VOGONS


First post, by Errius

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Hello all, I have many old CD/DVD/BD-Rs, going back to the early 2000s, which I am slowly going though. Testing and removing bad disks, reburning important files, etc.

Is there a way of extracting the following metadata from an arbitrary optical disk:

  1. Date of burn
  2. Speed of burn
  3. Drive model and firmware
  4. Burning software

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 2 of 12, by marvias

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Date of burn, burning software might be in primary volume descriptor. You can also check that with isobuster. But if those discs were burned from .iso or other image, then values that were present in that image were used.
Dont think you can get drive and speed used.

Reply 3 of 12, by Errius

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Update on this. This is what I've found:

(I've been using Imgburn in conjunction with DVDInfoPro)

  • CD-R - The only useful metadata stored on these is the name of the manufacturer, e.g. Eastman Kodak Co. or Ritek Co.
  • DVD+/-R - These contain a string identifying the drive, and sometimes the firmware, though sometimes it's just something generic like "ATAPI". The burning software is sometimes also recorded, e.g. "Nero"
  • BD-R - These contain no useful metadata unless burned as UDF disks. [ETA: Some identify the drive in the "Disc Definition Structure" field]
  • UDF - Any disk burned with the UDF format contains the burn date and burning software, however it does not include the drive unless the disk is a DVD. [ETA: CD-Rs burned in UDF appear to omit the burn date. ]

The burn speed does not appear to be stored anywhere.

The DVD drive string can be pretty cryptic, requiring some detective work to figure out. For example, does anyone have any idea what drive identified itself as "HLDS-JB8 HLDS JB8" ?

Last edited by Errius on 2020-10-29, 17:56. Edited 4 times in total.

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 4 of 12, by Grzyb

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HLDS = Hitachi-LG Data Storage

Żywotwór planetarny, jego gnijące błoto, jest świtem egzystencji, fazą wstępną, i wyłoni się z krwawych ciastomózgowych miedź miłująca...

Reply 5 of 12, by Horun

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Yep ! Could be wrong but think HLDS-JB8 = LG Electronics WH14NS40 with PCB: JB8 2015. Usually the reason CD/DVD disks go bad is not so much the burner but the actual disk media itself.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 6 of 12, by Errius

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Yes I have a WH14NS40 so that makes sense, thank you.

I don't understand though why it signed every other DVD "WH14NS40", but not this one.

The other disks are DVD-R but this one is DVD+R DL. This must have something to do with it.

The burning software was Imgburn 2.5.8.0 in every case.

ETA: Experiments confirm that this drive signs DVD-R media with the drive model and serial number, but DVD+R media with that cryptic "JB8" string. I don't know why this is so.

ETA2: I've recently acquired a new drive, an Asus BW-16D1HT, which also writes the same "JB8" identifying string to DVD+R disks.

Last edited by Errius on 2022-07-11, 11:54. Edited 3 times in total.

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 7 of 12, by Errius

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There is another mystery drive which signs its name as "MTK DVDRW 1818 MT1818 Firmware MT1818"

I think it is a BTC DRW1004IM but am not certain. The firmware name doesn't match, for one thing. The BTC has only had firmwares "0043" and "0051".

ETA: Confirmed. The DRW1004IM signs DVD+R media with the string “MTK DVDRW 1818 MTK 1818VERA” and DVD-R media with “MTK DVDRW 1818 MT1818 Firmware MT1818”

Last edited by Errius on 2020-09-17, 23:07. Edited 1 time in total.

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 8 of 12, by Horun

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Errius wrote on 2020-08-30, 05:04:

There is another mystery drive which signs its name as "MTK DVDRW 1818 MT1818 Firmware MT1818"

I think it is a BTC DRW1004IM but am not certain. The firmware name doesn't match, for one thing. The BTC has only had firmwares "0043" and "0051".

Hmm that could be any older DVD burner using the MediaTEK MT1818 chipset, max burn speeds: 8x DVDR / 48x CDR (from quick google search about the chipset).

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 9 of 12, by Errius

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That's a start, thanks.

ETA: Here's another strange thing I've found. Various Lite-On drives identify themselves as Sony drives:

  • SHM/SHW-160P6S identifies itself as DW-Q120A
  • SOHW-1693S identifies itself as DW-Q28A
  • SOHW-1633S identifies itself as DW-D22A

More anomalies:

  • MSI MS-8404A (DR4-A) identifies itself as a Sanyo CRD-BPDV2
  • TSST TS-L633A identifies itself as a TS-L632H
  • Sony DRU-530A identifies itself as a Sanyo CRD-BPDV3

I have also found out which drives identify themselves as "ATAPI". The Lite-On DH-20A4P and iHBS112 both write this string to DVD+R media. (For DVD-R media they write a string containing the drive model.)

Last edited by Errius on 2020-09-22, 22:52. Edited 1 time in total.

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 10 of 12, by Errius

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Does anyone know what burning software identifies itself as "MicrosoftIMAPI2 1.0"

The UDF Implementation ID as reported by DVDInfoPro is always either "Nero" or "Imgburn", except for two odd disks burned in 2010 that report "MicrosoftIMAPI2 1.0".

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 11 of 12, by Horun

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Errius wrote on 2020-09-21, 22:48:

Does anyone know what burning software identifies itself as "MicrosoftIMAPI2 1.0"

The UDF Implementation ID as reported by DVDInfoPro is always either "Nero" or "Imgburn", except for two odd disks burned in 2010 that report "MicrosoftIMAPI2 1.0".

That is what Windows built-in burner is. IMAPI 2 came out with Vista and later but you could update XP's original IMAPI to IMAPI 2.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 12 of 12, by Errius

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Weird, I don't remember ever using that.

ETA: These disks were burned in March 2010, which is just after I switched from Windows XP to Windows 7. I must have been experimenting with the new OS.

Is this too much voodoo?