Andy McFadden's
CD-Recordable FAQ

Last-modified: 2000/09/21
Version: 2.22

Send corrections and updates to Andy McFadden (fadden@fadden.com). If you have a question you'd like to see answered in here, either post it to one of the comp.publish.cdrom newsgroups (if you don't have the answer), or send it to fadden@fadden.com (if you do).

This FAQ is usually updated about once a month. If you are looking at a version that is more than two or three months old, it may be an out-of-date copy. The most current version is always at http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/.

This was originally developed (and is still maintained) as a Usenet newsgroup FAQ. If you'd like to check out the newsgroups, point your news reader at the following (or go to http://www.dejanews.com/ and read them with your web browser):

• comp.publish.cdrom.hardware
• comp.publish.cdrom.software
• comp.publish.cdrom.multimedia
• alt.comp.periphs.cdr

The "canonical" FAQ is available from http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/ in HTML format and from the MIT FAQ archives in plain text format. You can get an all-in-one-file version of the HTML in a .ZIP file, suitable for printing. Some translations are available:

• Italian
• French
• Chinese
• Russian

If you're maintaining a translation, or just really want to know what has changed since the last update, you can get a set of context diffs in a .ZIP file.

Please DO NOT post copies of the HTML version on your web site. I keep getting e-mail from people reading versions that are several months old. You should include a link to the www.fadden.com site instead. Links are very much appreciated, since it can be difficult to find this site by keyword through some search engines (lots of CD-R vendor spam).

Table of contents:

[0] Introduction

[0-1] Legal noise (disclaimers and copyrights)

[0-2] What does this FAQ cover (and not cover)?

[0-3] What's new since last time?

[0-4] Is the FAQ only available in English?

[0-5] Appropriate use of the newsgroups

[0-6] I'm having trouble, how do I ask for help?

[0-7] Spelling and name conventions

[0-8] Can I advertise on the FAQ pages?

[0-9] Can you mail the FAQ to me?

[1] Simple answers to simple questions

[1-1] What's CD-R? CD-RW?

[1-2] Are they identical to normal CDs?

[1-3] Can I create new audio and data CDs?

[1-4] Can I use it to copy my CDs?

[1-5] How much can they hold?

[1-6] Can I just copy files onto a CD-R like I would to a floppy?

[1-7] What can you tell me about DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, etc?

[1-8] Can I copy DVDs with a CD recorder?

[1-9] What's the cheapest recorder and best place to buy media?

[1-10] Can I get step-by-step installation and use instructions?

[1-11] Can I download MP3s from the Internet and make an audio CD?

[1-12] What does this term mean? Is there a glossary?

[1-13] How do I learn more?

[1-14] Why is this FAQ so far out of date?

[2] CD Encoding

[2-1] How is the information physically stored?

[2-2] What is XA? CDPLUS? CD-i? MODE1 vs MODE2? Red/yellow/blue book?

[2-3] How do I know what format a disc is in?

[2-4] How does CD-ROM copy protection work?

[2-5] What's a multisession disc?

[2-6] What are subcode channels?

[2-7] Are the CD Identifier fields widely used?

[2-8] How long does it take to burn a CD-R?

[2-9] What's the difference between disc-at-once and track-at-once?

[2-10] Differences between recording from an image and on-the-fly?

[2-11] How does an audio CD player know to skip data tracks?

[2-12] How does CD-RW compare to CD-R?

[2-13] Can DVD drives read CD-Rs?

[2-14] Should I wait for DVD-R?

[2-15] What are "jitter" and "jitter correction"?

[2-16] Where can I learn more about the history of CD and CD-R?

[2-17] Why don't audio CDs use error correction?

[2-18] How does CD-R compare to MiniDisc?

[2-19] What does finalizing (and closing and fixating) do?

[2-20] How are WAV/AIFF files converted into Red Book CD audio?

[2-21] What does MultiRead mean?

[2-22] If recording fails, is the disc usable?

[2-23] Why do recorders insert "00" bytes at the start of audio tracks?

[2-24] How many tracks can I have? How many files?

[2-25] Will SCMS prevent me from making copies?

[2-26] Is a serial number placed on the disc by the recorder?

[2-27] What's a TOC? How does it differ from a directory?

[2-28] What's an ISO? A CIF? BIN and CUE?

