readcd

Read data from CD/DVD optical discs

TLDR

Read a CD and copy it to an ISO file

$ readcd dev=/dev/sr0 f=[path/to/file.iso]

List available SCSI/optical devices

$ readcd -scanbus

Read a specific range of sectors

$ readcd dev=/dev/sr0 sectors=[0]-[10000] f=[out.bin]

Read at a reduced speed to improve reliability

$ readcd dev=/dev/sr0 speed=[4] f=[file.iso]

Make a full clone including sub-channel data and TOC

$ readcd dev=/dev/sr0 -clone f=[disc.img]

SYNOPSIS

readcd [options] dev=device f=file

readcd reads Compact Disc, DVD, and BluRay media data, typically to create ISO images or raw dumps of physical discs. It can also write data back, but only to DVD-RAM media (with -w).The tool accesses the raw disc data and supports retries, sector ranges, and full cloning (sub-channel data plus TOC), making it suitable for creating exact copies of media.

PARAMETERS

dev=device

CD/DVD/BluRay device to read from (e.g. /dev/sr0 or SCSI notation like 1,0,0).

f=file

Output file for read operations (input file when writing). Use '-' for stdout/stdin.

sectors=range

Range of sectors to read, e.g. 150-10000 (the end sector is excluded).

speed=n

Read speed as a multiple of single speed (150 KB/s for CD). Lower speeds can improve readability.

retries=n

Number of high-level retries for unreadable sectors. Defaults to 128.

-clone

Read the whole disc including all sub-channel data and the full table of contents (saved with a .toc file).

-fulltoc

Retrieve and print the full table of contents in hex.

-c2scan

Scan the disc for C2 (uncorrectable) errors.

-w

Switch to write mode (DVD-RAM only).

-scanbus

List all available SCSI devices.

-v

Increase verbosity, reporting read progress.

CAVEATS

Requires read access to the optical drive device. Some copy-protected discs may not read correctly.

HISTORY

Part of cdrtools (or cdrkit on some distributions), providing CD/DVD burning and reading utilities.