Restoring optical media with Dvdisaster
Lifebuoy
© Lead Image © tiero, 123RF.com
Even optical storage media are subject to wear. Dvdisaster helps you prevent data loss due to defective CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs with a manageable amount of effort.
Optical storage media enjoy great popularity and are used above all in multimedia applications and often as backup media. However, these cheap plastic discs also have disadvantages: Aging processes cause read errors over time, ultimately making the entire medium unusable and leading to complete data loss in extreme cases.
Predicting when such problems will arise is difficult; it depends not least on environmental influences and the original quality of the medium. If you want to use optical media for long-term archiving, you are advised to exercise due diligence. Using a small program named Dvdisaster [1] can effectively help prevent loss of data on optical storage media.
All the major distributions have Dvdisaster in their repositories; you can typically avoid building from the source code [2] and install the program easily using your distribution's package manager. Depending on the desktop used, you will then find a starter for Dvdisaster below Multimedia or System Tools. Note that if you use a Blu-ray burner, you need a Dvdisaster version from the current 0.72 branch; the predecessors do not support Blu-ray media.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.