[2-29] Why was 74 minutes chosen as the standard length?

[2-30] Why is there a visibly unwritten strip near the CD-R hub?

[2-31] What is "BURN-Proof"? JustLink?

[2-32] Can playing CD-Rs in a DVD player hurt the discs?

[2-33] Who *really* made this CD-R blank?

[3] How Do I...

[3-1] How do I copy a CD-ROM?

[3-1-1] Why can't I just do a block copy like a floppy?

[3-2] How do I extract tracks from, or copy all of, an audio CD?

[3-3] How do I get rid of hisses and clicks on audio CDs?

[3-4] How do I copy game console discs (e.g. Playstation, Dreamcast)

[3-5] How do I get long filenames onto a disc?

[3-5-1] ISO-9660

[3-5-2] Rock Ridge

[3-5-3] HFS

[3-5-4] Joliet

[3-5-5] Romeo

[3-5-6] ISO/IEC 13346 and ISO/IEC 13490

[3-6] How do I use a CD-i disc on a PC?

[3-7] How can I extract disc and track titles from an audio CD?

[3-8] How do I write more than 74 minutes of audio or 650MB of data?

[3-8-1] How well do 80-minute CD-R blanks work?

[3-8-2] How well do 90-minute and 99-minute CD-R blanks work?

[3-8-3] How can I exceed the stated disc capacity ("overburning")?

[3-9] How do I put photographs onto CD-ROM?

[3-9-1] How do I create a PhotoCD?

[3-9-2] How can I set up a photo album on CD-ROM?

[3-10] How do I make a CD that will work on a PC or a Mac?

[3-11] How do I access different sessions on a multi-session CD?

[3-12] How do I transfer my records or cassettes to a CD?

[3-13] How do I transfer an audio DAT tape to CD?

[3-14] How do I put audio and data on the same CD?

[3-15] How do I make a bootable CD-ROM?

[3-16] How do I convert home movies into video on CD?

[3-16-1] How do I create a VideoCD from AVI or MPEG files?

[3-17] How can I burn several copies of the same disc simultaneously?

[3-18] Can I make copies of copies?

[3-19] How can I compress or encrypt data on a CD-ROM?

[3-20] Can I do backups onto CD-R?

[3-21] How do I automatically launch something? Change the CD icon?

[3-22] How can I be sure the data was written correctly?

[3-23] How do I copy Audio Karaoke/CD+G discs?

[3-24] How do I copy a CD-ROM with 3GB of data on it?

[3-25] How do I get my CD-R pressed into a real CD?

[3-26] How do I make a CD without that two-second gap between tracks?

[3-27] How can I record RealAudio, MIDI, and MP3 on CD?

[3-28] How do I add CD-Text information?

[3-29] Can I distribute a web site on a CD-ROM?

[3-30] How do I clean my CD recorder?

[3-31] Is it better to record at slower speeds?

[3-32] Where do I get drivers for my CD recorder?

[3-33] Can I copy discs without breaking the law?

[3-34] Can CD-Rs recorded at 2x be read faster than 2x?

[3-35] How do I make my CD-ROM work on the Mac, WinNT, and UNIX?

[3-36] How do I put "hidden tracks" and negative indices on audio CDs?

[3-37] Do I need to worry about viruses?

[3-38] How do I cover up a bad audio track on a CD-R?

[3-39] How do I duplicate this hard-to-copy game?

[3-40] Should I erase or format a disc? How?

[3-41] How do I equalize the volume for tracks from different sources?

[3-42] How do I make a bit-for-bit copy of a disc?

[3-43] How do I put punctuation or lower case in CD-ROM volume labels?

[3-44] How do I extract audio tracks from an "enhanced" CD on the Mac?

[3-45] How do I disable DirectCD for Windows?

[3-46] How do I specify the order of files (e.g. sorting) on ISO-9660?

[3-47] How do I put a password on a CD-ROM?

[3-48] Can I record an audio CD a few tracks at a time?

[3-49] How do I copy DVDs onto CD-R?

[3-50] How do I copy Mac, UNIX, or "hybrid" CD-ROMs from Windows?

[4] Problems

[4-1] What does "buffer underrun" mean?

[4-1-1] What's the deal with Windows Auto-Insert Notification (AIN)?

[4-1-2] What's all this about Win95 VCACHE settings?

