growisofs — burning iso files to dvd using growisofs

It is very simple to burn ISO files to DVDs using growisofs under Linux. For example, to burn file.iso to /dev/dvd DVDR(W) device the following command can be used from bash.

growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/dvd=file.iso # ©2007 dsplabs.com.au

If your DVDR(W) device is located elsewhere, f.e. under /dev/dvdrecorder, use that alias throughout instead. The following output is produced by the above shell one-liner.

Executing 'builtin_dd if=file.iso of=/dev/dvd obs=32k seek=0'
/dev/dvd: pre-formatting blank DVD+RW...
/dev/dvd: "Current Write Speed" is 4.1x1385KBps.
23429120/3197272064 ( 0.7%) @3.9x, remaining 11:17
...
3192094720/3197272064 (99.8%) @3.9x, remaining 0:00
builtin_dd: 1561168*2KB out @ average 3.9x1385KBps
/dev/dvd: flushing cache
/dev/dvd: writing lead-out
/dev/dvd: reloading tray

From the above output, it is evident that the DVD burning operation using growisofs is in-fact a dd-like command:

dd if=file.iso of=/dev/dvd obs=32k seek=0 # ©2007 dsplabs.com.au

plus some necessary media pre-and-post-formatting.

Also, note that one can erase a DVDRW using:

growisofs -Z /dev/dvd=/dev/zero # ©2007 dsplabs.com.au