MultiSession CD-DA + CD-ROM failures and successes
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I have tested cdrtfe 1.5.4.1 on 9 cd writers. I have successfully created MultiSession CD-DA + CD-ROM discs on 4 writers out of 9 tested. I have created a document describing the test process and have created a test set in the hope that someone will be interested in looking into the problem. The drives which succeed have the common characteristic of low fixating times. Here is the document http://dxspots.com/TestCDProcedure.htm The document includes a link to the test set of files needed to repeat the tests. The test set is 750 Mb, but was designed to be highly compressible. The test set, TestCD.7z, is only 2.5 Mb.
Any help will be appreciated
Ron Stordahl
Hello,
first, some general hints for an easier use of cdrtfe:
You can open the log window with Alt-L.
No, the drive selection is set per project. Each tab is a project. When a different tab is selected, the drive selection is set to the last drive which has been selected for this project or to the first drive in the list, if the project's drive selection hasn't been changed yet.
With Ctrl-F10 you can set the currently selected drive of the current project for all projects.
cdrtfe has a debug mode: Run cdrtfe with 'cdrtfe /debug' or hold the shift key pressed when starting the program. An additional log window will be shown with a much more detailed log including the cdrecord commands that are executed in the background.
I have just tested your project with three different drives. BTW, I recommend testing with a CD-RW. Two drives had no problems, one failed similar to your Sony drive (no errors, but files could not be found). However, it failed only once. In subsequent tests there were no errors.
Regarding the other failures, I am a bit clueless as well. The "CD info.txt" shows that the disc/session isn't left open in a correct way. After writing the first audio session, you would expect from the cdrecord -minfo command something like this:
disk status: incomplete/appendable
session status: empty
...
Next writable address: ...
Remaining writable size: ...
However, the unsuccessful tests show this:
disk status: incomplete/appendable
session status: incomplete/appendable
and no Next writable address and no remaining size.
I have no idea, why the drives behave like this. Perhaps you should create a minimal test case (e.g. one small wave file, simple cue sheet and one data file) and ask the author of the cdrtools (http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdrtools/) what is happening.
Regards,
Oliver Valencia
Ok, here's an example test case (see attachment).
I have ordered 25 CD-RW 700 Mb 4X-12X to match the CD-R's, but won't have them for several days. I have been using a lot of CD-R's! With the CD-RW's will I have to erase the entire disc or only the TOC etc?
When I receive these, in several days, I will build a shorter test set, repeat the tests and report the results. I do recall that initially with a very small test set that some of the drives that fail with the large
test set did succeed with a small test set. Also I will use the debug mode to provide morre detail.
When you do an update perhaps you could consider adding a 'multi' option to the image tab so that I would not have to add it manually to the start string, then remove it when proceeding to the second session. Just a convenience for the future.
Does the current releaqse of cdrtfe include the latest revisions of cdtrools? If I post my question there I would expect to be asked that. It is reporting 3.02a05 for cdrecord for example.
I really appreciate your providing cdrtfe for Windows 7 & 10!
Thank you
Ron Stordahl
Hello,
a new test version can be downloaded from:
http://home.arcor.de/kerberos002/download/cdrtfe-1.5.5-test-1.exe
This version of cdrtfe now has a multisession option for writing images. It includes the most recent cdrtools version 3.02a05.
Normally, fast deletion should be sufficient.
Regards,
Oliver Valencia
I have installed the 'test' version. The multisession option when writing images works nicely.
I quickly tested with one of the drives that always works, the LG HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GT32N Rev A203, and it also works with the test version. As before it fixates the first session in about 6 seconds, and fixates the final session in about the same length of time.
I tested a drive which fails, the Plextor PX-891 SAF Rev 1rT2, it fixates the first session in about 60 seconds, then fails to perform the second session saying there is insufficient room on the disc. This is exactly the same problem experienced with the prior version of cdrtfe, and thus if I understand correctly a earlier version of cdrecord.
I will probably wait until the CD-RW discs I have ordered arrive..in 2 days hopefully, as I am burning up a lot of CD-R's, and also hope to have more time available to devote to this then.
Incidentally I have been specifying a write speed of 8X, but what I observe is with the LG drive it writes at 10 and the Plextor writes at 16. I believe this indicates those drives must be reporting their minimum write speed to cdrecord? I was not aware there was a minimum write speed, other than 1X, but when I ordered the stack of CD-RW's I discovered they are rated 4X-12X and the 4X is the lowest speed for which they are rated. In the help file provided under the listing 'Speeds' you indicate I could add to cdrtfe an option DetectSpeeds=1. I have not done so, yet my impression is that the minimum write speed is being determined and used. I may not understand this completely.
For now I will manually set the speed at 8X, which should work for both CD-R's and the CD-RW's I am expecting in 2 days.
As I said earlier I will create a new test set, which includes the current 'large' version which occupies all but about 10 Mb of the CD as well as a 'small' version which will occupy about one half of the CD's available space.
Thanks Oliver,
Ron Stordahl
I decided to check the cdrtfe.ini file mentioned in the documentation to see if by chance it included DetectSpeeds=1, but I am unable to locate the cdrtfe.ini file. In Extras>Drives> there is a Show cdrtfe.ini, but it is grayed out. However in Extras>Settings>Drives there is an option "Detect available speeds automatically" and it is not selected. Would it is useful to have it selected? I could take care to specify the desired speed manually of course, I have been selecting 8X as noted previously.
Ron
Hello,
for each medium a drive has a distinct set of writing speeds. With a disc is inserted into the drive "cdrecord -prcap" shows the drive capabilities including a list of supported speeds. Using cdrtfe you get the same output with menu 'Info' -> 'Devices' -> 'Device Info' or tabsheet 'Info' -> 'Device info'.
If you specify no writing speed, cdrecord will use the highest possible value. If you set the speed to 0, it will use the lowest possible speed. If you set the speed exactly to one of the speeds from the capabilites list, then exactly this speed will be used. However, depending on the drive's strategy, it may start at a lower speed and reach the specified value as maximum later on.
If enabled, each time a disc is inserted, cdrtfe will call "cdrecord -prcap" to get the supported speeds and it will set the dropdown list accordingly. That's all.
This file does not exist, until you create it by clicking 'Save' in the settings dialog: 'Extras' -> 'Settings' -> 'cdrtfe'. This will save all current settings (except the file lists) to the ini file.
Then you can find the ini file in the folder C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\cdrtfe\
If it exists, cdrtfe will read the settings from the ini file when the program is started or when you load the default settings (menu 'Project' -> 'Defaults').
Regards,
Oliver Valencia
Oliver
When using the debug mode, does the debug file include everything in the output window log? If it does then I will save the debug file and not save the output log (which would be duplicative).
Ron
Yes, the debug log includes the complete outout window log.
Regards,
Oliver
Oliver...I have been doing some testing with the CD-RW discs and while it is preliminary I have found that for the Samsung writer that I succeed burning the multisession disc with CD-RW but not with CD-R. I should have sufficient time this weekend to complete the project, with a small dataset and the original large dataset. Wanted you to know that I am still anxious to provide all the info that I can obtain to make sense of this. This is an unexpected twist! I have also ordered a 100 pack of CD-R's of the Taiyo Yuden brand, which some suggest are superior to the garden variety of CD-R's. The extensive data the debug mode provides is very valuable.
Thanks for your patience!
Ron