1cdw 0.7.1(1)                General Commands Manual               cdw 0.7.1(1)
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3
4

NAME

6       cdw - front-end for cdrecord, mkisofs, growisofs and other tools
7
8

SYNOPSIS

10       cdw [--help] [--version] [--enable-dvd-rp-dl] [--escdelay=X]
11
12

DESCRIPTION

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, xor‐
17       riso.  You can also use cdw to rip tracks from your  audio  CD  to  raw
18       audio  files.   Limited support for copying content of CD and DVD discs
19       to image files is also provided. cdw can utilize md5sum program to ver‐
20       ify correctness of writing ISO image to CD and DVD disc.
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22
23       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
27
28       cdw  supports only ISO9660 filesystem for optical media. Other filesys‐
29       tem for optical media are not supported nor recognized.
30
31

SUPPORTED MEDIA

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
37
38       CD-AUDIO
39              ripping audio tracks to raw audio files
40
41
42       CD-R   writing files and ISO images (single-  and  multi-session)  with
43              cdrecord/wodim  and xorriso; copying content of first session to
44              image file on your hard disc
45
46
47       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 and xorriso; copying content of first session  to
50              image file on your hard disc
51
52
53       DVD-R, DVD+R
54              writing files and ISO images (multi-session, but without closing
55              disc, or single-session) with cdrecord/wodim,  dvd+rw-tools  and
56              xorriso
57
58
59       DVD-RW writing  files and ISO images (multi-session or single-session);
60              erasing, formatting - quick or slow (full) method;  dvd+rw-tools
61              only.  WARNING: multiple blanking may quickly render your DVD-RW
62              unusable.
63
64
65       DVD+RW writing files and ISO images (both writing to disc from  scratch
66              and  appending  data),  without closing disc; blanking disc, but
67              takes lots of time, and you don't need to do it anyway - you can
68              always  start  writing  to the same disc like you would write to
69              blank disc. DVD+RW can be handled  by  both  cdrecord/wodim  and
70              dvd+rw-tools.
71
72
73       DVD+R DL
74              there  is  now  partial support for DVD+R DL discs: cdw can burn
75              ISO image and files in single session. User  has  to  explicitly
76              enable  it by passing "--enable-dvd-rp-dl" command line argument
77              to cdw; cdw can handle DVD+R DL discs only  using  dvd+rw-tools;
78              this feature is very incomplete and possibly buggy.
79
80              Dual-layer  media  other  than  DVD+R  DL are not yet supported.
81              DVD-RAM, Blu-ray, HD-DVD discs are not supported.
82
83

