1cdw 0.6.0(1) General Commands Manual cdw 0.6.0(1)
2
6 cdw - front-end for cdrecord, mkisofs, growisofs and other tools
7
10 cdw [--help] [--version] [--enable-dvd-rp-dl]
11
14 cdw is a front-end for command-line tools used for burning data CD and
15 DVD discs and for related tasks. The tools are: cdrecord/wodim,
16 mkisofs/genisoimage, growisofs, dvd+rw-mediainfo, dvd+rw-format. You
17 can also use cdw to rip tracks from your audio CD to raw audio files.
18 Limited support for copying content of CD and DVD discs to image files
19 is also provided. cdw can utilize md5sum program to verify correctness
20 of writing ISO image to CD and DVD disc.
21 cdw uses ncurses library to build user-friendly interface and it can be
24 used in UNIX terminal window and in terminal emulator (like konsole,
25 rxvt or gnome-console) in X environment.
26 cdw supports only ISO9660 filesystem for optical media. Other filesys‐
29 tem for optical media are not supported nor recognized.
30
33 Scope of supported features depends on which tools are installed on end
34 user's system. Full list of supported media and actions is listed
35 below.
36 CD-AUDIO
39 ripping audio tracks to raw audio files
40 CD-R writing files and ISO images (single- and multi-session) with
43 cdrecord/wodim; copying content of first session to image file
44 on your hard disc
45 CD-RW writing files and ISO images (single- and multi-session), eras‐
48 ing (erasing only TOC or blanking whole disc) with
49 cdrecord/wodim; copying content of first session to image file
50 on your hard disc
51 DVD-R, DVD+R
54 writing files and ISO images (multi-session, but without closing
55 disc, or single-session) with cdrecord/wodim and dvd+rw-tools
56 DVD-RW writing files and ISO images (multi-session or single-session);
59 erasing, formatting - quick or slow (full) method; dvd+rw-tools
60 only. WARNING: multiple blanking may quickly render your DVD-RW
61 unusable.
62 DVD+RW writing files and ISO images (both writing to disc from scratch
65 and appending data), without closing disc; blanking disc, but
66 takes lots of time, and you don't need to do it anyway - you can
67 always start writing to the same disc like you would write to
68 blank disc. DVD+RW can be handled by both cdrecord/wodim and
69 dvd+rw-tools.
70 DVD+R DL
73 there is now partial support for DVD+R DL discs: cdw can burn
74 ISO image and files in single session. User has to explicitly
75 enable it by passing "--enable-dvd-rp-dl" command line argument
76 to cdw; cdw can handle DVD+R DL discs only using dvd+rw-tools;
77 this feature is very incomplete and possibly buggy.
78 Dual-layer media other than DVD+R DL are not yet supported.
80 DVD-RAM, Blu-ray, HD-DVD discs are not supported.
81
84 You can write data discs either by using previously created ISO image
85 file, or by selecting files from hard drive and writing them directly
86 to disc. cdw provides UI elements for both actions.
87 First action before creating new ISO image or writing files to disc is
90 selecting files from your hard drive. You can do this by selecting "Add
91 files" in left-hand menu. You will be presented with simple file selec‐
92 tor. Use Up/Down arrows or Page Up/Page Down keys to move, Enter key
93 to change current directory, Space key to select files or directories.
94 Selected items will be added to list displayed in cdw window. Use
95 Escape key to close file selector window. The selector window shows you
96 all files and directories (including hidden files) in current direc‐
97 tory, in alphabetical order. You will see file size information for
98 every file on the list. You can also delete previously selected files
99 from list: select "Delete files" from the menu and use Up/Down arrow
100 keys to move and Delete key to delete highlighted item. Use Escape key
101 when you finish deleting files from list of selected files.
