DVD+RW-FORMAT(1)DVD+RW-FORMAT(1)NAME
dvd+rw-format - formatting and blanking DVD and BD media program.
SYNOPSIS
dvd+rw-format [-force[=full]] [-lead-out|-blank[=full]]
[-ssa[=none|default|max|XXXm]] /dev/dvd
DESCRIPTION
dvd+rw-format is a part of dvd+rw-tools suite and allows to format vir‐
gin DVD+RW or BD-RE media for the first use or blank already written
DVD-RW. Typical use cases of using dvd+rw-format is formatting DVD-RW
to make them over-writable, blanking used DVD-RW to make them sequen‐
tially writable from scratch, formatting BD-RE and DVD-RAM with custom
spare area sizes or re-formatting BD-RE and DVD-RAM to change their
spare size. It is not possible to format CD-RW by dvd+rw-format, you
can use cdrskin, xorriso or wodim utilities to blank them or cdrwtool
to format them instead, see section EXAMPLES.
A DVD-RW accepts two disc modes: the Sequential Recording and the
Restricted Overwrite. If a DVD-RW medium is in the latter one, it will
behave much like DVD+RW. By default DVD-RW discs are in Sequential
Recording mode, but can be put into Restricted Overwrite mode using
dvd+rw-format when no options given. Be aware, that only -blank=full,
which lasts as long as full writing, makes a used sequential DVD-RW
capable of performing multi-session, while fast blanked DVD-RW can only
do Disk-At-Once.
Virgin DVD-RW can be directly written without the need of a formatting
operation, however a non-virgin DVD-RW in Sequential Recording mode
needs to be blanked before writing a new initial session. Since a
DVD-RW medium in the Restricted Overwrite mode behaves much like
DVD+RW, it can be written again without prior formatting the media.
Virgin BD-RE and DVD+RW media may be initially formatted prior usage.
Any-time later, growisofs program will take care of formatting it auto‐
matically whenever appropriate, while further formatting is not recom‐
mended, however it is possible.
OPTIONS
-force[=full]
Perform formatting even if the medium is formatted already. This
is not recommended for BD-RE and DVD+RW media, since they need
to be formatted only once. Use -format=full to perform full
(lengthy) reformat in case of DVD-RAM or (lengthy) Full Certifi‐
cation in case of BD-RE.
-lead-out
Relocates the lead-out next to outermost written sector as well
as makes sure there is no virgin surface before it. This can
make the medium more compatible with some DVD players. Previ‐
ously written data is not affected by this operation.
-blank[=full]
Wipe data from DVD-RW media. Data on BD-RE and DVD+RW will we
overwritten automatically, so there is no need to blank them
explicitly. Use -blank=full to change DVD-RW back to Sequential
Recording mode.
-ssa[=none|default|max|XXXm]
Grow, eliminate, reset to default or maximize Supplementary
Spare Area.
EXAMPLES
Actual device names vary from one operating system to another. We use
/dev/dvd as a collective name or as symbolic link to the actual device
if you wish. Under Linux it will most likely be a device such as
"/dev/sr0" or "/dev/hda" for older Linux 2.6.
To blank a CD-RW, you have to use another utility, e.g. wodim:
wodim blank=fast -immed dev=/dev/cdrom
cdrskin blank=all|fast|as_needed -immed dev=/dev/cdrom
xorriso -outdev /dev/cdrom -blank all|fast|as_needed
To format CD-RW, you can use cdrwtool:
cdrwtool -d /dev/cdrom -q
To blank a DVD-RW and put in the incremental sequential mode, run:
dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/dvd
To blank a DVD-RW and put in the Restricted Overwrite mode, run:
dvd+rw-format -force /dev/dvd
To overwrite data of BD-RE, DVD+RW, DVD-RW or DVD-RAM run:
growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero
To blank a DVD-RAM, you can use:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/dvd
To relocate lead-out sector, run:
dvd+rw-format -lead-out /dev/dvd
NOTES
Note that DVD+RW re-formatting procedure does not substitute for blank‐
ing. If you want to nullify the media, e.g. for privacy reasons, do it
explicitly with 'growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero'.
When growisofs "runs into" blank Blu-ray Disc media or BD-RE, it gets
pre-formatted with minimal spare area size of 256MB.
SEE ALSO
Most up-to-date information on dvd+rw-tools is available at
http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/.
growisofs(1), cdrskin(1), xorriso(1), wodim(1), cdrwtool(1)AUTHORS
Andy Polyakov <appro@fy.chalmers.se> stands for programming and on-line
information.
This manpage was created by Honza Horak <hhorak@redhat.com> and con‐
sulted by Thomas Schmitt <scdbackup@gmx.net>.
LICENSE
dvd+rw-format is distributed under GNU GPL.
dvd+rw-tools 7.1 24 Aug 2012 DVD+RW-FORMAT(1)
