dvd ram discs & k3b

[erk]

I updated the system yesterday,and it now reads DVD RAM,but still wont format or burn them.How to fix this?
I use DVD RAM a lot!All the computers in the house and my Panasonic DVD player use them.They are most useful for backups as they are overwriteable many times.
WXP with Nero works fine on the same PC,so it isn't the hardware.

[Was_Just19]

There used to be a KDVD-RAM app in KDE3 which helped with managing DVD-RAM/DVD RW media.

I have not come across any GNU application for KDE4 which does this. The backend packages are there and it could be done from command line I guess, but that is hardly of much use to most users.

Maybe Nero for Linux will do it ......

[rich2005]

Using PCLOS 2010 KDE
Since moving to PCLOS I have not bothered with DVD-RAM (consider it a PITA), so a couple of trials to see what works.

As far as I can tell you will need a mount point. Tried mounting to /media/cdrom and it was no go.
So make a /mnt/dvd mount point.
Now for the strange bit, I started off by putting an entry into fstab along the lines of
# Entry for DVD-RAM
/dev/dvd /mnt/dvd auto noauto,user,exec,rw 0 0
and it mounted using kwikdisk with a read-only notice. A bit further on and I tried it without the fstab entry and it still mounts (read-only). Don't know why it works without the fstab entry.

I see there is also a /dev/dvdrw - maybe I will experiment with that.

Next thing the read-only. Seem to remember the same problem with Mepis. No real solution, to write to it I have to use a 'root' filemanager, not a big problem but a definite nuisance.

The DVD-RAM disks, from my Samsung DVD recorder definitely read-only. For data, dvd+rw-tools are in the repo and probably already installed as k3b etc use them. To format a DVD-RAM this works, albeit slowly.

[rich@localhost ~]$ dvd+rw-format -force=full /dev/dvd
* BD/DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 7.1.
* 4.6GB DVD-RAM media detected.
* formatting 100.0/
[rich@localhost ~]$

I also have some DVD-RAM formatted FAT32, read only, probably do need an fstab entry for this.

maybe get you started.

[erk]

Using PCLOS 2010 KDE
Since moving to PCLOS I have not bothered with DVD-RAM (consider it a PITA), so a couple of trials to see what works.

As far as I can tell you will need a mount point. Tried mounting to /media/cdrom and it was no go.
So make a /mnt/dvd mount point.
Now for the strange bit, I started off by putting an entry into fstab along the lines of
# Entry for DVD-RAM
/dev/dvd /mnt/dvd auto noauto,user,exec,rw 0 0
and it mounted using kwikdisk with a read-only notice. A bit further on and I tried it without the fstab entry and it still mounts (read-only). Don't know why it works without the fstab entry.

I see there is also a /dev/dvdrw - maybe I will experiment with that.

Next thing the read-only. Seem to remember the same problem with Mepis. No real solution, to write to it I have to use a 'root' filemanager, not a big problem but a definite nuisance.

The DVD-RAM disks, from my Samsung DVD recorder definitely read-only. For data, dvd+rw-tools are in the repo and probably already installed as k3b etc use them. To format a DVD-RAM this works, albeit slowly.

[rich@localhost ~]$ dvd+rw-format -force=full /dev/dvd
* BD/DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 7.1.
* 4.6GB DVD-RAM media detected.
* formatting 100.0/
[rich@localhost ~]$

I also have some DVD-RAM formatted FAT32, read only, probably do need an fstab entry for this.

maybe get you started.

I am too old to use the command line!
Thanks for trying.

[erk]

There used to be a KDVD-RAM app in KDE3 which helped with managing DVD-RAM/DVD RW media.

I have not come across any GNU application for KDE4 which does this. The backend packages are there and it could be done from command line I guess, but that is hardly of much use to most users.

Maybe Nero for Linux will do it ......

Thats a great idea,i did not know Nero made a Linux ver.Is it compatible with PClinuxos?

[Was_Just19]

There used to be a KDVD-RAM app in KDE3 which helped with managing DVD-RAM/DVD RW media.

I have not come across any GNU application for KDE4 which does this. The backend packages are there and it could be done from command line I guess, but that is hardly of much use to most users.

Maybe Nero for Linux will do it ......

Thats a great idea,i did not know Nero made a Linux ver.Is it compatible with PClinuxos?

It should be, but I have not tested it since it first came out a couple of years ago. I might try it myself soon, as I have a few discs that need some work, and maybe this will do what I need.

It does have a trial version so you can see if it does what you need before purchasing.

