# writing DVD-RAM with Samsung SH-S162A

## gabkdlly

I recently decided to get serious about backup, and figured DVD-RAM would be the way to go.

Unfortunately, I am running into some stumbleing blocks.

```
$ dvd+rw-format /dev/dvdrw -format=full

* DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 6.1.

* 4.6GB DVD-RAM media detected.

* formatting 0.0-:-( unable to START UNIT: Input/output error

:-[ FORMAT UNIT failed with SK=2h/ASC=04h/ACQ=01h]: Resource temporarily unavailable
```

Here output from the same command run as root:

```
# dvd+rw-format /dev/dvdrw -format=full

* DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro@fy.chalmers.se>, version 6.1.

* 4.6GB DVD-RAM media detected.

* formatting 97.0%
```

And regardless whether I run the following command as root or as a normal user, I get the same output:

```
# mke2fs -m 0 /dev/dvdrw

mke2fs 1.39 (29-May-2006)

/dev/dvdrw is entire device, not just one partition!

Proceed anyway? (y,n) y

/dev/dvdrw: Read-only file system while setting up superblock
```

Here some additional info:

```
$ dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/dvdrw

INQUIRY:                [TSSTcorp][CD/DVDW SH-S162A][TS00]

GET [CURRENT] CONFIGURATION:

 Mounted Media:         12h, DVD-RAM

 Current Write Speed:   6.1x1385=8467KB/s

 Write Speed #0:        6.1x1385=8467KB/s

 Write Speed #1:        5.1x1385=7056KB/s

 Write Speed #2:        4.1x1385=5645KB/s

 Write Speed #3:        3.1x1385=4234KB/s

 Write Speed #4:        2.0x1385=2822KB/s

 Write Speed #5:        1.0x1385=1411KB/s

GET [CURRENT] PERFORMANCE:

 Write Performance:     3.0x1385=4155KB/s@[0 -> 2236704]

 Speed Descriptor#0:    03/2236704 R@3.0x1385=4155KB/s W@3.0x1385=4155KB/s

 Speed Descriptor#1:    03/2236704 R@2.0x1385=2770KB/s W@2.0x1385=2770KB/s

READ DVD STRUCTURE[#0h]:

 Media Book Type:       16h, DVD-RAM book [revision 6]

 Legacy lead-out at:    2314080*2KB=4739235840

DVD-RAM SPARE AREA INFORMATION:

 Primary SA:            12800/12800=100.0% free

READ DISC INFORMATION:

 Disc status:           other

 Number of Sessions:    1

 State of Last Session: complete

 "Next" Track:          1

 Number of Tracks:      1

READ FORMAT CAPACITIES:

 formatted:             2236704*2048=4580769792

 00h(800):              2236704*2048=4580769792

 00h(800):              2295072*2048=4700307456

 01h(800):              2226976*2048=4560846848

FABRICATED TOC:

 Track#1  :             14@0

 Track#AA :             14@2236704

 Multi-session Info:    #1@0

READ CAPACITY:          2236704*2048=4580769792
```

```
$ emerge --info

Portage 2.1.1 (default-linux/x86/2006.1/desktop, gcc-4.1.1, glibc-2.4-r3, 2.6.17-gentoo-r8 i686)

=================================================================

System uname: 2.6.17-gentoo-r8 i686 mobile AMD Athlon(tm) 4 1600+

Gentoo Base System version 1.12.5

Last Sync: Thu, 09 Nov 2006 02:00:03 +0000

app-admin/eselect-compiler: [Not Present]

dev-java/java-config: 1.2.11-r1

dev-lang/python:     2.3.5-r2, 2.4.3-r4

dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r5

dev-util/ccache:     [Not Present]

dev-util/confcache:  [Not Present]

sys-apps/sandbox:    1.2.17

sys-devel/autoconf:  2.13, 2.59-r7

sys-devel/automake:  1.4_p6, 1.5, 1.6.3, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r2

sys-devel/binutils:  2.16.1-r3

sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.3.13-r3

sys-devel/libtool:   1.5.22

virtual/os-headers:  2.6.17-r1

ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86"

AUTOCLEAN="yes"

CBUILD="i686-pc-linux-gnu"

CFLAGS="-O2 -march=i686 -fomit-frame-pointer -ggdb"

CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"

CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/3.5/env /usr/kde/3.5/share/config /usr/kde/3.5/shutdown /usr/lib/mozilla/defaults/pref /usr/share/X11/xkb /usr/share/config"

CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/env.d /etc/gconf /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/terminfo /etc/texmf/web2c"

CXXFLAGS="-O2 -march=i686 -fomit-frame-pointer -ggdb"

DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"

FEATURES="autoconfig distlocks metadata-transfer sandbox sfperms strict"

GENTOO_MIRRORS="ftp://sunsite.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/Linux/gentoo http://linux.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/download/gentoo-mirror/ ftp://linux.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/gentoo-mirror/ http://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/mirrors/gentoo ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/mirrors/gentoo ftp://ftp.join.uni-muenster.de/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo ftp://ftp.wh2.tu-dresden.de/pub/mirrors/gentoo ftp://ftp.join.uni-muenster.de/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo ftp://ftp6.uni-muenster.de/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo http://mirrors.sec.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de/gentoo/ http://ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/gentoo/ ftp://ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/gentoo/ ftp://ftp.gentoo.mesh-solutions.com/gentoo/ http://pandemonium.tiscali.de/pub/gentoo/ ftp://pandemonium.tiscali.de/pub/gentoo/"

LC_ALL="en_US.utf8"

LINGUAS=""

MAKEOPTS="-j2"

PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"

PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --delete-after --stats --timeout=180 --exclude='/distfiles' --exclude='/local' --exclude='/packages'"

PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"

PORTDIR="/usr/portage"

SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"

USE="x86 X aac acpi alsa avi berkdb bitmap-fonts cairo cdr cjk cli cracklib crypt dbus divx4linux dlloader dri dvd dvdr dvdread eds elibc_glibc emboss encode esd fam firefox fortran gdbm gif gnome gpm gstreamer gtk gtkhtml hal iconv input_devices_joystick input_devices_keyboard input_devices_mouse ipv6 isdnlog joystick jpeg kernel_linux ldap libg++ mad matroska mikmod mp3 mpeg ncurses nls nptl nptlonly ogg oggvorbis opengl oss pam pcre perl png ppds pppd python qt3 qt4 quicktime readline reflection sdl session spell spl ssl symlink tcpd truetype truetype-fonts type1-fonts udev unicode userland_GNU video_cards_savage videos vorbis win32codecs wxgtk1 xml xorg xv xvid zlib"

Unset:  CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LDFLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS, PORTDIR_OVERLAY
```

