DVD burning -- correct syntax?

[Paul Howarth]

Chong Yu Meng wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I need help with the command for burning DVDs on Fedora Core. After
> struggling for a while, I now have 3 lovely coasters and I am down to my
> last 3 DVD discs, so I am hoping to get this right within 3 tries.
> 
> First, a little background: I'm trying to transfer the data contents
> (not movies or music) of 2 directories, containing rsync'ed extras and
> updates for FC5 to DVD so I can bring it to Hong Kong to prepare a
> server there. 
> 
> Here's what I did:
> 
> 1. First, I made an ISO file:
> $ mkisofs -v -l -r -max-iso9660-filenames -no-bak -o
> updates.iso /tmp/x86_64
> 
> 2. Next, I mount it loopback and check, and the filenames look OK to
> me. 
> 
> $ sudo mount -o loop updates.iso /mnt/tempimage
> 
> 3. Then I burn to DVD with this command:
> 
> $ sudo growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=updates.iso
> 
> Here's the problem: when I read the resulting DVD in Windows, I get all
> the filenames in uppercase, and some are conflated.

For making DVDs readable on Windows, use Joliet extensions (-joliet 
option in mkisofs).

 > When I read the DVD
> in Linux, it looks right too, but when I try to copy the files to the
> hard disk, I get "Input/output errors" for some files. I suspect it
> could be because the filenames are too long.
> 
> So here's my question: could somebody give me the correct syntax for
> burning the files to DVD using growisofs? 
> 
> I would prefer not to use the graphical tools, because I will need to
> use the same command for backup to DVDs in future. 

Your growisofs usage looks OK but you could also try cdrecord:
http://www.city-fan.org/tips/BackupFilesToCDorDVD

Try to keep the burn speed down for reliable reading on other systems.

Paul.