DVD+RW-FORMAT(1)

💿 dvd+rw-format — the manual, but make it make sense ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to dvd+rw-format from the General Commands Manual, section 1. this is the formatting-and-blanking DVD and BD media program and honestly it's giving "small tool, big responsibilities" 👑

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🌸 NAME 🌸

dvd+rw-format — the program that formats and blanks DVD and BD media. that's the whole vibe. 💅

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

dvd+rw-format [-force[=full]] [-lead-out|-blank[=full]]
[-ssa[=none|default|max|XXXm]] /dev/dvd

like, yes, that's a lot of brackets. breathe. we'll get there. 🫶

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so dvd+rw-format is part of the dvd+rw-tools suite, and it does two main-character jobs: it formats virgin DVD+RW or BD-RE media so they're ready for their first use, or it blanks DVD-RW that already has stuff written on it. ✨

the typical use cases — aka when you'd actually reach for this — are:

• formatting DVD-RW to make them over-writable,
• blanking a used DVD-RW to make it sequentially writable from scratch,
• formatting BD-RE and DVD-RAM with custom spare area sizes,
• re-formatting BD-RE and DVD-RAM to change their spare size.

🚫 and no, you literally cannot format CD-RW with dvd+rw-format. not happening, not today. use cdrskin, xorriso or wodim to blank them, or cdrwtool to format them instead — check the EXAMPLES section below, iykyk. 💀

so here's the tea on DVD-RW: it accepts two disc modes — Sequential Recording and Restricted Overwrite. if the medium is in the latter mode, it behaves much like DVD+RW. by default, DVD-RW discs are in Sequential Recording mode, but you can put them into Restricted Overwrite mode using dvd+rw-format when no options are given.

⚠️ be aware, bestie: only -blank=full, which lasts as long as full writing, makes a used sequential DVD-RW capable of performing multi-session, while fast blanked DVD-RW can only do Disk-At-Once. that's a real difference, don't sleep on it. 😭

virgin DVD-RW can be directly written without the need of a formatting operation — slay, no prep needed. however, a non-virgin DVD-RW in Sequential Recording mode needs to be blanked before writing a new initial session. and since a DVD-RW medium in Restricted Overwrite mode behaves much like DVD+RW, it can be written again without prior formatting the media. ✨

virgin BD-RE and DVD+RW media may be initially formatted prior usage. any-time later, the growisofs program will take care of formatting it automatically whenever appropriate — so further formatting is not recommended, though it is possible. lowkey let growisofs handle it. 💅

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -force[=full] — performs formatting even if the medium is formatted already. this is not recommended for BD-RE and DVD+RW media, since they need to be formatted only once 👀. use -format=full to perform full (lengthy) reformat in case of DVD-RAM or (lengthy) Full Certification in case of BD-RE.
• -lead-out — relocates the lead-out next to the outermost written sector and makes sure there is no virgin surface before it. this can make the medium more compatible with some DVD players 🎬. previously written data is not affected by this operation, so you're safe.
• -blank[=full] — wipes data from DVD-RW media. data on BD-RE and DVD+RW will be overwritten automatically, so there's no need to blank them explicitly. use -blank=full to change DVD-RW back to Sequential Recording mode.
• -ssa[=none|default|max|XXXm] — grow, eliminate, reset to default or maximize the Supplementary Spare Area. pick your fighter 🥊.

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🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

actual device names vary from one operating system to another — like, your /dev/dvd is not everyone's /dev/dvd. we use /dev/dvd as a collective name, or as a symbolic link to the actual device if you wish 🫶. under Linux it will most likely be a device such as "/dev/sr0" or "/dev/hda" for older Linux 2.6.

to blank a CD-RW, you have to use another utility, e.g. wodim:

wodim blank=fast -immed dev=/dev/cdrom
cdrskin blank=all|fast|as_needed -immed dev=/dev/cdrom
xorriso -outdev /dev/cdrom -blank all|fast|as_needed

to format CD-RW, you can use cdrwtool:

cdrwtool -d /dev/cdrom -q

to blank a DVD-RW and put in the incremental sequential mode, run:

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

to blank a DVD-RW and put in the Restricted Overwrite mode, run:

dvd+rw-format -force /dev/dvd

to overwrite data of BD-RE, DVD+RW, DVD-RW or DVD-RAM, run:

growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero

to blank a DVD-RAM, you can use:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/dvd

to relocate lead-out sector, run:

dvd+rw-format -lead-out /dev/dvd

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🧚 NOTES 🧚

note that the DVD+RW re-formatting procedure does not substitute for blanking. so if you want to nullify the media, e.g. for privacy reasons 🔒, do it explicitly with 'growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero'. fr fr, don't skip this one.

when growisofs "runs into" blank Blu-ray Disc media or BD-RE, it gets pre-formatted with minimal spare area size of 256MB. that's just what happens, bestie. 💜

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

most up-to-date information on dvd+rw-tools is available at http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/.

growisofs(1), cdrskin(1), xorriso(1), wodim(1), cdrwtool(1)

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

Andy Polyakov <appro@fy.chalmers.se> stands for programming and on-line information. iconic behavior honestly. ✨

this manpage was created by Honza Horak <hhorak@redhat.com> and consulted by Thomas Schmitt <scdbackup@gmx.net>. teamwork ate. 🫶

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🍓 LICENSE 🍓

dvd+rw-format is distributed under GNU GPL. periodt. 💅

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and that's the whole page, bestie — brought to you by dvd+rw-tools 7.1, dated 24 Aug 2012 🌸 (yes, the date is vintage, the tool is still that girl). now go format something responsibly, and hydrate 💖✨🎀