MANUAL

85       You can write data discs either by using previously created  ISO  image
86       file,  or  by selecting files from hard drive and writing them directly
87       to disc.  cdw provides UI elements for both actions.
88
89
90       First action before creating new ISO image or writing files to disc  is
91       selecting files from your hard drive. You can do this by selecting "Add
92       files" in left-hand menu. You will be presented with simple file selec‐
93       tor.   Use  Up/Down arrows or Page Up/Page Down keys to move, Enter key
94       to change current directory, Space key to select files or  directories.
95       Selected  items  will  be  added  to  list displayed in cdw window. Use
96       Escape key to close file selector window. The selector window shows you
97       all  files  and  directories (including hidden files) in current direc‐
98       tory, in alphabetical order. You will see  file  size  information  for
99       every  file  on the list. You can also delete previously selected files
100       from list: select "Delete files" from the menu and  use  Up/Down  arrow
101       keys  to move and Delete key to delete highlighted item. Use Escape key
102       when you finish deleting files from list of selected files.
103
104
105       Now you can select "Create image" from left-hand menu. cdw will display
106       a wizard window where you can change most common options, and where you
107       can select path to target ISO9660 image file on your hard disc.
108
109
110       You can also select "Write files to disc" to write  selected  files  to
111       optical  disc. If you select the option, cdw will display a wizard dia‐
112       log window, in which you can adjust  most  common  options  related  to
113       burning files to disc.
114
115
116       If  you  want to write ISO image file to optical disc, use "Write image
117       to disc" option in left hand menu. You  will  be  presented  with  file
118       picker  dialog  that  allows you to select existing ISO image file from
119       your hard disc. After that cdw will display a wizard window, where  you
120       can modify most common options available for burning a disc.
121
122
123       cdw  allows  you  to verify correctness of this operation by checking a
124       digest (e.g. md5 sum) of ISO file and of track written  to  disc.   You
125       can  request  this by checking "Verify write" checkbox that will appear
126       in write wizard. Please note that this checkbox is  visible  only  when
127       you  are  writing  ISO  file  to empty CD or DVD disc. This function is
128       still experimental. Make sure that a program for calculating digests is
129       installed  on  your  machine.  cdw  supports following programs: md5sum
130       sha1sum sha224sum sha256sum sha384sum sha512sum
131
132
133       Another operation you can perform is  erasing  optical  disc  -  CD-RW,
134       DVD-RW  (both Sequential Recording and Restricted Overwrite) or DVD+RW.
135       You can do this by selecting "Erase disc" option in cdw left-hand menu.
136       Please note that extensive erasing of DVD-RW may render your disc unus‐
137       able if used extensively. In case of CD-RW and DVD-RW you will be asked
138       what  type of blanking you want to perform. You can choose fast mode or
139       full mode. First one doesn't take too much time (in case  of  CD-RW  it
140       only  erases  table  of  content  of your disc), second one can be very
141       time-consuming, depending on disc size and selected speed.
142
143
144       When you will attempt to blank DVD-RW disc, blanking wizard  will  dis‐
145       play  dropdown  that allows you to choose mode (format) of DVD-RW disc:
146       Restricted Overwrite or Sequential Recording.
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148
149       cdw can be useful when you want to copy your data  CD  or  DVD  to  ISO
150       image  on  your hard drive. You do this by selecting "Read disc" option
151       from left-hand menu. This function allows you to copy first track  from
152       your  data  CD  or  DVD.  Reading second and following tracks from data
153       discs, and reading discs written in mixed mode (one or more data tracks
154       + audio tracks) discs are not supported.
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156
157       You  can  also  use  cdw  to copy your audio CD to separate files (each
158       track will be written to separate file). You do this by selecting "Read
159       disc"  option  from menu. cdw can't convert audio tracks to any popular
160       audio format. The tracks are written to files in  the  same  format  as
161       they  appear on CD (2 channels, 44100 samples per second, 16 bit signed
162       PCM, little endian (intel)). The file names have following name format:
163       track_xx.raw (where xx is track number). You can convert raw track file
164       to wav file using e.g. sox command:
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166
167       sox -c 2 -r 44100 -L -2 -s track_name.raw -t wav track_name.wav
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169
170       The last operation that cdw offers is verification of data. You can use
171       it for two purposes:
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173
174              ·  calculating a digest of selected file from hard disc;
175
176              ·  comparing  selected file with content of first track on opti‐
177                 cal disc; The second option also utilizes digest  tool  (e.g.
178                 md5sum),  but  may not work correctly, so it is marked in cdw
179                 as "Experimental".
180
181
182       cdw has Configuration window,  accessed  by  selecting  "Configuration"
183       item  in  left-hand  menu. The window allows you to set up some options
184       for tools used by cdw, and for cdw  itself.  Configuration  window  has
185       following tabs (you can access them using keys F2-F5):
186
187
188              ·  Log  and misc - contains options related to log file in which
189                 cdw logs its operations, and to some aspects of  behavior  of