102 Now you can select "Create image" from left-hand menu. cdw will display
105 file picker window, where you can select path to new or existing ISO
106 image file on your hard disc. Initial path in the picker is the same
107 path as set in configuration (Configuration window -> ISO filesystem ->
108 Path to ISO image file).
109 You can also select "Write files to disc" to write selected files to
112 optical disc.
113 If you want to write ISO image file to optical disc, use "Write image
116 to disc" option in left hand menu. You will be presented with file
117 picker dialog that allows you to select existing ISO image file from
118 your hard disc. Initial path in the picker is the same path as set in
119 configuration (Configuration window -> ISO filesystem -> Path to ISO
120 image file).
121 Another operation you can perform is erasing optical disc - CD-RW,
124 DVD-RW (both Sequential Recording and Restricted Overwrite) or DVD+RW.
125 You can do this by selecting "Erase disc" option in cdw left-hand menu.
126 Please note that extensive erasing of DVD-RW may render your disc unus‐
127 able if used extensively. In case of CD-RW and DVD-RW you will be asked
128 what type of blanking you want to perform. You can choose fast mode or
129 full mode. First one doesn't take too much time (in case of CD-RW it
130 only erases table of content of your disc), second one can be very
131 time-consuming, depending on disc size and selected speed.
132 When you will attempt to blank DVD-RW disc, blanking wizard will dis‐
135 play dropdown that allows you to choose mode (format) of DVD-RW disc:
136 Restricted Overwrite or Sequential Recording.
137 cdw can be useful when you want to copy your data CD or DVD to ISO
140 image on your hard drive. You do this by selecting "Read disc" option
141 from left-hand menu. This function allows you to copy first track from
142 your data CD or DVD. Reading second and following tracks from data
143 discs, and reading discs written in mixed mode (one or more data tracks
144 + audio tracks) discs are not supported.
145 Finally you can use cdw to copy your audio CD to separate files (each
148 track will be written to separate file). You do this by selecting "Read
149 disc" option from menu. cdw can't convert audio tracks to any popular
150 audio format. The tracks are written to files in the same format as
151 they appear on CD (2 channels, 44100 samples per second, 16 bit signed
152 PCM, little endian (intel)). The file names have following name format:
153 track_xx.raw (where xx is track number). You can convert raw track file
154 to wav file using e.g. sox command:
155 sox -c 2 -r 44100 -L -2 -s track_name.raw -t wav track_name.wav
158 When you choose one of following menu options: "Write files to disc",
161 "Write image to disc", "Erase disc", cdw will display simple wizard,
162 that will allow you to quickly select values of basic options: mode of
163 operation and speed of writing. Dropdown with operation modes contains
164 only options that are valid for given combination of disc type, disc
165 status, and selected operation. Example: you won't see option "Start
166 new, appendable disc" for CD-R disc that already carries a session, but
167 you will see "Append data, don't close disc" and "Append data and close
168 disc" options. Dropdown with speeds contains only those values that are
169 acceptable for given media. List of speeds may also be limited by
170 parameters of your optical drive.
171 Write wizard will also display a dropdown with disc writing modes that
174 may be suitable for given disc: these are DAO, TAO or Unspecified. If
175 you don't specify the mode, tool used by cdw to perform writing will
176 select one.
177 In write wizard window you will have option to select "Configuration"
180 option from main menu - "Configuration" window will appear and you will
181 be able to set up more advanced options - they will affect process of
182 writing.
183 If you are writing ISO image to CD or DVD disc, cdw allows you to ver‐
186 ify correctness of this operation by checking md5 sum of ISO file and
187 of track written to CD. You can request this by checking "Verify write"
188 checkbox that will appear in write wizard. Please note that this check‐
189 box is visible only when you are writing ISO file to empty CD or DVD
190 disc. This function is still experimental. Make sure that md5sum pro‐
191 gram is installed on your machine.
