will write for real.
It enables a burn run where cdrskin expects to exceed the available media capacity.
This is known as "overburn" and might succeed on CD media with write type SAO. Too
much overburning might be harmful to the medium and might make the drive unusable
(hopefully only until it gets powered off and on). The man page of cdrecord
mentions 88 seconds = 6600 blocks as halfways safe amount over the official medium
capacity. The assessment of track sizes by libburn will be wrong if the written
size reaches or exceeds 90 minutes = 405000 sectors. The overall medium size
assessment by the Linux kernel is supposed to yield roughly the written size, but
you should test this yourself with every overburnt medium.
First consider to use a medium with more capacity rather than trying to overburn a
CD.
-format
Same as blank=format_overwrite_full -force but restricted to DVD+RW.
fs=size
Set the fifo size to the given value. The value may have appended letters which
multiply the preceding number:
"k" or "K" = 1024 , "m" or "M" = 1024k , "g" or "G" = 1024m , "s" or "S" = 2048
Set size to 0 in order to disable the fifo (default is "4m").
The fifo buffers an eventual temporary surplus of track source data in order to
provide the drive with a steady stream during times of temporary lack of track
source supply. The larger the fifo, the longer periods of poor source supply can
be compensated. But a large fifo needs substantial time to fill up if not curbed
via option fifo_start_at=size.
gracetime=seconds
Set the grace time before starting to write. (Default is 0)
-immed Equivalent to:
modesty_on_drive=1:min_percent=75:max_percent=95
The name of this cdrecord option stems from the "Immed" bit which can make some
long running drive commands asynchronous and thus eases the load on some wiring
hardware types. Regardless of option -immed, cdrskin uses asynchronous commands
where possible and appropriate. To really disable asynchronous command execution,
use option use_immed_bit=off .
index=list
Set a comma separated list of index start address numbers for the next track. This
applies to CD SAO sessions only.
The addresses count sectors from the start of the next track. The first number is
for index 1 and must be 0. The following numbers have to be larger than their
respective predecessors. Up to 99 numbers are allowed.
Sector numbers are computed from Min:Sec:Frame addresses by
Sector = ((Min*60)+Sec)*75+Frame
E.g.: "0,7512,20408" sets index 2 to 01:40:12 and index 3 to 04:32:08.
-inq Print the identification of the drive and then exit.
-isosize
The next track following this option will try to obtain its source size from the
header information out of the first few blocks of the source data. If these blocks
indicate an ISO-9660 filesystem then its declared size will be used under the
assumption that it is a single session filesystem.
If not, then the burn run will be aborted.
The range of -isosize is exactly one track. Further tracks may be preceded by
further -isosize options, though. At least 15 blocks of padding will be added to
each -isosize track. But be advised to rather use padsize=300k.
This option can be performed on track sources which are regular files or block
devices. For the first track of the session it can be performed on any type of
source if there is a fifo of at least 64 kiB. See option fs= .
isrc=text
Set the ISRC for the next track source to the given text, which must be exactly 13
characters long. It must comply to the format CCOOOYYSSSSS.
CC is the country code. OOO is the owner code. Both may consist of capital letters
A to Z and of decimal digits 0 to 9. YY depicts the year (00 to 99). SSSSS is the
serial number (00000 to 99999).
This option does not affect CD-TEXT but only the Q sub-channel.
-load Load the media and exit. Exit value is 0 if any kind of media was found, non zero
else. Note: Option -eject will unload the media even if -load is given.
-lock Like option -load but leave the drive's eject button disabled if there is any media
found and not option -eject is given.
Use program "eject" or cdrskin -eject to get the tray out of the drive. Runs of
programs like cdrecord, growisofs, wodim, cdrskin will not be hampered and normally
enable the drive's eject button when they are done.
mcn=text
Set the CD Media Catalog Number to text, which must be exactly 13 characters long
and should consist of decimal digits.
This option does not affect CD-TEXT but only the Q sub-channel.
minbuf=percentage
Equivalent to:
modesty_on_drive=1:min_percent=<percentage>:max_percent=95
Percentage is permissible between 25 and 95.
-minfo Print information about the loaded media. This includes media type, writability
state, and a quite readable table of content.
msifile=path
Run option -msinfo and copy the result line into the file given by path. Unlike
-msinfo this option does not redirect all normal output away from standard output.
But it may be combined with -msinfo to achieve this.
Note: msifile=path is actually an option of wodim and not of cdrecord.
-msinfo
Retrieve multi-session info for preparing a follow-up session by option -C of
programs mkisofs, genisoimage, or xorriso -as mkisofs. Print result to standard
output. This option redirects to stderr all message output except the one of
option --tell_media_space and its own result string, which consists of two numbers.
The result string shall be used as argument of option -C with said programs. It
gives the start address of the most recent session and the predicted start address
of the next session to be appended. The string is empty if the most recent session
was not written with option -multi.
To have a chance for working on overwriteable media, this option has to be
accompanied by option --grow_overwriteable_iso.
-multi This option keeps CD, unformatted DVD-R[W], DVD+R, or BD-R appendable after the
current session has been written. Without it the disc gets closed and may not be
written any more - unless it is a -RW and gets blanked which causes loss of its
content.
The following sessions can only be written in -tao mode. -multi is prohibited with
DVD-R[W] DAO write mode and on DVD-R DL media. Option --prodvd_cli_compatible
eventually makes -multi tolerable but cannot make it work.
In order to have all filesystem content accessible, the eventual ISO-9660
filesystem of a follow-up session needs to be prepared in a special way by the
filesystem formatter program. mkisofs and genisoimage expect particular info about
the situation which can be retrieved by cdrskin option -msinfo.
