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Burn Hybrid CDs using Free Tools
CD Burning in general is supported in most operating systems right out of the box.
However, if you’re looking for a free alternative to features which are otherwise considered “premium”, like burning hybrid CD’s that work on Windows and Mac there are freely available tools licensed under GNU which have everything you need.
Consider the steps below. Simple (if you follow the steps and don’t have hiccups), free (as long as GNU stands) and error proof (so long as you use the precompiled binaries of stable versions and don’t stray to bleeding edge BETAs or compiling your own
).
Step 1
For Windows:
Download and install Cygwin.
During install process, towards the end where you select packages, select cdrtools/cdrecord/mkisofs
For Mac:
Download cdrtools from their website or freshmeat.
For (Redhat) Linux:
su
yum install cdrtools OR yum install cdrecord THEN
yum install mkisofs
For (Debian) Linux:
su
apt-get install cdrtools OR apt-get install cdrecord THEN
apt-get install mkisofs
Step 2
Prep a folder that will be burned to the disc. Make sure the contents will fit and verify the file structure is correct.
If you want to literally burn the folder itself, don’t “cd” into that directory. If you are burning the contents of the folder, you will “cd” into the directory and specify “.” as the target name instead of the folder name.
Step 3
In Windows start up Cygwin, on Mac open the darwin terminal window, on linux open your terminal window.
Run:
cdrecord -scanbus
Note the numerical identifier for your burner drive. This is what you will specify for the “dev” parameter later.
“cd” into the directory containing the files to burn then run:
mkisofs -o isoname.iso -r -J -hfs .
Then from within the same directory, burn the iso that you created:
cdrecord dev=4,0,0 -v isoname.iso
That’s it! Let ‘er rip!
Note: genisoimage is similar to mkisofs, but I have not used it extensively and cannot verify if functionality is exactly the same.
References
Cygwin, http://www.cygwin.com/
CDRTools, http://cdrecord.berlios.de
Freshmeat, http://freshmeat.net
Howto-Pages.org, http://howto-pages.org/cdwriting/07.php
G-Loaded.eu, http://www.g-loaded.eu/2007/04/25/how-to-create-a-windows-bootable-cd-with-mkisofs/
Brandonhutchinson.com, http://www.brandonhutchinson.com/Burning_CDs_with_cdrecord.html
genisoimage, http://linux.die.net/man/1/genisoimage
Hints.Macword, http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20020520083853834
Access Denied on File Delete or Cannot delete file
If you receive an “access denied” message on your PC, whether in Windows or Linux, which occurs when trying to delete or modify a file, it can usually be narrowed down to a few reasons:
- The file is marked as readonly
- The file is located on a CD, disk, drive, removable device or any other storage type which is either marked as readonly for the entire volume or your files are contained within a readonly partition in this volume (which can easily occur in linux if you manually mount a drive improperly)
- You do not have access to delete the file or are not an owner of the file
- The file is currently open or in use
If you are deleting the file using code in your .Net application, be sure to remove the “read only” attribute which won’t prevent a user from deleting it, but will definitely halt your application. (code reference).
If you are absolutely sure you should be able to delete the file, or are trying to remove a file which be malicious or difficult to delete, there are tools available such as file assassin which can be used to override the normal OS safeguards (if you have the right know how and permissions) and delete the file anyway.
References
Imran Akram (WordPress BLOG)http://imak47.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/how-to-remove-readonly-attribute-from-a-file/
MalwareBytes “FileAssassin”, http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php