[4-2] I can't get long Win95 filenames to work right

[4-3] I can't read the multisession CD I just made

[4-4] Write process keeps failing N minutes in

[4-5] Why did my CD-R eject between the "test" and "write" passes?

[4-6] My CD-ROM drive doesn't like *any* CD-R discs

[4-7] How do I avoid having a ";1" on my ISO-9660 discs?

[4-8] I keep getting SCSI timeout errors

[4-9] I'm having trouble writing a complete disc

[4-10] What's the CDD2000 Write Append Error / spring problem?

[4-11] Getting errors reading the first (data) track on mixed-mode CD

[4-12] My recorder ejects blank discs immediately

[4-13] I'm getting complaints about power calibration

[4-14] My Adaptec 2940 pauses after finding my recorder

[4-15] I can't see all the files on the CD-R

[4-16] My multi-session disc only has data from the last session

[4-17] I'm getting SCSI errors

[4-18] Why doesn't the copy of an audio CD sound the same?

[4-18-1] Why doesn't the audio data on the copy match the original?

[4-18-2] The audio data matches exactly, why do they sound different?

[4-19] Digital audio extraction of a track is slightly off

[4-20] I can't play extracted audio files by double-clicking in Win95

[4-21] I can't read an ISO-finalized packet-written disc

[4-22] I'm finding corrupted files on the CD-ROMs I write

[4-23] Having trouble playing an audio CD in a home or car player

[4-24] Having trouble using a CD-ROM on a different machine

[4-25] I can't copy a VideoCD

[4-26] The test write succeeds, but the actual write fails

[4-27] I can no longer erase a particular CD-RW disc

[4-28] Trouble formatting CD-RW discs with DirectCD for Windows 2.0a

[4-29] I can't write CD-Rs after installing Windows 98

[4-30] I can't use the copy of a CD-ROM after installing Windows 98

[4-31] The disc I was writing with DirectCD is now unreadable

[4-32] I'm getting a message about 100 form transitions

[4-33] My system hangs when I insert a blank disc

[4-34] My CD-R discs don't work in my DVD player

[4-35] I need serious help recovering important data

[4-36] What does "not convertible to CD quality" mean?

[4-37] I inserted a CD-ROM but Windows thinks it's an audio CD

[4-38] I get read errors when trying to copy a game

[4-39] Restarting or shutting Windows down after recording causes hang

[4-40] Why do CD-Rs work poorly when anti-skip protection is enabled?

[4-41] I'm having trouble recording under Windows 2000

[5] Hardware

[5-1] Which CD recorder should I buy?

[5-1-1] Yamaha

[5-1-2] Sony

[5-1-3] Smart & Friendly

[5-1-4] Philips

[5-1-5] Hewlett-Packard (HP)

[5-1-6] Plasmon

[5-1-7] Kodak

[5-1-8] JVC

[5-1-9] Pinnacle

[5-1-10] Ricoh

[5-1-11] Pioneer

[5-1-12] Olympus

[5-1-13] Optima

[5-1-14] Mitsumi

[5-1-15] DynaTek Automation Systems

[5-1-16] Microboards of America

[5-1-17] Micro Design International

[5-1-18] MicroNet Technology

[5-1-19] Procom Technology

[5-1-20] Grundig

[5-1-21] Plextor

[5-1-22] Panasonic

[5-1-23] Teac

[5-1-24] Wearnes

[5-1-25] Turtle Beach

[5-1-26] Creative Labs

[5-1-27] Taiyo Yuden

[5-1-28] Memorex

[5-1-29] Hi-Val

[5-1-30] Dysan

[5-1-31] Traxdata

[5-1-32] Acer

[5-1-33] Waitec

[5-1-34] BTC

[5-1-35] Caravelle (Sanyo)

[5-1-36] Micro Solutions

[5-1-37] Pacific Digital

[5-1-38] Iomega

[5-1-39] Goldstar

[5-1-40] AOpen

[5-1-41] Toshiba

[5-1-42] TDK

[5-1-43] Lite-On

[5-2] How long do CD recorders last?

[5-3] What kind of PC is recommended?

[5-4] What kind of Mac is recommended?

[5-5] Which standard CD-ROM drives work well with CD-R?

[5-6] What kind of HD should I use with CD-R? Must it be AV-rated?