To retrieve an archive file which was written as follow-up session, you may use
option -toc to learn about the "lba" of the desired track number. This lba is the
address of the 2048 byte block where the archive begins.
With overwriteable DVD or BD media, -multi cannot mark the end of the session. So
when adding a new session this end has to be determined from the payload.
Currently only ISO-9660 filesystems can be used that way. See option
--grow_overwriteable_iso for lifting the ban on -multi.
Note: -multi might make DVD media unreadable in some DVD-ROM drives.
-nocopy
Create subsequent tracks with permission for a single level of copies. I.e. those
copies would then be marked by -scms as offering no permission for further copies.
-nopad Do not add trailing zeros to the data stream. Nevertheless, since there seems to be
no use for audio tracks with incomplete last sector, this option applies only to
data tracks. There it is default.
-nopreemp
Indicate for subsequent tracks that they were mastered without pre-emphasis.
-pad Add 30 kiB of trailing zeros to each data track. (This is not sufficient to avoid
problems with various CD-ROM read drivers.)
padsize=size
Add the given amount of trailing zeros to the next data track. This option gets
reset to padsize=0 after that next track is written. It may be set again before the
next track argument. About size specifiers, see option fs=.
-preemp
Indicate for subsequent tracks that they were mastered with pre-emphasis.
-sao Write CD in Session At Once mode or sequential DVD-R[W] in Disc-at-once (DAO) mode.
With CD this mode is able to put several audio tracks on media without producing
audible gaps between them.
With DVD-R[W] this mode can only write a single track. No -multi is allowed with
DVD-R[W] -sao.
-sao is permissible with overwriteable DVD, or DVD+R[/DL], or BD but actually only
imposes restrictions without providing known advantages.
-sao can only be used for tracks of fixely predicted size. This implies that track
arguments which depict stdin or named pipes need to be preceded by option tsize= or
by option tao_to_sao_tsize=.
-sao cannot be used on appendable media.
-scanbus
Scan the system for drives. On Linux the drives at /dev/s* and at /dev/hd* are to
be scanned by two separate runs. One without dev= for /dev/s* and one with dev=ATA
for /dev/hd* devices. (Option --drives lists all available drives in a single run.)
Drives which are busy or which offer no rw-permission to the user of cdrskin are
not listed. Busy drives get reported in form of warning messages.
The useful fields in a result line are:
Bus,Target,Lun Number) 'Vendor' 'Mode' 'Revision'
-scms Create subsequent tracks without permission for being copied. This is usually done
for tracks which are copies of tracks that were marked with -nocopy (but not yet
with -scms). So copies of copies are prohibited.
This option gets reset by option -copy. Thus the combination -copy -nocopy means
-nocopy surely without -scms.
speed=number
Set speed of drive. With data CD, 1x speed corresponds to a throughput of 153,600
bytes/second. With DVD, 1x = 1,385,000 bytes/second. With BD 1x = 4,495,625
bytes/second. It is not an error to set a speed higher than is suitable for drive
and media. One should stay within a realistic speed range, though. Special speed
settings are:
0 = minimal speed , -1 = maximal speed (default), text "any" = like -1.
-swab Announce that the raw audio data source of subsequent tracks is byte swapped versus
the expectations of cdrecord. This option is suitable for audio where the least
significant byte of a 16 bit word is first (little-endian, Intel). Most raw audio
data on PC systems are available in this byte order. Less guesswork is needed if
track sources are in format MS-WAVE in a file with suffix ".wav".
-tao Write CD in Track At Once (TAO) mode, sequential DVD-R[W] in Incremental Streaming
mode, or DVD+R[/DL] without traditional -sao restrictions. This mode also applies
pro-forma to overwriteable media
Mode -tao can be used with track sources of unpredictable size, like standard input
or named pipes. It is also the only mode that can be used for writing to appendable
media which already hold data. With unformatted DVD-R[W] it is the only mode which
can keep media appendable by option -multi.
Mode -tao is not usable for minimally blanked DVD-RW and for DVD-R DL.
-text Enable writing of CD-TEXT attributes read by option cuefile=. Without option
-text, cue sheet file command CDTEXTFILE will be ignored and no CD-TEXT attributes
will be read from the file. Nevertheless, CATALOG and ISRC will have the same
effect as options mcn= and isrc=.
textfile=path
Read CD-TEXT packs from the file depicted by path and put them into the Lead-in of
the emerging session. This session has to be done by Session At Once (SAO) mode and
may only contain audio tracks.
path must lead to a regular file, which consists of an optional header of four
bytes and one or more text packs of 18 bytes each. Suitable would be the file
'cdtext.dat' which gets extracted from CD media by options -vv -toc and shown in
human readable form by -vvv -toc.
The header, if present, must tell the file size minus 2, encoded as big-endian 16
bit word. The other two bytes must be 0.
If there is no 4-byte header, then a trailing 0-byte, as of Sony specification, is
tolerated and ignored.
A text pack consists of a pack type byte, a track number byte, a counter byte, a
Block Number and Character Indicator byte, 12 text characters or data bytes, two
optional CRC bytes. For details see libburn documentation file doc/cdtext.txt.
By default, the input file is checked for correct CRC bytes. If all CRC bytes are
0, then the correct values get silently inserted. If there are non-zero CRC bytes,
then a mismatch causes the abort of the burn run. This check can be disabled by
option -force.
Note that this option overrides option input_sheet_v07t= .
-toc Print the table of content (TOC) which describes the tracks recorded on disc. The
output contains all info from option -atip plus lines which begin with "track:",
the track number, the word "lba:" and a number which gives the start address of the
track. Addresses are counted in CD sectors which with SAO or TAO data tracks hold
2048 bytes each.