192 Following operations (menu options): "Write files to disc", "Create
195 image", "Write image to disc", "Read disc", allow you to track progress
196 of performed operation in progress window. The window will show cur‐
197 rent status of selected task displaying some numerical values, a
198 progress bar and status message. When you choose "Erase disc" option,
199 progress window will only display status message. In either case the
200 progress window will display some appropriate message when the task is
201 finished.
202 Please note that sometimes cdw doesn't warn when something goes wrong
205 during a process. It is recommended to always view operation log after
206 every operation ('L' hotkey in main cdw window).
207 cdw has Configuration window, accessed by selecting "Configuration"
210 item in left-hand menu. The window allows you to set up some options
211 for tools used by cdw, and for cdw itself. Configuration window has
212 following tabs: "Writing", "ISO filesystem", "Audio", "Hardware",
213 "Tools" and "Log and other". You can access them using F2 - F7 keys
214 respectively. Most often changed options are grouped in tabs "Writing"
215 and "ISO filesystem". "Audio" tab contains options related to ripping
216 audio CDs. "Hardware" tab probably will be visited only once, when you
217 use cdw for the first time or when you change your hardware configura‐
218 tion. Here you can set paths to your devices used by cdw.
219 "Tools" tab allows you to select tools used for given task (burning a
222 disc, creating ISO image). Note that these values aren't saved when you
223 close cdw. Using default values is a reasonable choice, but sometimes
224 you may want to experiment with different implementations of external
225 tools (e.g. cdrecord). In such case make sure that the tool that you
226 want to use is located in directory specified in PATH environment vari‐
227 able, and that it's name is the same as original tool's name.
228 If you check "Configure tools manually" checkbox in "Tools" tab, you
231 will see "Tools family for handling DVDs" dropdown. See sections below
232 for details on this checkbox.
233 Currently there are two groups of options in "Log and other" tab:
236 · options for log file
239 · options for target ISO volume size
241 First set of options allow you to configure log file in which
243 cdw saves some messages. Second set of options allow you to
244 configure maximal size of created ISO file - this is the max‐
245 imal size that is displayed in main window, in "Selected
246 files info".
247 All options available in Configuration window are described below, in
250 CONFIGURATION section.
251 You have to use F10 key to save any changes made in Configuration win‐
254 dow and close the window. To close Configuration window without saving
255 changes use Escape key.
256 You can control cdw using application's menu (visible on left side of
259 screen), or using hotkeys.
260 Main menu items
263 · Add files: Select files and directories that you want to
264 write to optical disc or to ISO image on your hard disc.
265 Press Space to select a file or directory, use Up and Down
266 arrows to move on the list, press Enter key to change direc‐
267 tory, press Escape key to close file selection dialog.
268 · Delete files: List of selected files is displayed on the
271 right side of the screen. If you want to delete files from
272 the list, select this button and use Delete key to delete a
273 file, Up and Down arrows to move on the list or press Escape
274 to end deleting.
275 · Write files to disc: write selected files to optical disc
278 that is currently in drive. You will be warned if there is no
279 disc in drive, the drive is not ready or the disc is mounted.
280 · Create image: write selected files to ISO image file. The ISO
283 image file can be selected in file picker window.
284 · Write image to disc: write ISO image file to optical disc.
287 The ISO image file can be selected in file picker window. You
288 will be warned if there is no disc in drive, the drive is not
289 ready or the disc is mounted.
290 · Read disc: Copy content of your single session data CD/DVD or
293 audio CD to files on hard drive. In case of data CD/DVD discs
294 cdw will create correct image file on your hard disc, but
295 only for first track on disc, rest of tracks won't be read
296 (cdw can't read them correctly). In case of audio CDs cdw
297 will copy each audio track to separate raw audio file. You
298 will have to recode the raw audio track files in order to
299 play them in your media player.
300 · Erase disc: Erase data (partially or fully) from rewritable
303 disc (CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW) that is currently in drive. You
304 can select mode of erasing CD-RW or DVD-RW: fast or full. You
305 can't select mode of erasing of DVD+RW.