Any help trouble-shooting this is very much appreciated.

Peace,

Gabriel

----------

## bjd

Whats the permissions on the DVD-RAM device in /dev?

----------

## gabkdlly

```
$ ls -la /dev/dvdrw

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 2006-11-04 15:28 /dev/dvdrw -> hdb

$ ls -la /dev/hdb

brw-rw---- 1 root cdrom 3, 64 2006-11-04 15:28 /dev/hdb
```

Also, I have successfully burned CDs and DVD-Rs using Bashburn and Graveman.

----------

## StevePER

Are you sure your burner supports DVD-RAM? I have the Samsung SH-W162C, which has this in the doco...

Note

Does not support DVD-R for Authoring, DVD-RAM

I think that means it doesn't support DVD-RAM.

----------

## gabkdlly

Samsung's site says that it does support DVD-RAM

[url]http://www.samsung.com/Products/OpticalDiscDrive/DVDWriter/

OpticalDiscDrive_DVDWriter_SH_S162A.asp?page=Specifications[/url]

----------

## Rad

Hmm... maybe you could try to wipe your dvd-ram with "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/dvdrw" and then try mkfs.ext2 on that?

----------

## Yzzyx

dd give the follow error on my box.

```

blue ~ # dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdc

dd: opening `/dev/hdc': Read-only file system

```

dvd+rw-mediainfo on my drive:

```

blue ~ # dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/hdc

INQUIRY:                [TSSTcorp][CD/DVDW SH-S182D][SB02]

GET [CURRENT] CONFIGURATION:

 Mounted Media:         12h, DVD-RAM

 Current Write Speed:   3.0x1385=4155KB/s

 Write Speed #0:        3.0x1385=4155KB/s

 Write Speed #1:        2.0x1385=2770KB/s

GET [CURRENT] PERFORMANCE:

 Write Performance:     3.0x1385=4155KB/s@[0 -> 2236703]

 Speed Descriptor#0:    00/2236703 R@3.0x1385=4155KB/s W@3.0x1385=4155KB/s

 Speed Descriptor#1:    00/2236703 R@3.0x1385=4155KB/s W@2.0x1385=2770KB/s

 Speed Descriptor#2:    00/2236703 R@3.0x1385=4155KB/s W@2.0x1385=2770KB/s

READ DVD STRUCTURE[#0h]:

 Media Book Type:       00h, DVD-ROM book [revision 0]

 Legacy lead-out at:    2314080*2KB=4739235840

DVD-RAM SPARE AREA INFORMATION:

 Primary SA:            12800/12800=100.0% free

 Supplementary SA:      58368/58368=100.0% free

DVD-RAM WRITE PROTECTION STATUS:

 Persistent Write Protection is off

READ DISC INFORMATION:

 Disc status:           other

 Number of Sessions:    1

 State of Last Session: complete

 "Next" Track:          1

 Number of Tracks:      1

READ FORMAT CAPACITIES:

 formatted:             2236704*2048=4580769792

 00h(800):              2236704*2048=4580769792

 00h(800):              2295072*2048=4700307456

 01h(800):              2226976*2048=4560846848

 01h(800):              2217248*2048=4540923904

FABRICATED TOC:

 Track#1  :             14@0

 Track#AA :             14@2236704

 Multi-session Info:    #1@0

READ CAPACITY:          2236704*2048=4580769792

```

--- Edited post to put in info about result from dd and dvd+rw-mediainfo run ---

Have the same problem. Didnt see your thread and started another one, sorry.

I will report any findings. It would be great if it was able to search the forums for exact matches so "DVD-RAM" don't turn into "DVD" + "RAM". (Maybe there is a way but I don't know how?)

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-3737250.html#3737250

PS. And... maybe one day Google will start supporting wildcards like '?' and '*'.  :Smile: 

----------