If verbosity is set to level 2 (-v -v) then the CD-TEXT packs from the lead-in of
an audio CD get extracted and written into file 'cdtext.dat', if that file does not
yet exist. Prepended is a 4 byte header, followed by one or more packs of 18 bytes
each.
Verbosity level 3 causes the CD-TEXT packs to be printed as hex numbers to standard
output. Bytes 4 to 15 of certain pack types are printed as ASCII characters if they
have values in the range of 32 to 126.
See option textfile= for more information about the text pack format.
Example. Retrieve an afio archive from track number 2:
tracknumber=2
lba=$(cdrskin dev=/dev/cdrom -toc 2>&1 | \
grep '^track:[ ]*[ 0-9][0-9]' | \
tail +"$tracknumber" | head -1 | \
awk '{ print $4}' )
dd if=/dev/cdrom bs=2048 skip="$lba" | \
afio -t - | less
tsize=size
Announces the exact size of the next track source. This is necessary with any write
mode other than -tao if the track source is not a regular disk file, but e.g. "-"
(standard input) or a named pipe. About size specifiers, see option fs=.
If the track source does not deliver the predicted amount of bytes, the remainder
of the track is padded with zeros. This is not considered an error. If on the
other hand the track source delivers more than the announced bytes then the track
on media gets truncated to the predicted size and cdrskin exits with non-zero
value.
-v Increment verbosity level by one. Startlevel is 0 with only few messages. Level 1
prints progress report with long running operations and also causes some extra
lines to be put out with info retrieval options. Level 2 additionally reports
about option settings derived from arguments or startup files. Level 3 is for
debugging and useful mainly in conjunction with somebody who had a look into the
program sourcecode.
-V Enable logging of SCSI commands to stderr. This is helpful for expert examination
of the interaction between libburn and the drive. The commands are specified in
SCSI-3 standards SPC, SBC, MMC.
-waiti Wait until input data is available at stdin or EOF occurs at stdin. Only then
begin to access any drives.
One should use this if cdrskin is working at the end of a pipe where the feeder
process reads from the drive before it starts writing its output into cdrskin.
Example:
mkisofs ... -C 0,12800 -M /dev/sr0 | \
cdrskin dev=/dev/sr0 ... -waiti -
This option works even if stdin is not among the track sources. If no process is
piping in, then the Enter key of your terminal will act as trigger for cdrskin.
Note that this input line will not be consumed by cdrskin if stdin is not among the
track sources. It will end up as shell command, usually.
Alphabetical list of options which are genuine to cdrskin and intended for normal use:
--adjust_speed_to_drive
Curb explicitly given speed= values to the maximum which is announced by the drive
for the loaded media. By default, such an adjustment is only made with pseudo-
speeds 0 and -1 whereas speed settings > 0 are sent unchanged to the drive which
will then choose an appropriate speed on its own.
--allow_emulated_drives
Enable drive addresses of the form dev=stdio:<path>. See above, paragraph "Drive
preparation and addressing".
--allow_setuid
Disable the loud warning about insecure discrepance between login user and
effective user which indicates application of chmod u+s to the program binary. One
should not do this chmod u+s , but it is an old cdrecord tradition.
--any_track
Allow source_addresses to begin with "-" (plus further characters) or to contain a
"=" character. By default such arguments are seen as misspelled options. It is
nevertheless not possible to use one of the options listed with
--list_ignored_options.
assert_write_lba=block_number|byte_address
Abort if the write address given with this option is not the same as predicted
immediately before the write session starts. This option can ensure that a start
address which was presumed by a formatter like mkisofs -C is really used by the
drive for writing. assert_write_lba=0 effectively demands blank media and excludes
appendables.
Block numbering is peculiar: If the last character of the option string is a letter
[a-zA-Z] then the usual unit scaling by "s", "k", "m", etc. applies and the result
is divided by 2048. Else the number value of the string is taken as plain block
number with block size 2048 byte. (E.g ...=1000 or ...=1000s means block 1000,
...=1m means block 512, ...=4096b means block number 2)
cd_start_tno=number
Set the number which shall be written as CD track number with the first track of
the session. The following tracks will then get written with consecutive CD track
numbers. The resulting number of the last track must not exceed 99. The lowest
possible start number is 1, which is also the default.
This setting applies only to CD SAO writing. It overrides the track number settings
caused by options cuefile= or input_sheet_v07t=.
cdtext_to_textfile=path
Extract the CD-TEXT packs from the lead-in of an audio CD and write them to the
file with the given path. If CD-TEXT can be retrieved, then this file will be
suitable for option textfile=.
Not all drives can read CD-TEXT and not all audio CDs bear CD-TEXT. It is not
considered an error if no CD-TEXT is available.
cdtext_to_v07t=path
Extract the CD-TEXT packs from the lead-in of an audio CD and write them as human
readable Sony Input Sheet Version 0.7T to the file with the given path. If CD-TEXT
can be retrieved, then this file will be suitable for option input_sheet_v07t=.
If the given path is "-", then the result is printed to standard output.
Not all drives can read CD-TEXT and not all audio CDs bear CD-TEXT. It is not
considered an error if no CD-TEXT is available.
--demand_a_drive
Exit with a nonzero value if no drive can be found during a bus scan.
--devices
List the device file addresses of all accessible CD drives. In order to get listed,
a drive has to offer rw-permission for the cdrskin user and it may not be busy. The
superuser should be able to see all idle drives listed and busy drives reported as
"SORRY" messages.
