Not an answer to the question, but found a solution to blank your DVD+RW on http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/ (please read the complete article, not only the part that I extracted).

It's my understanding that K3B uses 'growisofs'. You can check that by running a 'ps' and pipe the result through 'grep' while burning.

Comment:
I doubt that the full format of Nero writes 0's and 1's. Optical media use temperature to change the reflective state of the medium. By using a certain temperature (laser power), you make it reflective and by using another temperature, you make it less reflective.

You can find info in the 'how it works' whitepaper on http://www.dvdrw.com

When I try dvd+rw-format this is what happens in konsole:

guest1978@1[~]$ dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/dvd
* DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 4.10.
:-( mounted media doesn't appear to be DVD±RW or DVD-RAM
guest1978@1[~]$


I don't know why it states "doesn't appear to be DVD. . ."

It is a DVD+RW in perfect working condition. It does the same thing if I put a different DVD+RW too. I am stumped.

Do I have to su into root?

Try a command similar to the following (also referenced a couple posts above):
Where "1" is your DVD device (could also use /dev/dvd if your link is set up properly).

You can test the process before actually writing to the disk:

Wim and speck:

Thanks for your replies. I haven't yet had time to try them but I will, and I will post my results.

Wim. . .I tried what you said and posted my results below. Also, I looked at the weblink you gave me (which has the specific growisofs command you gave me) and tried to read it but got totally lost. I looked a bit on google for something similar, but got lost again. This stuff is really confusing. Could I be doing something wrong? Or perhaps I need to update my software?

Your thoughts? Thanks!


guest1978@1[~]$ growisofs -Z /dev/scdN=/dev/zero
:-( "/dev/scdN=/dev/zero": unexpected errno:No such file or directory
guest1978@1[~]$

speck, I tried your "test" run first, then your "real" one second, and then replaced scd1 with /dev/dvd for my third attempt.

The output is below. I must be doing something wrong. . .or perhaps I need to update my software?


guest1978@1[~]$ growisofs -dry-run -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero
:-( /dev/dvd: media is not recognized as recordable DVD: 8
guest1978@1[~]$ growisofs -Z /dev/scd1=/dev/zero
:-( "/dev/scd1=/dev/zero": unexpected errno:No such file or directory
guest1978@1[~]$ growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero
:-( /dev/dvd: media is not recognized as recordable DVD: 8
guest1978@1[~]$



BTW. . .what do you mean by "where 1 represents my dvd"

Any thoughts? Thanks

I forgot to add: Answers to help me out are welcome from all readers, not just those whom I happen to be chatting with at the moment.

I am really puzzled that something so simple (blank my DVD+RW) could be so difficult. Probably it will end up being something super easy that was overlooked.

Note that I do not want to reformat the RW. I want to "blank" it.

What I ultimately want to do is to be able to back up my private data to DVD+RW, then blank the entire RW, then once again use the RW to back up my data. This is what I do in Nero in Windows using the "complete erase" option. Blanking the entire disc, instead of just overwriting, ensures that no trace is left behind.

Any thoughts? I've been periodically researching this, jumping from suggested weblink to suggested weblink, but nothing has worked thus far. Some of the stuff is too technical for me to understand, but I still want to learn some of the basics.

Thanks again!

Mba

You will never be able to totally remove the data from the disks without extreme measures. Just like you have to go through extreme measures to totaly remove data from a HD. If someone wants to know what was on the disk bad enough they can pull most of it back out.

I think the problem you are having with speck's method is that you are not identifying your dvd mount point correctly. In my system (FC5) it is in /media/diskname. Where diskname varies depending on what it was called the last time it was written ( a lot of mine say k3b data project). It sometimes also shows up as /dev/dvdwriter.

Hope this helps

Lazlow

Could you give me an example of the command prompt you use then, so I can compare / contrast?

I agree with lazlow. I don't think you're specifying the correct device.

What happens when you try one of these:

dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/dvdwriter

dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/hdc

dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/hdd

Mba

I do not blank rw media for the reasons I stated above. I use K3b to rewrite all my disks. I suspect that you are not finding the correct path to the device. You will have to look at your specific machine to see where your actual mount point is. Rkelson has given you a few suggestions and I gave you a few more. Put a dvd in that you can recognize the contents of, mount it and look around for the correct mount point.

Lazlow

rkelsen....my dvd burner is hdd (my dvd reader is hdc). . .so I tried hdd. Below is the output. If it makes any difference, I labeled the dvd burner as "dvdburner" so I tried that too.


guest1978@1[~]$ dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/hdd
* DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 4.10.
* 4.7GB DVD+RW media detected.
- illegal command-line option for this media.
- you have the option to re-run dvd+rw-format with:
-lead-out to elicit lead-out relocation for better
DVD-ROM compatibility, data is not affected;
-force to enforce new format (not recommended)
and wipe the data.

guest1978@1[~]$ dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/dvdburner
* DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 4.10.
:-( unable to open("/dev/dvdburner"): No such file or directory
guest1978@1[~]$


Maybe this is a dumb question but....do I need to have my dvd burner "mounted" while I am running this command? Or be root?

That's a better result than before. At least we know which device it is. Try this:

growisofs -Z /dev/hdd=/dev/zero

The disc should NOT be mounted.

It should work from your normal user account. (i.e. not root).

I followed your suggestion and got the following (I cut out a large part of it that was irrelevant. . .I just pasted the beginning and end):


WARNING: /dev/hdd already carries isofs!
About to execute 'builtin_dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdd obs=32k seek=0'
/dev/hdd: "Current Write Speed" is 2.5x1385KBps.
3768320/4700372992 ( 0.1%) @0.5x, remaining 145:24
15335424/4700372992 ( 0.3%) @2.4x, remaining 50:55
26935296/4700372992 ( 0.6%) @2.5x, remaining 37:35
38469632/4700372992 ( 0.8%) @2.4x, remaining 34:20

4651057152/4700372992 (99.0%) @2.4x, remaining 0:14
4662558720/4700372992 (99.2%) @2.4x, remaining 0:11
4674060288/4700372992 (99.4%) @2.4x, remaining 0:07
4685660160/4700372992 (99.7%) @2.5x, remaining 0:04
4697128960/4700372992 (99.9%) @2.4x, remaining 0:00
:-[ WRITE@LBA=230540h failed with SK=5h/ASC=21h/ACQ=02h]: Invalid argument
builtin_dd: 2295104*2KB out @ average 2.4x1385KBps
:-( write failed: Invalid argument
/dev/hdd: flushing cache
/dev/hdd: stopping de-icing
/dev/hdd: writing lead-out
guest1978@1[~]$


Afterwards, I burned data on the DVD and was able to read it.

Then, as a secondary test, I followed your suggestion again (in other words, I blanked it a 2nd time). The 2nd test output was the exact same as what I posted above (the 1st test output).

It appears to have worked. I do have one question though.

Notice at the end of the pasted message it stops at 99.9% then states "invalid arguement" and "write failed" etc.

What does all of that mean? It seemed to work (both times) so I don't know why it would give messages like "invalid arguement" etc.

Regardless, a big THANK YOU !!!!!!!

/ and to all others who pitched in...thanks!!!!

I dunno. That's a tough one. Try the same exercise logged in as root and see if you get the same errors. If you don't, then you have a permissions problem.

If you do, but it appears to have worked, then I wouldn't worry about it.