306 · Configuration: Selecting this menu option will display cdw
309 Configuration window, where you can set various options.
310 · Quit: close cdw and return to your command line.
313 Keys (hotkeys, available in main cdw window)
316 · F1, H, ? - Show this help: Display help window with list of
317 hotkeys.
318 · F10 - Show license of this program: display cdw license.
320 · D - Show information about disc: cdw will run external tool
322 to get some meta-information about optical disc in your drive
323 and display this information in text window.
324 · E - Eject drive tray: open your optical drive's tray (will
326 close tray if it is already open).
327 · F - Write selected files to disc: Write currently selected
329 files to optical disc.
330 · G - Read content of CD: Copy content of your audio or data CD
332 to your hard drive.
333 · I - Write ISO image to disc: Write ISO image to optical disc.
335 · L - Show log of last operation: view file with record of lat‐
337 est operations.
338 · R - Refresh information about disc: cdw will run external
340 tool to get some meta-information about optical disc in your
341 drive and will display short summary in lower-left part of
342 main cdw window.
343 · Q - Quit: close cdw and return to your command line
345
348 This section describes Configuration module available via "Configura‐
349 tion" button in left-hand menu in main cdw window. You have to press
350 F10 in Configuration window to save changes made in the window and exit
351 or press Escape key to close configuration window without saving
352 changes. Please note that changes made in "Tools" tab are saved only
353 for current session with cdw.
354 · Writing (first tab)
357 · Erase fast - specifies your preference on mode of blanking
359 CD-RW and DVD-RW discs - if checked, cdw will preselect
360 "Erase fast" mode. Otherwise "Erase all" will be prese‐
361 lected. You can always change preselected mode in erase
362 wizard once you get to it.
363 · Eject when done - open disc drive tray when process of
365 writing or erasing is finished.
366 · Preferred writing speed - here you can select range of
368 speeds that you want to use to perform operation. This
369 means that you can tell cdw to always preselect lowest
370 available speed value, or highest available value, or
371 select some value in the middle. You will be able to
372 change this preselected value in wizard when you run
373 actual operation. Selecting 'auto' item in this dropdown
374 will result in choosing value that is default for your
375 drive.
376 · Dummy write - writing in dummy mode: writing program does
378 not do actual writing, only attempts to perform writing.
379 Warning: may not work when writing to DVDs. This option is
380 not used when blanking discs.
381 · Pad - insert blank sectors after real data in track on CD.
383 This may prevent some read errors on Linux systems. It is
384 suggested to check this option when writing multisession
385 CD discs.
386 · Pad size - specify number of sectors that should be
388 appended after written data. Sometimes default amount
389 enabled by "Pad" option is not enough.
390 · Burnproof - Buffer Underrun Proof writing. If your writer
392 supports this feature, you are suggested to use it and
393 check this box. In this case the program waits for data if
394 the buffer is getting empty. This option is used only when
395 writing CDs.
396 · Other cdrecord options - other, unlisted here, options
398 passed to cdrecord/wodim. cdw currently does not provide a
399 method to set some options of cdrecord/wodim using check‐
400 boxes and dropdowns. You can pass the options to
401 cdrecord/wodim yourself, just put them into this field.
402 · Other growisofs options - other, unlisted here, options
404 passed to growisofs. cdw currently does not provide a
405 method to set some options of growisofs using checkboxes
406 or dropdowns. You can pass the options to growisofs your‐
407 self, just put them into this field.
408 · ISO filesystem (second tab)
411 · Volume ID label - default name of disc, assigned to disc
413 when you write data to it. The volume ID is also assigned
414 to ISO image file that you create on your hard disc.
415 · Ask for volume ID - if you check this option, cdw will ask
417 you for disc name (label) every time you will be writing
418 selected files to disc, or when you will be creating ISO
419 image from selected files.