190                 cdw.
191
192
193              ·  Tools  -  options  in this tab allow you to select tools from
194                 your operating system that will be  used  to  create  ISO9660
195                 images,  burn data to disc etc. You can safely leave "Config‐
196                 ure tools manually" checkbox unmarked.
197
198
199              ·  Audio - contains options related to ripping audio CDs.
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201
202              ·  Hardware - probably will be visited only once, when  you  use
203                 cdw  for the first time or when you change your hardware con‐
204                 figuration.  Here you can set paths to your devices  used  by
205                 cdw.
206
207
208       All  options  available in Configuration window are described below, in
209       CONFIGURATION section.
210
211
212       You have to use F9 or F10 key to save any changes made in Configuration
213       window and close the window. To close Configuration window without sav‐
214       ing changes use Escape key. Values from "Tools" tab are saved only tem‐
215       porarily, they aren't stored in permanent configuration file.
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217
218       You  can  control cdw using application's menu (visible on left side of
219       screen), or using hotkeys.
220
221
222   Main menu items
223              ·  Add files: Select files and  directories  that  you  want  to
224                 write  to  optical  disc  or  to ISO image on your hard disc.
225                 Press Space to select a file or directory, use  Up  and  Down
226                 arrows  to move on the list, press Enter key to change direc‐
227                 tory, press Escape key to close file selection dialog.
228
229
230              ·  Delete files: List of selected  files  is  displayed  on  the
231                 right  side  of  the screen. If you want to delete files from
232                 the list, select this button and use Delete key to  delete  a
233                 file,  Up and Down arrows to move on the list or press Escape
234                 to end deleting.
235
236
237              ·  Write files to disc: write selected  files  to  optical  disc
238                 that is currently in drive. You will be warned if there is no
239                 disc in drive, the drive is not ready or the disc is mounted.
240
241
242              ·  Create image: write selected files to ISO image file. The ISO
243                 image file can be selected in file picker window.
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245
246              ·  Write  image  to  disc: write ISO image file to optical disc.
247                 The ISO image file can be selected in file picker window. You
248                 will be warned if there is no disc in drive, the drive is not
249                 ready or the disc is mounted.
250
251
252              ·  Read disc: Copy content of your single session data CD/DVD or
253                 audio CD to files on hard drive. In case of data CD/DVD discs
254                 cdw will create correct image file on  your  hard  disc,  but
255                 only  for  first  track on disc, rest of tracks won't be read
256                 (cdw can't read them correctly). In case  of  audio  CDs  cdw
257                 will  copy  each  audio track to separate raw audio file. You
258                 will have to recode the raw audio track  files  in  order  to
259                 play them in your media player.
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261
262              ·  Erase  disc:  Erase data (partially or fully) from rewritable
263                 disc (CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW) that is currently in drive.  You
264                 can select mode of erasing CD-RW or DVD-RW: fast or full. You
265                 can't select mode of erasing of DVD+RW.
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267
268              ·  Verify data: Calculate digest  of  file  selected  from  hard
269                 drive, or compare any file with first track of optical disc.
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271
272              ·  Configuration:  Selecting  this  menu option will display cdw
273                 Configuration window, where you can set various options.
274
275
276              ·  Quit: close cdw and return to your command line.
277
278
279   Keys (hotkeys, available in main cdw window)
280              ·  F1, H, ? - Show this help: Display help window with  list  of
281                 hotkeys.
282
283              ·  F9/F10 - Show license of this program: display cdw license.
284
285              ·  C - Show Configuration window
286
287              ·  D  -  Show information about disc: cdw will run external tool
288                 to get some meta-information about optical disc in your drive
289                 and display this information in text window.
290
291              ·  E  -  Eject  drive  tray:  open your optical drive tray (will
292                 close tray if it is already open).
293
294              ·  F - Write selected files to disc:  Write  currently  selected
295                 files to optical disc.
296
297              ·  G - Read content of CD: Copy content of your audio or data CD
298                 to your hard drive.
299
300              ·  I - Write ISO image to disc: Write ISO image to optical disc.
301
302              ·  L - Show log of last operation: view file with record of lat‐
303                 est operations.
304
305              ·  R  -  Refresh  information  about disc: cdw will run external
306                 tool to get some meta-information about optical disc in  your
307                 drive  and  will  display short summary in lower-left part of
308                 main cdw window.
309
310              ·  V - Verify data: calculate digest of selected  file  (and  of
311                 first track on optical disc).
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313              ·  Q - Quit: close cdw and return to your command line
314
315

