10/25/2006: The newest linux machines (Fedora Core 5) will support cd and dvd writing.  When you insert a new empty piece of media, a window comes up where you can drag files...when finished, a menu on the window allows you to burn to the media.  Root permissions are no longer needed....for older systems, I have left instructions below.

Overview: CD_record on Unix

du -ks: Put the stuff you want to burn into a directory and check that the directory is not to big.

mkisofs: Create a cd_image*: convert a directory into a file that is formatted in ISO-9660 format (CD format)

cdrecord: Write that cd_image to the cd in the cd writer.

*By "cd_image" here, we mean a file, formatted in ISO-9660 format, and created from a directory of stuff to go on the CD. This file looks exactly like a CD to the system (i.e., it is in CD format) even when it is still sitting on the HD. In no way does "image" in this context refer to the content you are putting on the CD; that could be programs, pictures, spreadsheets files, whatever.

Step 1

You can use du -ks dir/ to determine the size of a directory in kilobytes and then move the directories you want into a single temp directory (I called mine Burn/). e.g.,

>du -ks Burn/

Don't exceed 620 Megabytes (620,000 k) total as a CD can hold 650 Megabytes and needs some overhead space for the filesystem.

Step 2

>mkisofs –r –o cd_image dir/

(make an iso filesystem file in this directory whose name is cd_image and which is a copy of the directory /dir). You need to be in the directory right above dir/ for this to work.

For example,

>mkisofs –r –o bigiso9660file Burn/

would work just as well if you wanted the cd image file to be named bigiso9660file and contain a copy of the contents of the directory "Burn" .

Note that you cannot list more than one directory as an argument to this command, though you can have lots of subdirectories inside dir/.

Check to make sure that mkisofs has done a good job by calling isoinfo to list the contents of the resultant iso-formatted file:

>/usr/freeware/bin/isoinfo -l -i ./bigiso9660file

Step 3

Put a CD into the CD Writer -bluish side down.

>cdrecord –v speed=4 dev=1,6,0 –data bigiso9660file

Record a cd –v (with verbose output-so it tells you everything it is doing) at speed 4 (I have tested speed 2 and speed 4, both work fine…others may work as well), on the device with the scsi address 1,6,0 and use the data file called bigiso9660file as the content of the cd.

It took me about 14 minutes to burn 500+ Megabytes at 4x speed.

First, you might wish to do a fake run of the command, to find out what it will do (use the -ok flag instead of the -exec flag)

So here is the fake run version:

>find . \! -name '*.gz' -ok gzip -v {} \;

And here is the real version:

>find . \! -name '*.gz' -exec gzip -v {} \;

Note that this won't zip up directories, just the files inside directories. It'll warn you that it can't zip up directories (that's fine).

Writing CDs on Mrisun or Tommy

The new mrisun is a linux machine with xcdroast installed. Follow these instructions to write a cd using xcdroast:

• Place your CD in the drive, and log in. "guest" will not be able to log in; so, use "cnl", or your personal account.
  
  
• Xcdroast has a nice interface for writing CDs. From the
  command line (use the foot icon on the Gnome menu bar to open a terminal window, or click the little icon that looks like a monitor with the foot on it [a couple of icons to the right of the foot icon], or from a remote Xsession),
  In the terminal window, type:
  >xcdroast
  If this is the first time this user has launched xcdroast, it will
  complain of no setup file. Hit the "enter setup" button, and then "save
  configuration". the defaults are all set up, so you shouldn't need to
  change anything, and you won't see the setup again (unless you select it).
  
  
• You should now be at the main menu. Press "Create CD".
  
  
  Then press "Master Tracks".
  
  
  
• Under "File/Directory View" (on the right) you can navigate to what you'd like to burn (/data2/cnl would be common). By default, you can only add directories. Uncheck the "Display directories only" box below the File/Directory View to see files as well. Select Files or Directories, pressing "Add" to add them to your CD. You can do this multiple times, so you don't have to select everything at once.
  
  
• The files and directories you've chosen should appear in your "Session
  View" (on the left). The "Size" on "Used/Available" (below the Session View Window) will not update yet.
  
  
• Once you are done adding files, go to "Create Session/Image" on the last windowpane tab. Hit "Calculate Size"(under "session information" on the left). Hopefully it is less than your CD size. Go back to the "Master Source" tab and remove files if it isn't.
  
  
• Double check the defaults, and hit "Master and Write on-the-fly" to burn your cd.
  
  
• Once the cd is done (xcdroast should tell you that it wrote the cd correctly), you can exit xcdroast. Sometimes, xcdroast mounts the CD, so you can't just press the CD tray button and remove your cd. If the CD icon appears on your desktop (probably on the lower left), then the cd was auto-mounted. Right click the cd icon, and choose "eject volume". Or, you can type "eject" from the terminal command line.
  
  
• You should always check your cd and make sure it is readable on another machine.
  If you are adding files or directories with long names, you may have problems reading those long names on another operating system (we've seen the problem reading cds on unix that were written on Windows and vice versa). Short names are always better.

That should be all...