Step by Step Tutorial to Burn a Multisession CD in Linux

Being a Linux user I used to getting all my development work done on a Linux box.So often do i need to transfer my data off to other souls who don’t consume this candy (read Linux) and don’t have access to the candy-shop (read internet).That’s where the need for a MULTI SESSION (Multisession) DISK comes in,because codes hardly take space ;).This helps me reuse the cd.:)

Oh, did I forget all of you who are new to Linux burning. Lets make this interesting for you too. I would also be explaining the process of how to burn a cd on your favorite Linux distro.

Burning a Multi Session (multisession) disk on a Linux box has been quite a ISSUE ;). At least for me it was, until I learnt the trick. Once you learn the trick of the trade it becomes easy for you too and you’ll only realize that it wasn’t all that difficult as you initially imagined it to be :).

So here’s a way how you can easily create a (Multi Session) multisession disk using just your Linux Distro,your favorite interface (kde or gnome) and of course a Blank cd and a SCSI writer :D.Most of the optical drives,now-a-days,are SCSI based.So you don’t have to worry if you are a person who upgrades hardware as often as the market has something new to offer.

Now the first step towards creating a multisession disk in linux is to have the Right Burning Software.
Here are my pick for you

1)For KDE users there’s the ever-green K3b (Recommended for ease of use)
2)For Gnome users there’s the newest GnomeBaker.

Also you can have the NeroLinux.But that,being a proprietary software,is not much famous in the OSS sphere.
K3b and NeroLinux have been compared.And you can have a look at how the scale tips in favour of K3b here.

Now here’s how you can get the softwares.I am assuming that you would be using Fedora Core or a Red Hat based distro.

1)You can use yum to get this softwares for you.

Open the terminal and type “yum installs k3b” or “yum installs gnomebaker”

Note:-Since both these softwares are a part of the standard distro package.It’s safe to check whether you have installed it already or not because you wont want to waste your precious bandwidth on such meagre downloads when better things are waiting outside on the internet!

2)Other Sources for the softwares are

*k3b
Can be found at the software home www.k3b.org.
Click on the download link.
Scroll down to find your distro.

*GnomeBaker
Can be found at GnomeBaker at Sourceforge.
Scroll down to find your distro.

Once you have installed the software.Run it.

This guide is assuming that you will be using K3b to burn your cd/dvd.

1)Start up k3b
by Going to Programs->Multimedia->k3b
Same for Gnome Users too.

This is how they would actually look :-

On KDE :-

On GNOME :-

2)Select data project if you want to burn a data project.

3)Now add the files that you want to burn as you would do in any burning software.Drag and Drop.Yeah! Drag and drop in Linux. It’s growing. Move over Vista(n)Dos!
4)Now Once you have added the Data press Burn and you will another window popping up with loads of information about the optical drive and various other extended options.

Now i will be explaining what all these boxes of information specify.
Generally the default setting work perfectly,but,as you know,Linux is for those people who want to go ahead to see what a TWEAK can do.

i)Writing Tab
a)Burning Device

Select the drive and the speed at which to burn.

b)Writing Mode-

Select the way the Laser writes i.e D-A-O (Disk at once) means the laser just writes the Entire disk at one go in the End(Not Recommended because all devices don’t support DAO).In T-A-0,every track is burned using a separate burn process.The RAW mode is not used very often, as the writer does not perform any data corrections.So,it the best to use the AUTO Setting and let k3b decide.

c)Stimulate

Well here This word means Stimulating a Cd-Burn Process

Used to check if the specified setting work on the drive or not.

d)On the Fly

k3b firstly creates a image file of the data to be burned and then uses command-prompt based recorder to burn the image.But this option creates cd without creating the .iso image file.Not Recommended on Low-performance machines.

e)Burnfree

This option was formerly known as burn-proof. It helps to avoid buffer underruns of a optical drive.If burnfree is selected, the optical drive will mark the current position and can return here in the event of a buffer underrun.

f)Create a image file
Creates a .iso file that can be saved in your hard disk.If this option is selected the panel on the left side is activated.Here you can select the location of where to save the ISO file.

ii)Settings Tab

Here’s where you adjust the Multisession settings.

The ‘Settings’ tab features options needed for the creation of CDs with multiple data or audio tracks (multi-session CDs).

Select the Multisession tab and Select “Start a New Session”.

iii)Media Tab

Here the nitty-gritty details of the Cd/Dvd you are going to burn,such as name,description etc.

iV)File System

Contains the information about which file-system format should the cd should be burned.
More information about Cd filesystems here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Ridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joliet_(file_system)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9660

v)Advanced

Contains even more Advanced Configurable Options. Burn Windows users burn!!
5)Now Hit The Burn Process and watch it Toast the optic.

Now if there have been no errors there would be a Green Success Label.

So ya viola U have burned a Cd (multisession cd) in Linux.
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Now About Restoring the Session

When you pop in the cd k3b automatically restores the previous session.

And when you go to the Settings tab.Make sure the Multisession Option is changed.

Happy Burning.

Comments and suggestions WELCOME.

All these steps and techniques work superbly for me. So it “SHOULD” work. If not, then remember Google is your loving,sexy and super-geeky teacher. Ask her!
Thanks to
1)
http://www-uxsup.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/doc/suse/suse9.0/userguide-9.0/ch20.html
For all the beautiful images. Linux surely is beautiful

2)
http://www.elearnit.de/knoppix/docs/tutorial/english/k3b.html

K3b tips.

And My mp3 player. For supporting me throughout this process of writing.

And Pearl Jam,Dave Mathews etc etc

Tags: burn CD, Multisession CD Burning, Burn CD on linux, KDE, Gnome, K3b, GnomeBaker

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