The CD-Rchive Handbook : Overview

Contents

## Data Recording Overview

The process you should be aiming for in making a Data CD is:-
Pre-mastering data , which means setting out the data to be written in a logical fashion.
Select the type of image to write in the Settings tab page.
Enter the target filename and path plus the source path in the Source and Target tab pages and enter any settings which apply on the Advanced tab page.
Next check the size of the proposed image using Test Size button on the Source tab page. You need to allow space for Table of Contents etc and a rough rule of thumb would be that 615 - 620MB of data image using Rock Ridge extensions will get close to the 640MB limit of a CD when written to disc. Always experiment with a dummy write before burning to CD.
If you use Joliet as well this overhead is increased and dummy writes are definately required to make sure it will fit. Note that OpenBSD's version of mkisofs does not support Joliet extensions hence why this version uses mkhybrid.
Then make the image.
Output from mkhybrid will be displayed.
Always check through this output, it will be your first warning of problems and will give an exact size for the image.
The next stage is Checking Image files. You can browse the file system of the image just like any other mounted device or partition and ensure all is as it should be. CD-Rchive mounts and displays the image for you. Please note that you can open directories, but not the individual files.
The golden rule here is if it won't mount, don't write it ( unless it is a Multi-Session CD)
Penultimate step, ensure the Dummy Write option is set, check other settings and do a test write. Check the output from cdrecord and if all appears OK;
Final step, write to CD!
Making a Data Image