Each available drive gets listed by a line containing the following fields:
Number dev='Devicefile' rw-Permissions : 'Vendor' 'Model'
Number and Devicefile can both be used with option dev=, but number is volatile
(numbering changes if drives become busy).
--device_links
Like --devices, but presenting the drives with addresses of symbolic links which
point to the actual device files.
Modern GNU/Linux systems may shuffle drive addresses from boot to boot. The udev
daemon is supposed to create links which always point to the same drive, regardless
of its system address. Option --device_links shows the addresses of such links if
they begin by "/dev/dvd" or "/dev/cd". Precedence is: "dvdrw", "cdrw", "dvd",
"cdrom", "cd".
direct_write_amount=size
Do not write a session with tracks but rather make an appropriate number of direct
write operations with no preparations. Flushing the drive buffer will be the only
finalization. It is advised to eject the media afterwards because the write
operations circumvent the usual system i/o with its caches and buffers. By
ejecting, those invalid memory copies get surely discarded.
Only few media can be written this way: DVD-RAM, BD-RE, RVD+RW and overwriteable
DVD-RW. Writing is restricted to the already formatted area of the media.
Writing starts at byte 0 of the media or at the address given by option
write_start_address= . Only the first track source is used as input for the write
operations. The fifo (fs=) is disabled.
Parameter size controls the amount of data to be written. Size 0 means that the
track source shall be used up until EOF. In this case, the last write transaction
gets padded up to the necessary size by zeros. Size -1 revokes direct writing and
switches back to normal session oriented writing.
Both, write_start_address and direct_write_amount size must be aligned to a media
dependent transaction size. With DVD-RAM, BD-RE, DVD+RW this is 2k, with
overwriteable DVD-RW it is 32k.
dvd_obs=default|32k|64k
Set the number of bytes to be transmitted with each write operation to DVD or BD
media. With most write types, tracks get padded up to the next multiple of this
write size (see option --obs_pad). A number of 64 KB may improve throughput with
systems which show latency problems. The default depends on media type, option
stream_recording=, and on compile time options.
extract_audio_to=directory_path
Extract tracks from an audio CD as separate WAVE audio files into the given
directory. This directory has to already exist, but none of the track files may
exist. This option will rather fail than overwrite an existing file.
By default all tracks of the CD are extracted to files with names NN.wav, where NN
is the track number from 01 to at most 99.
extract_basename=name
Set a filename prefix which shall be used by extract_audio_to= instead of the empty
default name prefix.
--extract_dap
Enable Digital Audio Play flaw obscuring mechanisms like audio data mute and
interpolate.
extract_tracks=number[,number[,...]]
Set a list of track numbers to define which tracks shall be extracted by
extract_audio_to=. If no extract_tracks= is given, then all audio tracks get
extracted. It is permissible to have more than one extract_tracks= option in order
to split a long list into shorter pieces.
The lowest permissible track number is 1, the highest is 99.
fallback_program=command
Set a command name to be executed if cdrskin encounters a known cdrecord option
which it does not yet support. If a non-empty command is given with
fallback_program=, and if no essential options are given which are specific to
cdrskin, then cdrskin will delegate the job to said command.
The natural commands to be given are cdrecord or wodim but one may well submit the
address of an own program.
The fallback program will get all arguments of cdrskin which do not match the shell
patterns --?* or *_*=* . This eventually suppresses path names of track sources
which happen to match those patterns. The options from the startup files are not
handed to the fallback program.
Fallback program execution is disabled if cdrskin is run setuid and not option
--allow_setuid is given. In general, the drive's device files and the involved
programs should be set up so that each program runs under its advised conditions.
(E.g. cdrskin as member of group floppy, cdrecord setuid root.)
Two alias names for cdrskin are predefined with default fallback programs:
unicord implies fallback_program=cdrecord
codim implies fallback_program=wodim
--four_channel
Indicate for subsequent tracks that they were mastered with four channels.
fifo_start_at=size
Do not wait for full fifo but start burning as soon as the given number of bytes is
read. This option may be helpful to bring the average throughput near to the
maximum throughput of a drive. A large fs= and a small fifo_start_at= combine a
quick burn start and a large savings buffer to compensate for temporary lack of
source data. At the beginning of burning, the software protection against buffer
underrun is as weak as the size of fifo_start_at= . So it is best if the drive
offers hardware protection which is enabled automatically if not
driveropts=noburnfree is given.
--grow_overwriteable_iso
Enable emulation of multi-session writing on overwriteable media which contain an
ISO-9660 filesystem. This emulation is learned from growisofs -M but adapted to the
usage model of
cdrskin -msinfo
mkisofs -C -M | cdrskin -waiti [-multi] -
--grow_overwriteable_iso does not hamper the use of true multi-session media. I.e.
it is possible to use the same cdrskin options with both kinds of media and to
achieve similar results if ISO-9660 filesystem images are to be written. This
option implies option -isosize and therefore demands that the track source is a
ISO-9660 filesystem image.
With overwriteable media and no option blank=fast|all present it expands an
eventual ISO-9660 filesystem on media. It is assumed that this image's inner size
description points to the end of the valuable data. Overwriteable media with a
recognizable ISO-9660 size will be regarded as appendable rather than as blank.
I.e. options -msinfo and -toc will work. -toc will always show a single session
with its size increasing with every added mkisofs image.
If not overridden by option write_start_address=, the track with the new image will
be placed behind the end of the old one. One may use option assert_write_lba= to
make sure that media state and mkisofs job do match.
--grow_overwriteable_iso causes option blank=fast|all to invalidate an eventual
ISO-9660 image by altering the first few bytes of block 16 on overwriteable media.
