Hi –
I am using Ubuntu 11 and trying to burn a 50 GB Blu-Ray disc. I am able to burn 25 GB discs just fine. I switch media to 50 GB discs and all I get on the disc is the file list but I can’t open anything. Both disc types are Verbatim. I can manually burn the disc with the command:

growisofs -speed=2 -Z /dev/scd0 -iso-level 4 -allow-lowercase -l -r -J directory

However, when I setup a cron job to run this command in a script it just gives me the file list on the disc.

I was originally using mkisofs to make an iso image then growisofs to write it to a DVD /Blu-Ray (25 GB) disc. It appeared that the iso image was the problem because I could manually write the files individually to the disc using growisofs but I found that once I put the command in a script it worked the same as when I tried to write the iso.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I am tired of making coasters.

Thanks,

Sorry, I haven't gotten into Blu-ray yet, but the first thing I would suggest - if you haven't already done so, is to verify that your BD burner's firmware is the latest. You could also try another brand of disc. I know that if one brand fails/succeeds, all should fail/succeed, but I've seen stranger things in computers. And if this is a DL disc, that could be the problem (not the disc, but something to do w/DL images/disc and the software). Are you using Brasso? Have you tried using k3b in the KDE? It will create an iso for you. If you have access to the data you want to convert to iso in Windows, the freeware Imgburn program will create an iso for you. It also burns BD (haven't tried it, just read it in the program). If you use VirtualBox or VMware, you should be able to use Imgburn inside of a Windows VM to create the iso. I'm just shooting in the dark here, because you didn't mention if you tried anything like this or not. Hopefully, someone w/a BD burner can give you more info.

you are burning it from the terminal ?
if so i would suggest you use k3b .

John VV, I (normally) use CRON to run a script but I found that when I issued the command from a terminal it worked. I am not familuar with k3b but if it can be run from CRON I will look into it.
Thanks,

gentisle,
I haven't checked the FW but I will look into that.. My goal is to automate backups so I have been running scripts with CRON. The odd thing is that I can burn 50 GB Blu-Ray discs when I issue the command from a terminal but not when runnig a script from CRON. My scripts do a few other things like create some log files but I wouldn't expect those to cause problems? Anyway, I plan to use a bare script and see if that works from CRON because it works from a terminal window which, is the odd thing about this problem. I am not at all familuar with some of the other applications you mentioned but I will look into them and see if they will work for what I'm trying to do.
Thanks,

And what about the burning permissions for that script you run from CRON? And does CRON need it's permissions for burning changed? Again, I'm shooting in the dark. I haven't used CRON, but it seems to me that if you can type the command in at the terminal, but your script doesn't work, there must be a permissions issue. I would expect k3b probably would NOT be what you need.

gentisle,
CRON runs as root and everything works with 25 GB Blu-Ray discs. All I do is switch from 25 GB to 50 GB disc and it fails to write all the data. I seem to get the headers because I can do a file list and see the files but can't open anything on the 50 GB disc.
Thanks,

So let me get this straight.
1. Your script runs as root
2. If the data is =< 25GB, it burns OK
3. If the data is > 25GB, it starts the burn, then craps out
4. If you execute the burn manually and it's > 25GB, it works correctly

Is there another machine you could run this from as a test? Have you checked the integrity of the backup file before burning (probably doesn't matter)? Could this be an arcane command line parameter that you need to create the image or to burn w/? I'm all tapped out at this point. If you are burning w/cdrecord, and the permissions on that are OK, I don't know. Your CRON job that is running as root, can it run in another group? Maybe that would work. You might have to mark this one as solved and re-post with every bit of info you've got in a well organized, concise manner and see if some of the others can come up w/the answer. BTW, did you check the firmware?

Hi gentisle,

>So let me get this straight.

>1. Your script runs as root
Yes.

>2. If the data is =< 25GB, it burns OK
This is true because I use a 25GB disc.

>3. If the data is > 25GB, it starts the burn, then craps out
I have not tried writing <25GB to a 50GB disc so this is true because I use a 50GB disc. If the discs weren't so expensive I might try writing <25GB to a 50GB disc and, I may try that at some point.

>4. If you execute the burn manually and it's > 25GB, it works correctly
Yes. I have burned a couple discs this way and verified the data.

>Is there another machine you could run this from as a test?
Not really. The only way for me to do that would be to move the burner to our windows server and try that. I may do that if things slow down a bit.

>Have you checked the integrity of the backup file before burning (probably doesn't matter)?
Yes, I have verified that the data is good. Mostly after because I take it directly from the disc.

>Could this be an arcane command line parameter that you need to create the image or to burn w/?
I don't know??

>I'm all tapped out at this point. If you are burning w/cdrecord, and the permissions on that are OK, I >don't know. Your CRON job that is running as root, can it run in another group? Maybe that would >work.

I might goof with that except for the fact that it works with 25GB discs..... I am not sure which way to go with this problem at this point. I don't have time to goof with it right now but I will get back to it eventually.

>You might have to mark this one as solved and re-post with every bit of info you've got in a well
>organized, concise manner and see if some of the others can come up w/the answer. BTW, did you
>check the firmware?

You may be right about re-posting so I will try and organize my thoughts about what I have found and see. I did not check the FW yet as I am not sure how to do that? I may just check the manufacturer's site and see if they have any updates.

Meanwhile, I am working on splitting up my backups and will be writing multiple 25GB discs rather than one 50GB disc for now. I hope to have time to look into the 50GB disc problem some more but I have to put it aside for now. I am hoping someone will offer some suggestions as time goes on....

gentisle, Thank you for taking the time and effort to offer me these suggestions.

wookie7

You're welcome, maybe you can help me sometime. I'm still voting for the firmware issue. Even if there is no update, you have have found an error in that drive's firmware that needs to be fixed by the manufacturer. Please let us know when you get it figured out. One day, probably most of us will be using the BR discs.

gentisle,
I will look into the FW version when I get back in the office in a week or so... and will post what I find. I am sure I will keep at this till I (or someone) figures out what's going on.

Thanks,