RE: [Dvdrtools-users] Pioneer Burners and 4x Media

[Bryan J. Smith]

Quoting "Pence, Alan" <address@hidden>:

> FYI I have two Panasonic DVD-R/DVD-RAM combo drives.  They do write
> .iso images to DVD-R.  However, I have to write the file from a
> windows machine.

Which is what I assumed with those 3rd gen DVD-RAM drives which now offer
DVD-R(G) record support.

> No problem with DVD-RAM support on the linux side,

Nor was there 4 years ago.  DVD-RAM uses a similar firmware/command set to the
old Panasonic PD (650MB) opticals they introduced before CD-RW existed (and they
still have a much longer media lifespan than CD-RW, just like DVD-RAM over
DVD+RW/-RW, for the penalty of not working with other drives).  As such, with a
small hack, they worked with Linux perfectly almost from the get-go after 
release.

> but DVD-R is a different story.  It seems to be much more difficult
> than the Pioneer drives to write for.

Or just that no one has taken the time.

"Rewrite" or "Random Access Packet Writing" requires kernel-level support for
VFS and other layered access via a SCSI disk (/dev/sdX).  Again, this was done
for the original Panasonic PD "rewrite" and easily adopted for DVD-RAM
"rewrite".  I haven't followed DVD-RW "rewrite" support, but it seems to exist
for DVD+RW "rewrite")

"Record" or "Sequential Burning" is a raw block operation that can be done by
any program to a generic SCSI device (/dev/sg#).  This is where programs like
CDR/DVDRTools come in, as long as they know how to command the specific device.
 No one seems to have done this for DVD-R (on 3rd gen DVD-RAM) or DVD+R (on 2nd
gen DVD+RW) "record," only DVD-R (on DVD-RW) "record."

-- 
Bryan J. Smith, E.I.            Contact Info:  http://thebs.org
A+/i-Net+/Linux+/Network+/Server+ CCNA CIWA CNA SCSA/SCWSE/SCNA
---------------------------------------------------------------
           limit      guilt   =     { psychopath,
         remorse->0                    innocent }