Last Volume Invalid

[grd]

Yesterday I used first time TI Ver 6.0, build 350, with Win XP SP1, and have built image from one partition directly onto 700MB CD-R, total 8 volumes.
To verify that all went well, i opened volume 8 for restore, but got the message
"This is not the last volume...".
I repeated image building directly to HD (with 700MB size of files), and all was
working well.
Investigation of CD with volume 8, Nero 6 shows 2 sessions, first with 322 MB, the size of 8th tib-File, second session with 2 MB.
Trying to copy the file with explorer resulted in an error message "DOS failure, file cannot be copied" at the end of copying.
Comparing to the good 8th tib-File on HD, there are some differences, especially at file's end.
What went wrong, how can i assure that future images are built correctly
(i have not the place on HD to save image of all partitions...) ?

[MiniMax]

Interesting question. I have never imaged directly to CD. Let me do a quick test and report back to you.

[MiniMax]

In this test, I used True Image 6.0 (#350) to image a 2 GB FAT32 partition directly onto 2 CD-RW's. I erased the CD-RW using Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.3.5.10v (erased as in blanked the discs, no UDF formatting, no DirectCD writing).

I put the compression level at 0, resulting in an estimated image size of 1,12 GB, which ensured that both CD-RW's would be required.

The imaging process went well, with True Image asking and waiting for each CD-RW. Examing the resulting CD-RW's with IsoBuster revealed the following:

CD-RW #1
--------

Session 1
Track 01
VolumeTest1.tib 655.73 MB / 687,581,184 bytes

CD-RW #2
--------

Session 1
Track 01
VolumeTest2.tib 655.73 MB / 687,581,184 bytes

Session 2
Track 02
VolumeTest2.tib 489.84 MB / 513,636,352 bytes

I am not sure how to interprete the session info. Do True Image 6.0 start out by reserving space for a total of 655 MB (a full CD?), and then, when it runs out of data on CD-RW #2, shorten the file??

In order to Plug (Explore) the image, I intended to copy both sub-images to my hard disk. I started copying VolumeTest2.tip with Explorer, but when about 80% of the copying was done, I got this error message:

An error occured during the copy operation of the file or the directory
It is not possible to copy VolumeTest2: Data Error (cyclic redundancy check failure)
Tried to copy with CMD.EXE and COPY - same error.

Rebooted WinXP into Safe Mode and tried to copy - same error.

Rebooted into MS-DOS, but DOS and the real-mode driver was not even able to see the file. All I saw on the CD-RW was a file called "JOLIET.FS" ?!?

Rebooted into Win95 and tried to copy - same error.

The first volume looked better (it only had one session), but a copy of VolumeTest1.tip resulted in the same cyclic redunancy error ???

Tried using IsoBuster to extract a raw image of the first volume with VolumeTest1.tib: Got an "Unreadable sector" sector error - again approximately 80% into the file???

As I write this, I am re-formatting both CD-RW's for packet writing. When done, I intend to try out the imaging process again. I have a feeling it will not succeed, because True Image should not require (or be able to cope) UDF -formatted CD-RW's when writing its images.

[Menorcaman]

Hello MiniMax,

The following have been known to interfere with TI's ability to write to CD:

- Roxio DirectCD/Drag-to-Disk. If they're running then shut them down.
- Windows Media Player. If it's running then shut it down.
- Windows XP's built in drag-and-drop recording feature. Open "My Computer", right click on your CD/DVD buner, select "Properties" and then the "Recording" tab. Uncheck "Enable CD recording on this drive".

Regards

[MiniMax]

Thanks Menorcaman - I will certainly try in order to pin-point the cause of this little mysterium.