Option -multi is tolerated in order not to hamper true multi-session media.
An equivalent of growisofs -Z for overwriteable media is:
mkisofs | cdrskin --grow_overwriteable_iso blank=fast [-multi] -
With multi-session DVD, blank=fast will act like dvd+rw-format -blank=full .
growisofs -dvd-compat is roughly equivalent to cdrskin without option -multi.
input_sheet_v07t=path
Read CD-TEXT definitions from a Sony Input Sheet version 0.7T. Up to eight or seven
such sheets can be read by multiple input_sheet_v07t= options. Each will define
one CD-TEXT language block.
The first line of a sheet file decides whether more than one sheet may be defined
by the file. If it is
Input Sheet Version = 0.7T
then each further line with that text switches to the next sheet for the next
block. If it is not, then all definitions apply to a single block.
The information in such a sheet is given by text lines of the following form:
purpose specifier [whitespace] = [whitespace] content text
[whitespace] is zero or more ASCII 32 (space) or ASCII 9 (tab) characters. The
purpose specifier tells the meaning of the content text. Empty content text does
not cause a CD-TEXT attribute to be attached.
The following purpose specifiers apply to the session as a whole:
Purpose specifier | Content example
-------------------------------------------------------------
Text Code = 8859
Language Code = English
Album Title = Joyful Nights
Artist Name = United Cat Orchestra
Songwriter = Various Songwriters
Composer = Various Composers
Arranger = Tom Cat
Album Message = For all our fans
Catalog Number = 1234567890
Genre Code = Classical
Genre Information = Feline classic music
Closed Information = This is not to be shown by CD players
UPC / EAN = 1234567890123
Text Data Copy Protection = OFF
First Track Number = 1
Last Track Number = 3
The following purpose specifiers apply to particular tracks:
Purpose specifier | Content example
-------------------------------------------------------------
Track 01 Title = Song of Joy
Track 01 Artist = Felix and The Purrs
Track 01 Songwriter = Friedrich Schiller
Track 01 Composer = Ludwig van Beethoven
Track 01 Arranger = Tom Cat
Track 01 Message = Fritz and Louie once were punks
ISRC 01 = XYCRR1101234
Track numbers are decimal despite the leading 0. There should be as many track
definitions as there are track source files given.
See libburn's doc/cdtext.txt for a detailed definition of 0.7T and the possible
values for Text Code, Language Code, Genre Code, Text Data Copy Protection.
The Q sub-channel settings by "UPC / EAN" and "ISRC" may be overridden by options
mcn= and isrc=. This will not affect their appearance as CD-TEXT. They may
override cuefile= commands CATALOG and ISRC in the same way.
If options -text cuefile= are given and if the cue sheet file defines CD-TEXT, then
only seven input_sheet_v07t= options may be given. They will then be used as CD-
TEXT language blocks 1 to 7.
This option will get into effect only if no option textfile= is given. The write
mode must be SAO on CD. All tracks must be -audio tracks.
The track numbers may be overridden by option cd_start_tno=.
--list_formats
List the available format descriptors as reported by the drive for the loaded
media. Each descriptor line begins with "Format idx" and the descriptor's list
index, followed by a ":", the format type, the number of payload blocks and that
same number converted to MiB.
The meaning of the format types is defined by the MMC standard with command FORMAT
UNIT. A user will more be interested in the sizes than in the types.
--list_ignored_options
List all ignored cdrecord options. The "-" options cannot be used as addresses of
track sources. No track source address may begin with a text equal to an option
which ends by "=". The list is ended by an empty line.
--list_speeds
Put out a list of speed values as reported by the output drive with the loaded
medium. This does not necessarily mean that the medium is writable or that these
speeds are actually achievable. Especially the lists reported with empty drive or
with ROM media obviously advertise speeds for other media.
It is not mandatory to use speed values out of the listed range. The drive is
supposed to choose a safe speed that is as near to the desired speed as possible.
At the end of the list, "Write speed L" and "Write speed H" are the best guesses
for lower and upper speed limit. "Write speed l" and "Write speed h" may appear
only with CD and eventually override the list of other speed offers.
Only if the drive reports contradicting speed information there will appear "Write
speed 0" or "Write speed-1", which tell the outcome of speed selection by options
speed=0 or speed=-1, if it deviates from "Write speed L" or "Write speed H",
respectively.
--long_toc
Like option -toc but marking each session start by a line "first: X last: Y" and
each session end by "track:lout ...".
--no_load
When aquiring the optical drive, do not try to load its tray. This yields the same
behavior for desktop drives with tray loader as is shown by laptop drives which
usually lack a motorized tray loader.
--no_rc
Only if used as first command line argument this option prevents reading and
interpretation of eventual startup files. See section FILES below.
--pacifier_with_newline
Adds a newline character to each pacifier line that would elsewise be overwritten
by the next pacifier line. Such lines are emitted during a run of writing,
formatting, or blanking if option -v is given.
--prodvd_cli_compatible
Activates behavior modifications with some DVD situations which bring cdrskin
nearer to the behavior of cdrecord-ProDVD:
Option -multi with unsuitable media is not an error but simply has no effect.
Options blank=fast and blank=all deformat overwriteable DVD-RW media.
Option blank=fast does indeed minmal blanking with DVD-RW. This may yield media
which can only do DAO but not Incremental Streaming.
--single_track
Accept only the last argument of the command line as track source address.
stdio_sync=on|off|number
Set the number of bytes after which to force output to drives with prefix "stdio:".
