[Pkg-opt-media-team] Bug#1126898: dvd+rw-mediainfo: Show recorder ID on DVD-R and DVD-RW.

[techlord8 at web.de]

Package: dvd+rw-tools
Version: 7.1-14build1
Severity: wishlist

On DVD-R and DVD-RW media, drives save their recorder identifier (manufacturer name and model number of the drive used) on the disc. 

I suggest dvd+rw-mediainfo to be able to show this information. Nero DiscSpeed on Windows already shows it.

The recorder ID is not stored in the volume space (also referred to as "program area", which is what can be viewed from hexedit /dev/sr0), but in the lead-in, which is closer to the center of the disc and is parsed by the drive's firmware when a disc is inserted. It is not addressable like the volume space, meaning it has no logical block address (LBA).

More details: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/768531/how-can-i-read-the-rid-of-a-cdrw-or-dvdrw-on-linux

Note on terminology: From what I know, "program area" only is an official term on CD-ROM, not DVD or BD, to refer to the area where the data readable by the operating system is stored. It is where the file system and the files are stored, but not things like the media identifier (examples being "TYG02", "RITEKF1", "GSC003", "MBI 01RG40", ...) and supported recording speeds. Those things are stored in the lead-in.
While "program area" apparently is no official term on DVD and BD, it can be used anyway to refer to the equivalent thing. The term I prefer, "volume space", is used in the UDF (Universal Disk Format) specification.