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INDEX

{1} Working with Pburn
{2} In depth
{3} Settings
{4} Potential pitfalls


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{1} WORKING WITH PBURN

Pburn supports burning to CD-, DVD- and Blu-ray discs. The size of media is printed on the disc-surface, and is valuable to know before burning. Normally CDs are 700Mb, DVDs are 4.4Gb and Blu-rays are 25GB. But this differs, so check it out.

Add files and directories to the burn-list, either with the browser or search-tool. You can also open a previously saved burn-list or import any textfile including filenames. This includes common music playlists.

The burn-list items may be edited. You can remove items, rename items or put them into a new directory. These items are links to the actual files on your system, and will still point to their source, whatever you edit.

Pburn handles content of the burn-list in several ways.
- Burn a data-disc of burn-list content. This disc will be compatible with PCs, mp3-players, Divx-players...
- Burn an audio CD of files in the burn-list, that can be played in ordinary CD-players.
- Burn a video DVD/CD of files in the burn-list, that can be played in ordinary DVD-players.
- Burn an iso-image of one *.iso file in the burn-list. An iso-image is a prebuilt filesystem for optical discs.

In addition to acting on items in the burn-list, there are also burning tools to copy or blank a disc. You do not need 2 drives to copy a disc. If you have only 1, Pburn will first make an iso-image of the source disc, then burn this image.

You do not have to burn anything right now. There are 2 ways to save burning content without completing the final burning process.
1. You can save the burn-list to a *.pbn file. This is a small file including only information about what will be on the disc. It cannot be used in any programs other than Pburn.
2. You can save a complete iso9660 filesystem. This contains the actual files that will be on the disc, and will often be huge. This *.iso file is compatible with most or all other burning software.


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{2} IN DEPTH

< MIME >
To check out the content of a file, doubleclick on it, and it will open with the same program as if you clicked on it in ROX.
This is also available through the tools-menu, but in that case works only for a selection in the burnlist, not in the browser/search.

< Audio >
Pburn uses 'ffmpeg' for encoding and supports *.mp3, *.ogg, *.wma and *.wav formats. Other formats need other encoders.
*.ape needs 'mac'.
*.flac needs 'flac'.
*.mp4 and *.m4a needs 'faad2'.
When using these extra encoders, the calculation of time (minutes of music) will not work properly.

< Video >
Pburn records each file as a chapter. This means that you can 'skip' to the next/previous movie with your remote control. Pburn does not make any menus on the DVD. For that you need a proper DVD-authoring program.
Please keep in mind that both audio and video are hungry for temporary space on your harddisk. A few minutes of compressed movie (avi, mov...) will be dozens of megabytes on your burnt disc. All this data must first be stored on your system.

< Slideshow >
This is a Video-DVD/CD with only images and an audio file for background music. Be aware that you can export the finished slideshow without doing the actual burning. Like this you can create several audiotracks with pictures, and burn it all as a standard Video-DVD/CD.

< Import (play)list >
This imports a textfile with a list of filenames.
- it excludes all lines with '#'. This is usually metadata in playlists.
- if filenames in the list have no path, Pburn uses the path of the list.
- Pburn can optionally number the songs to preserve the order of the playlist.

< Verify >
Pburn can verify in 2 different ways:
1. 'Verify disc quality' (in menu 'Tools'). This scans a disc for C2 errors. The reader tries to interpolate these gaps in data, but if there are too many errors, it could give a reading failure. C2 errors can occur because the disc is physically out-of-balance (like a wheel which is out-of-round, or heavier on one side), in which case they may be avoided by reducing the burning speed.
2. 'Verify filesystem' (in finish dialog). If burning with temporary storage (off-the-fly), burnt data is checked against data in the temporary storage.

< Advanced >
Pburn's goal is to be functional and newbie-friendly. It doesn't show advanced options like overburning, eltorito... But they are still available. After adding files to the burn-list and pressing the burn button, the preferences dialog shows an 'Advanced' tab. Here you can edit the command before burning. Pburn is a gui for mkisofs, cdrecord, growisofs, cdda2wav... You'll find good documentation for all these on the web.

< Parameters >
Parameters when running Pburn from terminal.
*.pbn - start Pburn with *.pbn file.
*.iso - Go straight to burn dialog for 'burn iso-image'.
-c - do NOT check media. Multisession settings won't be autodetected.
-d dir - start Pburn with alternative browser directory.
-f - use raw-burn-mode. Burn content of $HOME/.pburn/tmp/pburn, and always follow symlinks.
-h - show help message.
-i file - import list (textfile) with filenames. See 'Import (play)list'
-v - show Pburn version.


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{3} SETTINGS

The preferences dialog can be opened from the file-menu. Here you can choose your preferred settings. Your changes will be saved for later use when you press the OK button. If settings are hard to understand, help is very close. Every tab of the preferences dialog has its own info-button.
Pburn will also open the preferences dialog when you press the burn-button in the main window. You can now override the settings before burning.


{3.1} GENERAL

< Search / MIME >
Pburn uses 'Pfilesearch' as its file-search-engine. All search settings are global, and will affect other programs that use Pfilesearch.

< Language Support >
When set to 'auto', Pburn uses the enviroment variable LANG to detect the active language. If no language files exist for your language, english will be used.


{3.2} BURN

< Multisession >
This allows you to burn to the same disc more than once. It doesn't matter if it is a CD-R or CD-RW. It is best to keep the same settings for every session, otherwise there is a chance the disc won't work properly after burning. You can close (finalize) the disc at any time.