This forcing keeps the memory from being clogged with lots of pending data for slow
devices. Default "on" is the same as "16m". Forced output can be disabled by
"off".
stream_recording=on|off|number
By setting "on" request that compliance to the desired speed setting is preferred
over management of write errors. With DVD-RAM and BD this can bring effective write
speed near to the nominal write speed of the media. But it will also disable the
automatic use of replacement blocks if write errors occur. It might as well be
disliked or ignored by the drive.
If a number is given, then error management stays enabled for all byte addresses
below that number. Any number below 16s is the same as "off".
tao_to_sao_tsize=size
Set an exact fixed size for the next track to be in effect only if the track source
cannot deliver a size prediction and no tsize= was specified and an exact track
size prediction is demanded by the write mode.
This was the fallback from bad old times when cdrskin was unable to burn in mode
-tao . It came back with minimally blanked DVD-RW, which cannot do Incremental
Streaming (-tao), and with explicitly selected write mode -sao for best DVD-ROM
compatibility.
If the track source delivers less bytes than announced then the missing ones will
be filled with zeros.
--tell_media_space
Prepare a recording session, do not perform it but rather inquire the maximum
number of 2048 byte data blocks which may be written in the current state of media
with the prepared setup. So this option disables recording of data. It does not
disable blanking, though, and will measure space afterwards.
It is not mandatory to give track sources but their nature may influence the
available capacity. So for most realistic results one may set up the full burn
session and add --tell_media_space. But if one has to expect a cdrskin version
prior to 0.3.3 no track source should be given in order not to start an involuntary
burn session. In this case set at least -sao or -tao explicitly.
The result gets printed to standard output. It is 0 or empty if no writing is
possible with the given options. This option redirects to stderr all message
output except its own result string and eventual output of -msinfo.
textfile_to_v07t=path
Read a CD-TEXT pack file (e.g. cdtext.dat from a run with -v -v -toc) and print its
content in the human readable format that is described with option
input_sheet_v07t=.
The program run ends immediately thereafter. No drive scan will happen and no
drive will be acquired.
To avoid the cdrskin start message in the output, run:
cdrskin textfile_to_v07t=cdtext.dat | grep -v '^cdrskin'
--two_channel
Indicate for subsequent tracks that they were mastered with two channels.
write_start_address=byte_offset
Set the address on media where to start writing the track. With DVD+RW, DVD-RAM or
BD-RE byte_offset must be aligned to 2 kiB blocks, but better is 32 kiB. With DVD-
RW 32 kiB alignment is mandatory.
Other media are not suitable for this option yet.
modesty_on_drive=<mode>[:parameter=<value>[:parameter=<value>...]]
Mode 1 keeps the program from trying to write to the burner drive while its buffer
is in danger to be filled by more than parameter "max_percent". If this filling is
exceeded then the program will wait until the filling is at most the value of
parameter "min_percent".
Percentages are permissible in the range of 25 to 100.
This can ease the load on operating system and drive controller and thus help with
achieving better input bandwidth if disk and burner are not on independent
controllers (like hda and hdb). Unsufficient input bandwidth is indicated by output
"(fifo xy%)" of option -v if xy is lower than 90 for some time. modesty_on_drive=
might hamper output bandwidth and cause buffer underruns.
A new use case is to work around the poor simultaneous performance of multiple burn
runs on Linux kernel 3.16 and alike. Here it is not about giving the hard disk
enough time to fill the fifo, but about keeping ioctl(SG_IO) from blocking for a
longer time and thus blocking all other burn runs.
To have max_percent larger than the burner's best actual buffer fill has the same
effect as min_percent==max_percent. Some burners do not use their full buffer with
all media types. Watch output "[buf xy%]" of option -v to get an impression of the
actual buffer usage. Some burners are not suitable because they report buffer fill
with granularity too large in size or time, or because they go to full speed only
when their buffer is full.
If a write attempt is delayed, the program will wait for a number of microseconds
which is given by parameter "min_usec" before inquiring the buffer again. If more
retries occur, this waiting time between inquiries increases up to the value of
parameter "max_usec".
If the delay lasts longer than the number of seconds given by parameter
"timeout_sec", then mode 1 is set 0 and normal burning goes on.
Mode 0 disables this feature. Mode -1 keeps it unchanged. Default is:
0:min_percent=65:max_percent=95:timeout_sec=120:
min_usec=10000:max_usec=100000
The defaults of cdrskin are good for IDE problems. With concurrent Linux SG_IO
problems on modern hardware, higher min_percent and lower usec might yield better
buffer fills while still avoiding the problem:
min_percent=90:max_percent=95:min_usec=5000:max_usec=25000
Alphabetical list of options which are only intended for very special situations and not
for normal use:
--abort_handler
Establish default signal handling not to leave a drive in busy state but rather to
shut it down and to wait until it has ended the final operations. This option is
only needed for revoking eventual --ignore_signals or --no_abort_handler.
--allow_untested_media
Enable the use of media profiles which have been implemented but not yet tested.
Currently this option is without effect because no media types are under test
reservation.
(If you really test experimental media, then please report the outcome on libburn-
hackers@pykix.org)
--cdtext_dummy
Prepare a burn run, report the effective array of CD-TEXT packs to stdout, and then
end the program run without starting to burn the session. A blank CD-R or CD-RW
has to be present in the drive, nevertheless.
The output is formatted in lines which describe 18 bytes as 2-digit hex numbers or
as single printable characters. See libburn document doc/cdtext.txt about the
format of these records.
--cdtext_verbose
Like --cdtext_dummy but without preventing the burn run. Combinable with option
-dummy to exercise a CD burn run with no persistent impact on the medium.
dev_translation=<sep><from><sep><to>
Set drive address alias. This was necessary before cdrskin-0.2.4 to manually
translate cdrecord addresses into cdrskin addresses.