420 · ISO level - set the ISO9660 conformance level. Consult
422 mkisofs man page for more details (search for "ISO9660
423 conformance level").
424 · Joliet information - generate Joliet directory informa‐
426 tion.
427 · Rock Ridge - generate Rock Ridge attributes that describe
429 files on ISO filesystem.
430 · Useful RR attributes - generate more useful (reasonable)
432 values of Rock Ridge attributes.
433 · Long Joliet names - allow for long file names (check
435 mksiofs man page for details) - checking this option may
436 be useful when some of selected files have very long
437 names;
438 · Follow symbolic links - check this option if files that
440 are referenced by selected symbolic links should be
441 included in generated ISO filesystem. In other words: if
442 in file selection window you will select symbolic link, or
443 there will be a symbolic link in selected directory, cdw
444 will or will not include target file referenced by this
445 link depending on state of this checkbox. Not selecting
446 this option may result in invalid symbolic links in cre‐
447 ated file system.
448 · Path to ISO image file - location of ISO image file that
450 will be written to optical disc when you select "Write
451 image to disc" from main menu. This is also location of
452 ISO file created when you select "Create image" item from
453 main menu.
454 · Boot disc options - specifies parameters for creating
456 bootable disc (El Torito bootable CD for x86 PCs). Use
457 this option at your own risk, it is not tested.
458 · Other mkisofs options - other, unlisted here, options
460 passed to mkisofs. cdw currently does not provide a
461 method to set some options of mkisofs using checkboxes or
462 dropdowns. You can pass the options to mkisofs yourself,
463 just put them into this field.
464 · Audio (third tab)
467 · Audio output dir - path to directory, into which cdw will
469 write raw audio tracks, ripped from audio CD.
470 · Hardware (fourth tab)
473 · "cdw should use this drive" dropdown - option allowing you
475 to select one of detected drives, or to use path to drive
476 entered manually ("custom path");
477 · "custom path to drive" - field in which you can specify
479 your own path to a device, to be used when cdw can't
480 autodetect all drives in your computer.
481 · SCSI device - parameters describing your SCSI hardware, in
483 following format: scsibus,target,lun (for a SCSI-emulated
484 IDE CDRW: 0,0,0). It is used only by cdrecord and you
485 should enter appropriate value only if cdrecord has prob‐
486 lems with device path in form of '/dev/xxx'. Otherwise
487 this field should be left empty. This option hasn't been
488 tested, so use it at your own risk.
489 · Tools (fifth tab) First thing that you will see in this tab
492 "Configure tools manually" checkbox, it is unchecked by
493 default, and this is safe default value. In this state cdw
494 select tools itself. If you check this checkbox you will be
495 presented with six dropdowns: first allows you to choose
496 tools "family", five remaining dropdowns allow you to select
497 paths to tools used by cdw for some tasks. These dropdowns
498 are explained below:
499 · "Tools family for handling DVDs" dropdown - if you have
502 both cdrtools and dvd+rw-tools installed on your machine,
503 you can select one of those tool families to handle your
504 DVD operations, e.g. you may decide to burn data to DVD
505 discs with cdrecord instead of growisofs - this is the
506 place where you select the tool sets.
507 · "Path to mkisofs" dropdown - here you can select one of
510 instances of tool responsible for creating ISO file sys‐
511 tems.
512 · "Path to cdrecord" dropdown - here you can select one of
515 instances of tool used for getting meta information from
516 CD/DVD and for burning files and ISO image to CD or DVD.
517 · "Path to growisofs" dropdown - here you can select one of
520 instances of tool used for burning files and ISO image to
521 DVD.
522 · "Path to dvd+rw-mediainfo" dropdown - here you can select
525 one of instances of tool used for getting meta information
526 from DVD discs.
527 · "Path to dvd+rw-format" dropdown - here you can select one
530 of instances of tool used for formatting DVD discs.