[5-7] What SCSI adapter should I use with a CD recorder?

[5-7-1] Adaptec - 1510/1522A/1540/1542CF

[5-7-2] Adaptec - 2840/2910/2920/2930/2940

[5-7-3] ASUS - SC-200/SC-875

[5-7-4] Tekram - DC-390U/DC-390F

[5-7-5] Adaptec - 1350/1460/1480

[5-8] Can I use a CD recorder as a general-purpose reader?

[5-9] To caddy or not to caddy?

[5-10] Can I burn CDs from a Jaz drive? Tape drive?

[5-11] What is "Running OPC"?

[5-12] What's the story with stand-alone audio CD recorders?

[5-13] What's firmware? How and why should I upgrade my recorder?

[5-14] How well do ATAPI (IDE), parallel-port, and USB recorders work?

[5-15] How should I configure my system for an ATAPI CD recorder?

[5-15-1] Should I have DMA enabled for an ATAPI recorder in Windows?

[5-16] How important is CD-RW?

[5-17] What is an "MMC Compliant" recorder?

[5-18] What should I use to record from a UNIX system?

[5-19] What do I need for recording CDs from a laptop?

[5-20] I need to make *lots* of copies

[5-21] How do I connect two drives to one sound card in a PC?

[6] Software

[6-1] Which software should I use?

[6-1-1] Adaptec - Easy-CD, Easy-CD Pro, and Easy-CD Pro MM ("ECD")

[6-1-2] Adaptec - CD-Creator ("CDC")

[6-1-3] Gear Multimedia - GEAR

[6-1-4] Adaptec - Toast

[6-1-5] CeQuadrat - WinOnCD

[6-1-6] Young Minds, Inc. - SimpliCD

[6-1-7] Golden Hawk Technology (Jeff Arnold) - CDRWIN

[6-1-8] Optical Media International - QuickTOPiX CD

[6-1-9] Creative Digital Research - CDR Publisher

[6-1-10] mkisofs

[6-1-11] Asimware Innovations - MasterISO

[6-1-12] Newtech Infosystems, Inc. (NTI) - CD-Maker and CD-Copy

[6-1-13] Cirrus Technology/Unite - CDMaker

[6-1-14] Hohner Midia - Red Roaster

[6-1-15] Dataware Technologies - CD Author

[6-1-16] CreamWare - Triple DAT

[6-1-17] MicroTech - MasterMaker

[6-1-18] Angela Schmidt & Patrick Ohly - MakeCD

[6-1-19] Liquid Audio Inc. - Liquid Player

[6-1-20] Jörg Schilling - cdrecord

[6-1-21] Prassi Software - CD Rep and CD Right

[6-1-22] Zittware - CDMaster32

[6-1-23] Dieter Baron and Armin Obersteiner - CD Tools

[6-1-24] PoINT - CDwrite

[6-1-25] PoINT - CDaudio Plus

[6-1-26] Adaptec - Easy CD Creator Deluxe ("ECDC")

[6-1-27] Padus - DiscJuggler

[6-1-28] Ahead Software - Nero

[6-1-29] CharisMac Engineering - Discribe

[6-1-30] István Dósa - DFY$VMSCD

[6-1-31] RSJ Software - RSJ CD Writer

[6-1-32] James Pearson - mkhybrid

[6-1-33] JVC - Personal Archiver Plus

[6-1-34] Adaptec - Jam

[6-1-35] VOB - CD-Wizard

[6-1-36] Sonic Foundry - CD Architect

[6-1-37] Eberhard Heuser-Hofmann - CDWRITE

[6-1-38] CeQuadrat - JustAudio!

[6-1-39] Digidesign - MasterList CD

[6-1-40] Thomas Niederreiter - X-CD-Roast

[6-1-41] Jesper Pedersen - BurnIT

[6-1-42] Jens Fangmeier - Feurio!