<sep> is a single character which may not occur in the address string <from>.
<from> is an address as expected to be given by the user via option dev=. <to> is
the address to be used instead whenever <from> is given. More than one translation
instruction can be given in one cdrskin run.
E.g.: dev_translation=+ATA:1,0,0+/dev/sr1 dev_translation=+ATA:1,1,0+/dev/sr2
--drive_abort_on_busy
Linux specific: Abort process if a busy drive is encountered.
--drive_blocking
Linux specific: Try to wait for a busy drive to become free. This is not
guaranteed to work with all drivers. Some need nonblocking i/o.
--drive_f_setlk
Linux specific: Try to get exclusive lock on drive device file via fcntl(2).
--drive_not_exclusive
Linux specific: Combine --drive_not_f_setlk and --drive_not_o_excl.
--drive_not_f_setlk
Linux specific: Do not try to get exclusive lock on drive device file via fcntl(2).
--drive_not_o_excl
Linux specific: Do not ask the operating system to prevent opening busy drives.
Whether this leads to senseful behavior depends on operating system and kernel.
drive_scsi_dev_family=sr|scd|sg
Linux specific: Select a SCSI device file family to be scanned for by options
--devices, --device_links and -scanbus. Normally this is /dev/sgN on kernel
versions < 2.6 and /dev/srN on kernels >= 2.6 . This option explicitly overrides
that default in order to meet other programs at a common device file for each
drive. On kernel 2.4 families sr and scd will find no drives.
Device file family /dev/hdX on kernel >= 2.6 is not affected by this setting.
--drive_scsi_exclusive
Linux specific: Try to exclusively reserve device files /dev/srN, /dev/scdM,
/dev/sgK of drives. This would be helpful to protect against collisions with
program growisofs. Regrettably on Linux kernel 2.4 with ide-scsi emulation this
seems not to work. Whether it becomes helpful with new Linux systems has to be
evaluated.
--fifo_disable
Disable fifo despite any fs=.
--fifo_per_track
Use a separate fifo for each track.
--fill_up_media
Expand the last track of the session to occupy all remaining free space on the
media.
This option overrides option -multi. It will not fill up media if option -sao is
given with CD media.
Caution: With multi-session media this option might increase readatibility on DVD-
ROM drives but with some DVD recorders and media types it might also fail to
produce readable media at all. "Your mileage may vary".
You can expect the best possible read compatibility if you do not use -multi at
all.
grab_drive_and_wait=seconds
Open the addressed drive, wait the given number of seconds, release the drive, and
do normal work as indicated by the other options used. This option helps to explore
the program behavior when faced with busy drives. Just start a second cdrskin with
option --devices while grab_drive_and_wait= is still active.
--ignore_signals
Try to ignore any signals rather than to abort the program. This is not a very good
idea. You might end up waiting a very long time for cdrskin to finish.
--list_features
List the SCSI/MMC features which were obtained from the drive when it was last
acquired or re-assessed. Although this is better readable than the raw reply to
SCSI command GET CONFIGURATION, the MMC specification text is still needed for
interpreting it.
The list consists of line groups of the form
Code +/- : Name : Version,P/N
Raw feature data bytes as hex numbers
Parsed info as Name=Value pairs
The headline is the only one which has no blank at its start. Code is given as 16
bit hex number.
"+" marks a currently offered feature. "-" marks those which may be offered under
different circumstances.
Name is the feature name as listed in MMC specs.
"P" marks persistent features. "N" marks non-persistent features.
The Raw data can occupy more than one line. No "=" occurs in such lines. If no raw
data are present, one line with some blanks is listed instead.
The Parsed info shows some extracted field values with names which resemble the
names used in the MMC description of the particular feature. Parsed info lines
contain at least one Name=Value pair. More than one line is possible. If no parsed
info is produced, one line with some blanks is listed instead.
Example:
0107 - : Real Time Streaming : 4,N
1f 00 00 00
RBCB=1 , SCS=1 , MP2A=1 , WSPD=1 , SW=1
--no_abort_handler
On signals exit even if the drive is in busy state. This is not a very good idea.
You might end up with a stuck drive that refuses to hand out the media.
--no_blank_appendable
Refuse to blank appendable CD-RW or DVD-RW. This is a feature that was once builtin
with libburn. No information available for what use case it was needed.
--no_convert_fs_adr
Do only literal translations of dev=. This prevents cdrskin from test-opening
device files in order to find one that matches the given dev= specifier.
Partly Linux specific: Such opening is needed for Bus,Target,Lun addresses unless
option --old_pseudo_scsi_adr is given. It is also needed to resolve device file
addresses which are not listed with cdrskin --devices but nevertheless point to a
usable drive. (Like /dev/sg0 using the same SCSI address as /dev/sr0.)
--obs_pad
Pad the data of the last write operation of a DVD-R[W] DAO session, or BD-R
session, or stdio: pseudo-drive session up to the full size of an output chunk.
This padding has to be applied automatically to the other DVD and BD media types,
where it causes e.g. ISO images to have trailing unclaimed blocks. Whether it is
applied automatically to BD-R depends on option --bdr_obs_exempt.
Use this option if there is the suspicion that DVD-R[W] DAO or BD-R sessions abort
with your kernel and/or DVD drive, if their size is not a multiple of 16 blocks.
This option may also get enabled at compile time of libburn.
--bdr_obs_exempt
Exempt BD-R media from automatic unconditional transaction end padding, provided
that this padding is not requested by --obs_pad and that no stream_recording is
requested.
