Linux has a nice set of command line tools for burning CDs and DVDs. Most popular are the following: cdrecord, dvdrecord, mkisofs, growisofs and cdrdao. I could recommend to burn CD/DVD using cdrecord tool:
1) find out the value of the dev option using the command: # cdrecord --scanbus
2) burn the image: # cdrecord -v speed=4 -data -eject dev=[the value you got in the previous step] -dao -mode1[2] /path/to/file.iso
about GUI: my choise is K3B (http://www.k3b.org/) which is included in almost all Linux clones and has very clean and simple interface.
Thanks All for help ;) Every suggestion is so nice
one thing remains i.e say I have a fc6 dvd as /dev/cdrom, and I want to creata an iso file file of the fc6 dvd, then should the following command will work, i.e I want to create a bootable OS dvd .. so should the following will work ?
dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/tmp/fedoraCore6.iso then I insert a blank dvd, and then dd if=/tmp/fedoraCore6.iso of=/dev/cdrom
i.e above commands will create the bootable OS dvd ?
# cdrecord -v speed=4 -data -eject dev=[the value you got in the previous step] -dao -mode1[2] /path/to/file.iso
0, ok .. if the file.iso is a OS image file, then will the above commmand creates the OS bootable cd/dvd ? 1, I have read somewhere that -dao is used for audio cd/dvd .. is it true?, so should I use -dao option, when creating OS cd/dvd, or simply data cd/dvd ?
2, if i used the above command to create a bootable OS cd, then should I use -mode2 ? i,e is it possible/recommended to create a multisession DVD/CD of OS ?
I will admit right off that the command line questions are a bit above and beyond my skill level. Burning that way has not been a skill set I have attempted to learn as of yet.
The only reason I choose to jump in here is to give you another option for a GUI-based option that has not been mentioned as of yet.
I have used K3b almost exclusively for a GUI for accomplishing what you want. The interface is clean and easy to understand, it is capable of creating most of the projects that people will want, and it runs happily on both KDE and Gnome.
While I have also heard good things about other GUI front ends for burning CDs and DVDs, I have found this one to be my favorite.
"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." Stephen Krebbet, 1793-1855
command line tools are cdrecord and dvdrecord. You should really read the man pages for both. For graphical I have to agree with using k3b. It's the best graphical cd/dvd tool I have used besides nerolinux.
"The difference between me and you? I will read the man page." and "Respect the hat." and "You could just do a search on ITRC, you don't need to start a thread on a topic that's been answered 100 times already." Oh, and "What. no points???"
>Sergejs Svitnevs, already mentioned/suggest me to use k3b, see his post, in this thread
Oops! My bad.
"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." Stephen Krebbet, 1793-1855
"dd" can be used to make an image out of a real CD, but it can *not* be used to burn an image onto a blank CDR/CDRW.
The reason is: the burn program must, among other things, read the "pre-groove" of a blank CDR/CDRW to identify the type of the media and handle the Optical Power Calibration (fine-tune the laser power to suit the type of the media) before the actual writing. "dd" just does not know how to do that.
Your numbered questions: 0.) Yes. If the .iso image file has been created with the necessary information for booting (it's an extension of the ISO 9660 CD-ROM standard, called "El Torito"), using that command will create a bootable CD.
1.) "-dao" is preferred for audio CDs, because it allows you to create an audio CD with no 3 seconds of forced silence between the audio tracks.
2.) Hmm, I don't know that. I would guess it depends on whether the BIOS of the computer to be booted understands multi-session CDs or not. I think the following results are possible:
- works as expected
- the boot information of the _first_ session gets used; any later sessions are ignored as regards to the boot functionality. After the OS is started, all the data is accessible as normal.
- does not work at all (buggy/old BIOS gets confused by the multi-session CD)
Note: When a CD is inserted to the CD-ROM drive or the computer is (re)started, the drive's firmware will automatically and independently read the list of tracks (and sessions, if applicable) on the CD-ROM. During this time, the OS (or BIOS in the boot situation) sees the drive as busy, i.e. not available. With a multi-session CD, this may take noticeably longer than on a single-session CD.
There can be combinations of BIOS and CD-ROM drive that support booting from a multi-session CD in theory, but cannot do it in practice: the extra time required by the drive to read the list of tracks on a multi-session disk may be longer than the BIOS is willing to wait for the drive to become available.
Because this timeout is usually hardcoded into the BIOS, the only way to work around this problem might be to replace the CDROM drive with one that recognizes multi-session CDs faster. This is inconvenient, and might be impossible in some situations.
To make your bootable CD-ROM work on as many models of hardware as possible, I'd recommend creating the bootable CD as a single session disc.