CONFIGURATION

317       This  section  describes Configuration module available via "Configura‐
318       tion" button in left-hand menu in main cdw window. You  have  to  press
319       F9/F10  in  Configuration window to save changes made in the window and
320       exit or press Escape key to close configuration window  without  saving
321       changes.  Please  note  that changes made in "Tools" tab are saved only
322       for current session with cdw.
323
324
325              ·  Log and misc (first tab):
326
327                 ·  Log file path - path to file, in which cdw writes its mes‐
328                    sages and messages from external tools (mkisofs, cdrecord,
329                    growisofs,  dvd+rw-mediainfo,  xorriso).  Specifying  this
330                    path is obligatory.
331
332                 ·  Show  log  after  actions  -  show the content of log file
333                    after some of actions performed by cdw.
334
335                 ·  ISO volume size - size of ISO filesystem that you want  to
336                    create. Most often it is equal to capacity of optical disc
337                    that you want burn data to. This is a dropdown, from which
338                    you  can select one of preselected values, or select "Cus‐
339                    tom value". This custom value can  be  entered  below  the
340                    dropdown.
341
342                 ·  Custom  ISO  volume size - size of ISO filesystem that you
343                    want to create.  This is the place  where  you  can  enter
344                    nonstandard value of target ISO filesystem size.
345
346
347              ·  Tools (second tab): First thing that you will see in this tab
348                 "Configure tools  manually"  checkbox,  it  is  unchecked  by
349                 default,  and  this is safe default value.  In this state cdw
350                 select tools itself. If you check this checkbox you  will  be
351                 presented with six dropdowns: first three allow you to select
352                 tools or families  of  tools  intended  for  specific  tasks.
353                 Remaining  dropdowns  allow you to select paths to some tools
354                 used by cdw for some tasks. All these dropdowns are explained
355                 below.
356
357
358                 ·  "Tool  for  creating  stand alone ISO9660 file" - here you
359                    select a tool used to create ISO9660 file  saved  on  hard
360                    disc  (stand-alone  file).   Depending on configuration of
361                    your software, here you can find mkisofs (genisoimage) and
362                    xorriso.
363
364
365                 ·  "Tools for handling CDs" dropdown - here you select a tool
366                    that will be used to burn data to CD/CD-RW  discs  and  to
367                    erase  CD-RW  discs.   Depending  on configuration of your
368                    software, here you can find cdrecord (wodim) and xorriso.
369
370
371                 ·  "Tools for handling DVDs" dropdown -  here  you  select  a
372                    tool  that  will  be used to burn data to DVD discs and to
373                    erase DVD+/-RW discs.  Depending on configuration of  your
374                    software, here you can find dvd+rw-tools, cdrecord (wodim)
375                    and xorriso. Note  that  xorriso  can  be  used  only  for
376                    DVD+/-R discs.
377
378
379                 ·  "Path  to  mkisofs"  dropdown - here you can select one of
380                    implementations of mkisofs installed in your system  (e.g.
381                    if you have mkisofs and genisoimage).
382
383
384                 ·  "Path  to  cdrecord" dropdown - here you can select one of
385                    implementations of cdrecord installed in your system (e.g.
386                    if you have cdrecord and wodim).
387
388
389                 ·  "Digest tool" - here you can select a tool used for calcu‐
390                    lating digest (checksum) - the tool is  used  e.g.  during
391                    verification  of  burning of ISO9660 file to optical disc.
392                    md5sum tool is the default one, if found.
393
394                    Remember that these settings are saved only for your  cur‐
395                    rent  session with cdw, and that the settings will be dis‐
396                    carded when you close cdw.
397
398
399              ·  Audio (third tab):
400
401                 ·  Audio output dir - path to directory, into which cdw  will
402                    write raw audio tracks, ripped from audio CD.
403
404
405              ·  Hardware (fourth tab):
406
407                 ·  "cdw should use this drive" dropdown - option allowing you
408                    to select one of detected drives, or to use path to  drive
409                    entered manually ("custom path");
410
411                 ·  "Custom  path  to  drive" - field in which you can specify
412                    your own path to a device,  to  be  used  when  cdw  can't
413                    autodetect all drives in your computer.
414
415                 ·  SCSI device - parameters describing your SCSI hardware, in
416                    following format: scsibus,target,lun (for a  SCSI-emulated
417                    IDE  CDRW:  0,0,0).  It  is  used only by cdrecord and you
418                    should enter appropriate value only if cdrecord has  prob‐
419                    lems  with  device  path  in form of '/dev/xxx'. Otherwise
420                    this field should be left empty. This option  hasn't  been
421                    tested, so use it at your own risk.
422
423