This is a new feature introduced with version 1.5.6. It might become default in
later versions.
--old_pseudo_scsi_adr
Linux specific: Use and report literal Bus,Target,Lun addresses rather than real
SCSI and pseudo ATA addresses. This method is outdated and was never compatible
with original cdrecord.
sao_postgap=off|number
Define whether a post-gap shall be written at the end of the track and how many
sectors this gap shall have. A post-gap occupies the range of an additional index
of the track. It contains zeros. No bytes from the track source will be read for
writing the post-gap.
This setting affects only CD SAO write runs.
sao_pregap=off|number
Define whether a pre-gap shall be written before the track and how many sectors
this pre-gap shall have. A pre-gap is written in the range of track index 0 and
contains zeros. No bytes from the track source will be read for writing the pre-
gap.
This setting affects only CD SAO write runs.
The first track automatically gets a pre-gap of at least 150 sectors. Its size can
only be enlarged by this call.
use_immed_bit=on|off|default
Control whether several long lasting SCSI commands shall be executed with the Immed
bit, which makes the commands end early while the drive operation is still going
on. cdrskin then inquires progress indication until the drive reports to be ready
again. If this feature is turned off, then blanking and formatting will show no
progress indication.
It may depend on the operating system whether use_immed_bit= is set to "off" by
default.
--xa1-ignore
Silently interpret option -xa1 as -data. This may be necessary if a frontend does
not prepare -xa1 block headers but insists in using option -xa1.
EXAMPLES
Get an overview of drives and their addresses:
cdrskin -scanbus
cdrskin dev=ATA -scanbus
cdrskin --device_links
Get info about a particular drive or loaded media:
cdrskin dev=0,1,0 -checkdrive
cdrskin dev=ATA:1,0,0 -v -atip
cdrskin dev=/dev/hdc -minfo
Prepare CD-RW or DVD-RW for re-use, DVD-RAM or BD-RE for first use:
cdrskin -v dev=/dev/sg1 blank=as_needed -eject
Format DVD-RW to avoid need for blanking before re-use:
cdrskin -v dev=/dev/sr0 blank=format_overwrite
De-format DVD-RW to make it capable of multi-session again:
cdrskin -v dev=/dev/sr0 blank=deformat_sequential
Write ISO-9660 filesystem image as only one to blank or formatted media:
cdrskin -v dev=/dev/hdc speed=12 fs=8m \
blank=as_needed -eject padsize=300k my_image.iso
Write compressed afio archive on-the-fly (not possible with minimally blanked DVD-RW or DVD-R
DL):
find . | afio -oZ - | \
cdrskin -v dev=0,1,0 fs=32m speed=8 \
blank=as_needed padsize=300k -
Write multi-session to the same CD, DVD-R[W], DVD+R[/DL], or BD-R:
cdrskin dev=/dev/sr0 -v padsize=300k -multi 1.iso
cdrskin dev=/dev/sr0 -v padsize=300k -multi 2.iso
cdrskin dev=/dev/sr0 -v padsize=300k -multi 3.iso
cdrskin dev=/dev/sr0 -v padsize=300k 4.iso
Get multi-session info for option -C of program mkisofs:
c_values=$(cdrskin dev=/dev/hdc -msinfo 2>/dev/null)
mkisofs ... -C "$c_values" ...
Inquire free space on media for a -multi run:
x=$(cdrskin dev=/dev/sr0 -multi \
--tell_media_space 2>/dev/null)
echo "Available: $x blocks of 2048 data bytes"
Write audio tracks and CD-TEXT to CD:
cdrskin -v dev=ATA:1,0,0 speed=48 -sao \
input_sheet_v07t=cdtext.v07t \
track1.wav track2.au -audio -swab track3.raw
Extract audio tracks and CD-TEXT from CD into directory /home/me/my_cd:
mkdir /home/me/my_cd
cdrskin -v dev=/dev/sr0 extract_audio_to=/home/me/my_cd \
cdtext_to_v07t=/home/me/my_cd/cdtext.v07t
FILES
Startup files:
If not --no_rc is given as the first argument then cdrskin attempts on startup to read the
arguments from the following files:
/etc/default/cdrskin
/etc/opt/cdrskin/rc
/etc/cdrskin/cdrskin.conf
$HOME/.cdrskinrc
The files are read in the sequence given above, but none of them is required for cdrskin
to function properly. Each readable line is treated as one single argument. No extra
blanks. A first character '#' marks a comment, empty lines are ignored.
Example content of a startup file:
# This is the default device
dev=0,1,0
# Some more options
fifo_start_at=0
fs=16m
Disabling superuser safety precautions:
The superuser is normally banned from using any other emulated drive but /dev/null. This
ban can be lifted by the existence of file
/root/cdrskin_permissions/allow_emulated_drives
where the directory must be owned by the superuser and must not offer w-permissions for
group or others.
Warning: Superusers must take care not to spoil their hard disk via its raw block device
(like stdio:/dev/hda or stdio:/dev/sd0).
SEE ALSO
Formatting data track sources for cdrskin:
mkisofs(8), genisoimage(8), xorriso(1), afio(1), star(1)
Other CD/DVD/BD burn programs:
cdrecord(1), wodim(1), xorriso(1)
For DVD/BD burning (also tutor of libburn's DVD/BD capabilities):
growisofs(1)
AUTHOR
cdrskin was written by Thomas Schmitt <scdbackup@gmx.net>.
This manual page was started by George Danchev <danchev@spnet.net> and is now maintained
by Thomas Schmitt.
Version 1.5.6, Jun 07, 2023 CDRSKIN(1)