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M-Disc and GNU+Linux

ZFSinmylungs
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Hello there. I was wondering if there needs to be special software that supports M-Disc engraving?
Let me explain. M-Disc is a patented technology that instead of using organic materials for CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disks - it uses a stone-like inorganic material from which - at this point it's not burning but engraving to a disk.
They say that their disks can last over 1000 years. Stones do not degrade as fast as organic material.

So yeah - do I need a special software for this? I was considering KDE's K3b app for disk burning, but after researching around some Linux forums I found most of them 1. using CLI tools and that's fine.. but wait - it is not - I can not really afford to fail.. failure would cost money .. and 2. It seems like it might just be a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray categorizing because I found where I can buy Blu-Ray M-Disc discs soo I might only need the "Blu-Ray" thing? And K3b does support it.

Next thing - I guess Blu-Ray discs, even if they're M-Discs should play back 4k content (preferably at 60fps), right? I found a writer that has a sticker put on it "4K' lol it might just be a branding since it's just a bit expensive. It's a Verbatim product, slimline outer writer, for out-of-box user, via USB 3.1 gen 1 I believe.

From m-disc's website - they say that hardware support should be there for Linux too ( I was surprised they mentioned it :D)

Please let me know.
Oh, and if you're recommending some other software - I need it to be freedom libre software, GPL or at least MIT licensed.

Cheers.

I cannot quote people with the built-in function because I almost never enable JavaScript on websites. You won't get notified if I reply to you, sadly :/

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2 hours ago, ZFSinmylungs said:

Hello there. I was wondering if there needs to be special software that supports M-Disc engraving?
 

I think the software you need is bundled with the hardware. I had software bundled with my DVD writer

If you buy an M-Disc media you'll be able to write it in a M-Disc compatible writer

(You might not even need software as Windows might be enough)

I'm willing to swim against the current.

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@Grummy Old Man
"K3b recognizes the DVD-R M-Disc as a standard DVD-R disc and burns it quite normally."
Seriously? :D yay what about Blu-Ray M-Disc? I reckon the same as they do say they support Blu-Ray discs as well.
Also would K3b continue on writing I mean engraving on top of the existing CD, let's say of size 50GB, if, let's say that I put something on top of 1 disc , but there's like still lots of storage left, so after some time I engrave again, adding more stuff onto it, to fill up that empty space? Would K3b have anything to do that? I am not sure if it's up to the writer itself or the software? I am really curious.

I cannot quote people with the built-in function because I almost never enable JavaScript on websites. You won't get notified if I reply to you, sadly :/

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@Grumpy Old Man
Thanks man, you really helped me.
Now all that's left to do is find where to buy these money-spending "drugs" haha

I cannot quote people with the built-in function because I almost never enable JavaScript on websites. You won't get notified if I reply to you, sadly :/

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@Grumpy Old Man
Seems like they cannot be appended on the ones I got..
In K3b it says, for the Medium: "Rewritble: no"; "Appendable: no".
Do you think this solution here: https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/k3b-multisession-problem-283857/ could work? :/
Medium type: "BD-R Sequential (SRM)"

EDIT: hmm it seems to support UDF mode hmm let me try that

I cannot quote people with the built-in function because I almost never enable JavaScript on websites. You won't get notified if I reply to you, sadly :/

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@Grumpy Old Man
Hmmm I failed.. I went to
I am so fucking dumb, I basically threw away a gratis 25GB disc xD
I didn't save my session..
Like I burned, it got some weird error (probably the "Verify written data"), but everything seemed to work on the disc.. then I re-inserted it and when I went to burn again it said that the disc didn't support multisessons.. But that was the disc that came with the thing, I haven't tried the EXPENSIVE discs yet xD.. learning, thankfully got some spare shitty ones to test my knowledge.

What is your option on Project Properties > Misc > Multisession mode? by default it is on auto..

P.S. After I burned to the disc the 1st time - the variable "Appendable" changed from "no" to "yes" ..

EDIT: It seems like after I burn - it will show the session items before the last one.. which is strange..... I probably need to close the multisession like you have instructed, but I do not know where to do that

I cannot quote people with the built-in function because I almost never enable JavaScript on websites. You won't get notified if I reply to you, sadly :/

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Okay, I think I found out the solution.
I believe I need to eject the disc after every session burn. So start multisession, continue(x as many times you want) and then finish it

I cannot quote people with the built-in function because I almost never enable JavaScript on websites. You won't get notified if I reply to you, sadly :/

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  • 2 years later...
Posted

Hey! 

I know this thread is a little old but thought I'd share another data point 

No problem creating Mdiscs with K3b (I've done BDXL, BDR and DVD). Blu Rays get detected as LTH which I guess is the closest equivalent. 

For hardware... I think most stuff basically works even if the manufacturer doesn't advertise Linux compatibility. For Blu Ray, regular BDR writers and readers are fine. For DVDs it's best to look for drives with certification.

Hope that added something to the thread. Mdiscs are great - very innovative technology! 

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