OPTIONS

425       Command line options are following:
426
427
428       -h, -- help
429              displays information about invoking cdw and its options
430
431
432       -v, --version
433              displays cdw version and copyright information
434
435
436       --enable-dvd+rp-dl
437              enables very basic support for DVD+R DL discs
438
439
440       --escdelay=X
441              modifies  delay  time  between pressing Escape key in cdw window
442              and reaction to the key
443
444

FILES

446              ·  cdw.conf: Configuration file, usually stored  in  $HOME/.cdw/
447                 directory.
448
449              ·  cdw.log:  Log  file,  by default stored in $HOME/.cdw/ direc‐
450                 tory. Path to this file can be modified in Configuration win‐
451                 dow ("Log and misc" tab > 'Log file path' field).
452
453              ·  cdw.colors:  File  with  definition  of color schemes used to
454                 customize interface of cdw.  File is  stored  in  $HOME/.cdw/
455                 directory.
456
457              ·  temporary files: cdw uses some small temporary files to store
458                 various information. They are usually created in /tmp  direc‐
459                 tory.  If  everything goes well they are very short lived and
460                 are removed as soon as they are no longer needed.
461
462

ENVIRONMENT

464              ·  HOME - cdw assumes that this variable exists and  is  set  to
465                 valid  user  directory.  If not, then user is asked to select
466                 some other 'base' directory.
467
468              ·  PATH - cdw reads this environment variable to  find  directo‐
469                 ries with executable files. cdw will search in these directo‐
470                 ries for some tools.
471
472

DIAGNOSTICS

474       cdw uses log file ($HOME/.cdw/cdw.log by default) to store  information
475       about  actions performed. You can access this file using your file man‐
476       ager, or pressing 'L' key in cdw window. Read this file for  any  hints
477       if you experience any problems.
478
479

BUGS

481       There are still some bugs related to memory management.
482
483
484       cdw  is  developed and tested almost exclusively on x64 GNU/Linux, run‐
485       ning cdw on other configurations  may  produce  some  platform-specific
486       bugs. Currently I can't verify them in any way.
487
488
489       cdw  still  fails  to  detect  some problems reported by wodim/cdrecord
490       mkisofs/genisoimage or growisofs, although things have improved in lat‐
491       est  few versions). Support for xorriso is brand new, so there is a lot
492       error messages printed by xorriso, that cdw is  unaware  of,  and  will
493       happily  ignore  them.  It  is recommended to read log file after every
494       operation.
495
496
497       Copying data CDs  to  ISO  image  may  finish  with  message  "Problems
498       occurred  when  copying tracks". This does not have to mean that output
499       ISO file is corrupted: this be a sign of some low-level  problems  when
500       reading  from  optical  disc.   Similar message displayed after ripping
501       audio CD may mean that one or more track files  created  on  your  hard
502       disc is corrupted and it is caused by invalid audio CD.
503
504
505       If you notice any other bugs please let me know. You can do this either
506       using   bug   tracker   on    cdw    project    site    (http://source
507       forge.net/projects/cdw/) or by sending me an e-mail: acerion@wp.pl.
508
509

AUTHOR

511       cdw  is  currently  developed  by  Kamil Ignacak (acerion@wp.pl). First
512       developer    of    cdw    was    Varkonyi    Balazs     (http://source
513       forge.net/users/vbali/).
514
515
517       Copyright  (C)  2002  Varkonyi  Balazs, Copyright (C) 2007 - 2012 Kamil
518       Ignacak.  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
519       modify  it  under  the  terms of the GNU General Public License as pub‐
520       lished by the  Free  Software  Foundation;  either  version  2  of  the
521       License,    or    (at    your    option)   any   later   version.   See
522       http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html for details.
523
524

SEE ALSO

526       cdrecord(1), mkisofs(8), growisofs(1), dvd+rw-mediainfo(1), dvd+rw-for‐
527       mat(1),   cdrdao,   mybashburn,   k3b(1),   gnomebaker(1),  xorriso(1),
528       libisoburn1, libburn4, libcdio.
529
530
531
532
533                                 1 April 2012                     cdw 0.7.1(1)
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