EDIT:
          I d/loaded and installed Nero to have a look ........  it does not seem to handle either DVD+RW or DVD-RAM media ......  from a cursory look. Hopefully I missed it.


regards

[cyrwyn]

You don't use RAM disks with K3B. They are recognized as a fully functioning file system, independent of a CD/DVD writing program. They come already formatted with UDF, so you need the UDF support. I can't remember the exact package name, but search in Synaptic for UDF and install it. After that, when you insert on in the drive the device notifier should show it. It may have to be mounted depending on how you have external mount set. BTW does your drive support RAM disks. Most drives in the last couple of years now support all writable formats, but there's many that don't.

[Was_Just19]

You don't use RAM disks with K3B. They are recognized as a fully functioning file system, independent of a CD/DVD writing program. They come already formatted with UDF, so you need the UDF support. I can't remember the exact package name, but search in Synaptic for UDF and install it. After that, when you insert on in the drive the device notifier should show it. It may have to be mounted depending on how you have external mount set. BTW does your drive support RAM disks. Most drives in the last couple of years now support all writable formats, but there's many that don't.

The point is there is no GUI app now, that I can find, which is capable of formatting either DVD-RAM or DVD+RW disc as a UDF (or other filesystem) Random Access media.

That is a big loss ......  as I said above there was such an app for KDE3

regards.

[Old-Polack]

I am too old to use the command line!

I wasn't aware that use of the command line was in any way age related. At what age does the use of the command line become prohibited?

[ElCuervo]

I am too old to use the command line!

I wasn't aware that use of the command line was in any way age related. At what age does the use of the command line become prohibited?

I was wondering that, too, since erk was too shy to post his age in his profile. It may be that a great many of us will be left out in the cold!

[Old-Polack]

I am too old to use the command line!

I wasn't aware that use of the command line was in any way age related. At what age does the use of the command line become prohibited?

I was wondering that, too, since erk was too shy to post his age in his profile. It may be that a great many of us will be left out in the cold!

Yes! I'm too old to start learning the dreaded GUI now. 

[rich2005]

@ erk

Well, I am 63 (secrets starting to fly here ) so not exactly a spring chicken.

Nero.
I use Nero Linux v4, well worth the asking price and works wonderfully well in PCLOS.

[Was_Just19]

@ erk

Well, I am 63 (secrets starting to fly here ) so not exactly a spring chicken.

Nero.
I use Nero Linux v4, well worth the asking price and works wonderfully well in PCLOS.

I had a further look at it .......  and cannot find anywhere in the app that it has any random access functions at all, so it seems useless for dealing with DVD-RAM and DVD+RW discs that have a UDF RW filesystem on them.

I then tried to copy a DVD to an image, Nero met with a problem reading the disk and aborted.
So I tried K3b, which also met with the problem, overcame it and produced a saved image.
That disk is a DVD+RW with Win7 on it --- it has a UDF filesystem.

So from my small test Nero was a failure.

regards.

[rich2005]

So from my small test Nero was a failure.

Yes, Nero is not the application to use for this purpose, same as k3b, it can be used for adding data files to a multisession CD (maybe dvd - have not tried that). Going back some time & getting fingers burnt, I am very wary of multisession CD's.

Big difference from a DVD-RAM which is hard formatted and acts like a big floppy disk ( or a very slow hard drive). You use a regular file manager for this. I use a nice, light, 2-pane manager, emelfm2, has to be started as root to write to the PITA DVD-RAM but then I gave up on DVD-RAM some time ago, much prefer a USB memory stick.

The point of my post was. I am old-ish &  IMHO Nero linux is a good CD/DVD burner & DVD-RAM (with qualifications) can be used with PCLOS.

[Was_Just19]

So from my small test Nero was a failure.

Yes, Nero is not the application to use for this purpose, same as k3b, it can be used for adding data files to a multisession CD (maybe dvd - have not tried that). Going back some time & getting fingers burnt, I am very wary of multisession CD's.

Big difference from a DVD-RAM which is hard formatted and acts like a big floppy disk ( or a very slow hard drive). You use a regular file manager for this. I use a nice, light, 2-pane manager, emelfm2, has to be started as root to write to the PITA DVD-RAM but then I gave up on DVD-RAM some time ago, much prefer a USB memory stick.

The point of my post was. I am old-ish &  IMHO Nero linux is a good CD/DVD burner & DVD-RAM (with qualifications) can be used with PCLOS.

Yes, but the point I am trying to make is that there is no DVD random access management application available at present.
There is no application, for instance, which can help a user to format a DVD+RW as a random access media, for use like as you described for DVD-RAM.
While using KDE3 such an application was available, and I used it to create such random access media from DVD+RW discs, as well as format DVD-RAM discs.

That is a huge hole in the available applications available now.

I thought Nero for Linux might have filled that hole but it does not.

It is that functionality the original post was about .......

... it now reads DVD RAM,but still wont format or burn them.How to fix this?