531 Remember that these settings are saved only for your cur‐
533 rent session with cdw, and that the settings will be dis‐
534 carded when you close cdw.
535 · Log and other (sixth tab):
538 · Log file path - path to file, in which cdw writes its mes‐
540 sages and messages from external tools (mkisofs, cdrecord,
541 growisofs, dvd+rw-mediainfo). Specifying this path is
542 obligatory.
543 · Show log after writing - show the content of log file
545 after writing to disc or creating image.
546 · Maximal ISO volume size - size of ISO filesystem that you
548 want to create. Most often it is equal to capacity of
549 optical disc that you want burn data to. This is a drop‐
550 down, from which you can select one of preselected values,
551 or select "Custom value". This custom value can be entered
552 below the dropdown.
553 · Custom ISO volume size - size of ISO filesystem that you
555 want to create. This is the place where you can enter
556 nonstandard value of target ISO filesystem size.
557
560 Command line options are following:
561 -h, -- help
564 displays information about invoking cdw and its options
565 -v, --version
568 displays cdw version and copyright information
569 --enable-dvd+rp-dl
572 enables very basic support for DVD+R DL discs
573
576 · .cdw.conf: Configuration file, usually stored in user's home
577 directory.
578 · cdw.log: Log file, usually stored in /tmp directory. Path to
580 this file can be modified in Configuration window ('Log' tab
581 > 'Log file path' field).
582 · .cdw.colors: File with definition of color schemes used to
584 make cdw user interface more readable. File is stored in
585 user's home directory.
586 · temporary files: cdw uses some small temporary files to store
588 various information. They are usually created in /tmp direc‐
589 tory.
590
593 · HOME - cdw assumes that this variable exists and is set to
594 valid user directory. If not, then user is asked to select
595 some other 'base' directory.
596 · PATH - cdw reads this environment variable to find directo‐
598 ries with executable files. cdw will search in these directo‐
599 ries for some tools.
600
603 cdw uses log file (/tmp/cdw.log by default) to store information about
604 actions performed. You can access this file using your file manager, or
605 pressing 'L' key in cdw window. Read this file for any hints if you
606 experience any problems.
607
610 There are still some bugs related to memory management.
611 cdw is developed and tested almost exclusively on x64 GNU/Linux, run‐
614 ning cdw on other configurations may produce some platform-specific
615 bugs. Currently I can't verify them in any way.
616 cdw still fails to detect some problems reported by wodim/cdrecord
619 mkisofs/genisoimage or growisofs, although things have improved in lat‐
620 est 4 versions). It is recommended to read log file after every opera‐
621 tion.
622 Copying data CDs to ISO image may finish with message "Problems
625 occurred when copying tracks". This does not have to mean that output
626 ISO file is corrupted: this be a sign of some low-level problems when
627 reading from optical disc. Similar message displayed after ripping
628 audio CD may mean that one or more track files created on your hard
629 disc is corrupted and it is caused by invalid audio CD.
630 If you notice any other bugs please let me know. You can do this either
633 using bug tracker on cdw project site (http://source‐
634 forge.net/projects/cdw/) or by sending me an e-mail: acerion@wp.pl.
635
638 cdw is currently developed by Kamil Ignacak (acerion@wp.pl). First
639 developer of cdw was Varkonyi Balazs (http://source‐
640 forge.net/users/vbali/).
641
644 Copyright (C) 2002 Varkonyi Balazs, Copyright (C) 2007 - 2010 Kamil
645 Ignacak. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
646 modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as pub‐
647 lished by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
648 License, or (at your option) any later version. See
649 http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html for details.
650
653 cdrecord(1), mkisofs(8), growisofs(1), dvd+rw-mediainfo(1), dvd+rw-for‐
654 mat(1), cdrdao, mybashburn, k3b(1), gnomebaker(1), xorriso(1),
655 libisoburn1, libburn4, libcdio.
656 20 October 2010 cdw 0.6.0(1)