< On-the-fly >
Burning on-the-fly (without temporary storage) is necessary when there is not enough space on your system disc. Sometimes it also makes burning faster, but using temporary storage is safer and less likely to burn with errors. It is also much faster to use temporary storage if you are burning several copies of the same thing. If you don't have much free RAM, you may have trouble burning on-the-fly. Try using a low burning speed to help an overloaded system.

If you burn an Audio CD from *.mp3, *.ogg... etc. files, they still need to be converted to *.wav files in temporary storage before burning, but you can burn an Audio CD directly from standard *.wav files on-the-fly. Similarly, if you burn a video DVD, the videos will first need to be converted to the right format in temporary storage.


{3.3} FILESYSTEM

< ISO9660 >
CD/DVDs uses the filesystem iso9660. This is a base filesystem, and what shows up in a non-linux/windows compatible system, or when Rockridge/Joliet is not choosen.

< Rockridge/Joliet >
Rockridge/Joliet gives the iso9660-filesystem extra information to allow long filenames (with spaces) in Linux/Windows.


{3.4} DEVICE

< Devices >
By default, Pburn uses /dev/cdrom for burning. This may not work if there is more than 1 drive on the system. Choose your burner from the list.

< Speed >
The maximum write speed of your drive may not be the best choice for your system. When you set the speed to 'auto' Pburn tries to decide the best speed for your burner/disc/system.


{3.5} AUDIO

< Disc-at-once >
Normally Pburn uses 'Track-at-once' (TAO) mode. This burns track by track, and therefore uses less of the computer's memory. Between each track TAO puts a 2 second gap. This is normally OK, but not if one track fades into the next one. Then the gap sounds more like a bug on the disc. To prevent these gaps, use disc-at-once (DAO) instead. Be aware that DAO needs a lot more memory than TAO.

Because of bad firmware, some burners doesn't accept TAO or DAO mode and must be used in raw-mode. This will not give gaps between songs.

< Normalize >
If songs come from different sources, they often have different volume levels. Pburn can alter the volume level of each song so that the average level is the same for all songs.


{3.6} CD-TEXT

< CD-text >
CD-text is additional information on an audio-CD. This info normally contains the names of the artist/song/album, and is displayed on the CD-player if it supports it. Many players don't, and not all burners support writing CD-text to the disc.

Avoid special characters in CD-text, as it may give unexpected results. Also, CD-text can't be written in 'track-at-once' (tao) mode, so Pburn will automatically set the burning mode to 'disc-at-once' if CD-text is chosen.

< CDDB >
When copying an audio-CD, Pburn can search on the internet for CD-text infomation. You can change the text before burning.


{3.7} VIDEO

< TV standard >
The 2 most common TV standards are PAL and NTSC. You have to choose the right one, or you may not be able to play the disc. Check in the list for your country's standard.

< Aspect ratio >
This one is not that important. It will play whatever you choose, but if the DVD is meant to be played on a widescreen TV, the movie will show better if it matches.


{3.8} SLIDESHOW

< Slideshow >
Burning slideshow ONLY supports images and audio. NO movies will be burnt. Tune lenght of image delay until it is equal to audio. Audio will be cut when image slideshow is finished. Background music supports mainly the same formats as Audio CD.

< Only build Slideshow >
This option is great if making more complex slideshows. You can now make several slidehows, and then burn files as an ordinary Video-DVD. Or even better, - You can make several Audio tracks with background image(s).


{3.9} COPY / SHRINK VIDEO DVD

< Copy / shrink >
If you choose to copy only movie (to fit a single layer DVD), be aware that subitles will NOT be included. The main files on the DVD are named with 'TITLE'. One title is the actual movie. Pburn looks for the title with most chapters to define which title is the movie. If this is not the correct answer, you have to override the default setting.


{3.10} PUBLISH

< Publish >
The publish information will be added to any DATA project. It will not be added when copying a disc or burning an ISO-image. The most used publish info is the 'Project label'. This is often used by filemanagers to identify the disc. Audio CD and Video DVD does not support publish information.


{3.11} ADVANCED

< Manipulate burn command >
Check 'allow edit...' to manipulate the burn command. If you have changed settings in other tabs, use the 'refresh' button first to see changes in the command line. When you press the 'Burn' button, Pburn will execute the commands as shown. When 'allow edit...' is unchecked, Pburn executes the selected settings.

< CPU priority >
You can give Pburn more or less of your system resources. Be aware that this will affect all other running processes. Press refresh button to see changes. Note! A low CPU-priority could cause more buffer under-runs, and the disc may be useless.


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{4} POTENTIAL PITFALLS

- Do keep in mind that 4.7GB are salesman's GB, i.e. 10003 and not 10243. If translated to "real" GB, single layer DVD+-R[W] capacity is no larger than 4.4GiB, and Blu-ray no larger than 23.3GiB!
- It is not recommended to run other heavy applications (or powersaving/screensavers) while burning, as this can cause buffer under-runs if your PC was not able to allocate enough time to processing the burn. You will then have a useless disc. Choosing a burn speed that is too high, or CPU-priority that is too low, could also cause buffer under-runs.
- Not all older drives can "see" beyond the first session. Few DVD-ROM units are capable of DVD-R multiborder playback and even fewer support DVD+R multisessioning. In other words your burner might be the only unit in your vicinity that can access data in the different sessions.
- RW media can sustain only around 1000 overwrites.
- RW media is not playable in all players
- Audio CD's do not have a file system, so they cannot be mounted, just read.
- If your system has an automounter (Hotpup can be set to automount), the automounter will detect a formatted disc and mount it. You can not write to a mounted disc, so you will need to unmount it.