[6-1-43] Asimware Innovations - HotBurn

[6-1-44] DARTECH, Inc - DART CD-Recorder

[6-1-45] Interactive Information R&D - CDEveryWhere

[6-1-46] DnS Development - BurnIt

[6-1-47] Andreas Müller - CDRDAO

[6-1-48] Tracer Technologies - (various)

[6-1-49] Elaborate Bytes - CloneCD

[6-1-50] IgD - Fireburner

[6-1-51] Jodian Systems & Software - CDWRITE

[6-1-52] Erik Deppe - CD+G Creator

[6-1-53] Micro-Magic - CD Composer

[6-1-54] Earjam, Inc. - Earjam IMP

[6-1-55] Emagic - Waveburner

[6-1-56] Zy2000 - MP3 CD Maker

[6-1-57] Integral Research - Speedy-CD

[6-1-58] Desernet Broadband Media - Net-Burner and MP3-Burner

[6-1-59] Stomp, Inc. - Click 'N Burn

[6-2] What other useful software is there?

[6-2-1] Optical Media International - Disc-to-Disk

[6-2-2] Gilles Vollant - WinImage

[6-2-3] Asimware Innovations - AsimCDFS

[6-2-4] Steven Grimm - WorkMan

[6-2-5] Cyberdyne Software - CD Worx

[6-2-6] Paul Crowley CD-ROM Productions - CD-R Diagnostic

[6-2-7] DC Software Design - CDRCue Cuesheet Editor

[6-2-8] Astarte - CD-Copy

[6-2-9] Frank Wolf - CDR Media Code Identifier

[6-2-10] Logiciels & Services Duhem - MacImage

[6-2-11] Erik Deppe - CD Speed

[6-2-12] Andre Wiethoff - Exact Audio Copy (EAC)

[6-2-13] Earle F. Philhower, III - cdrLabel

[6-3] What is packet writing software?

[6-3-1] Adaptec - DirectCD

[6-3-2] CeQuadrat - PacketCD

[6-3-3] SmartStorage - SmartCD for Recording

[6-3-4] Gutenberg Systems - FloppyCD

[6-3-5] VOB - InstantWrite

[6-3-6] Prassi - abCD

[6-4] What's UDF?

[6-5] Do I want to do packet writing?

[6-6] I want to write my own CD recording software

[6-6-1] PoINT - CDarchive SDK

[6-6-2] Golden Hawk Technology (Jeff Arnold)

[6-6-3] Gear Multimedia - GEAR.wrks

[6-6-4] VOB - CD-Wizard SDK

[6-6-5] Dialog Medien - ACDwrite.OCX

[6-7] What software is available for doing backups?

[6-7-1] Adaptec - Easy-CD Backup

[6-7-2] D.J. Murdoch - DOSLFNBK

[6-7-3] Dantz - Retrospect

[6-7-4] Veritas - Backup Exec

[6-7-5] Symantec - Norton Ghost

[6-7-6] PowerQuest - Drive Image Special Edition for CD-R

[6-7-7] Centered Systems - Second Copy

[6-7-8] FileWare - FileSync

[6-7-9] Novastor - NovaDISK

[6-7-10] Adaptec - Take Two

[6-7-11] NTI - Backup NOW!

[6-7-12] CeQuadrat - BackMeUp LT

[6-7-13] Duncan Amplification - disk2disk

[6-8] How do I get customer support for bundled recording software?

[7] Media

[7-1] What kinds of media are there?

[7-2] Does the media matter?

[7-3] Who manufactures CD-R media?

[7-4] Which kind of media should I use?

[7-5] How long do CD-Rs and CD-RWs last?

[7-6] How much data can they hold? 650MB? 680MB?

[7-7] Is it okay to write on or stick a label on a disc?

[7-8] How do CD-Rs behave when microwaved?

[7-9] What can I do with CD-R discs that failed during writing?

[7-10] Where can I find jewel cases and CD sleeves?

[7-11] What's "unbranded" CD-R media?

[7-12] How do I repair a scratched CD?

[7-13] What's this about a Canadian CD-R tax?

[7-14] Can I get 80mm (3-inch "cd single") CD-Rs?

[7-15] Where can I find CD-ROM business cards and "shaped" CDs?

[7-16] Can you tell pressed CDs and silver CD-Rs apart?

[7-17] What's the difference between "data" and "music" blanks?

[7-18] How do I convert data CD-Rs into audio-only CD-Rs?

[8] Net Resources and Vendor Lists

[8-1] Information resources

[8-2] Magazines and other publications

[8-3] Net.vendors

[9] Contributors

The last-modified date of each section is shown below the Subject line. The date format used is YYYY/MM/DD. The date stamps were added on 1998/04/06, so you won't find any older than that.

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