CDmage features:

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is the purpose of CDmage?

A: It's a utility, which performs different tasks with a common
CD image files on your harddrive. The most-wanted being:
scanning, repairing and extracting.

Q: What kind of image scanning does CDmage provide?

A: It checks sectors against corruption. There are rules defined
by ISO standards, which must be followed by each sector of the
CD. Other programs can perform similar checks as well, namely
well known BINChunker and Fireburner. CDmage displays all
corrupted sectors along with a description of each error found.

Q: Should I use CDmage for image scanning instead of BINChunker

(Fireburner)?
A: Yes, you should. There are known cases when CDmage found
more errors than BINChunker. CDmage tests header, subheader
and intermediate fields of M1/M2 sectors. These tests aren't
performed by BINChunker. Errors found with such tests can be
nasty and can cause more damage than others.

Q: I heard that CDmage can repair image errors...

A: You are right, but not all errors can be repaired. CDmage
uses a similar mechanism for repair as CD writer/reader does. It
uses Error Correction Code fields (ECCP&ECCQ;) of the sectors.

Q: How safe is repairing of corrupted sectors with CDmage?

A: 100% safe if corruption isn't intentional. Repaired sector is
exactly like it's original. Please note than not all image errors
should be repaired. There are intentinal errors which are part of
some copy protection schemes. Some CD ripping apps
(CloneCD, BlindRead...) let you make working copy of your
 legally owned software. If copied software is copy protected,
then it's image files can contain intentional corruptions.
Repairing of them would cause a non-working copy when
burned.

Q: What's the "Severity" column in the error log?

A: All errors found by CDmage can be one of three severities -
low, medium, high. Severity level means whether CDmage will
be able to repair the sector. Low - yes for sure. Medium -
probably yes. High - no. Note that severity does not mean how
much is sector currupted. Even very corrupted sectors can be
repaired successfully. Level of severity is indicated also by color
of an icon on the left side of the error log. Colours are:
green=low severity, orange=medium, red=high.

Q: Why can't some sectors be scanned?

A: Not all sectors have fields which allow you to check them.
It's not possible to check M1/2048 or Audio sectors. They don't
contain any error detection/correction fields. Only few checks
can be performed on the M2/F2 sectors. Repairing of such
sectors is mostly unsuccessful since they don't contain any error
repair information.

Q: What's the "Content of sector" column in the error log?

A: CDmage can locate which part of ISO9660 and/or Joliet file
systems is contained in the data field of corrupted sectors. Just
after a scan there's text "yet not identified" which means, that
location tests weren't performed yet. Tests can be started by
clicking the command in the "Action" menu or on the toolbar,
Results are then displayed in this column.

Q: How can I set the "sector numbers" option in the Extract dialog?
A: This option applies to data tracks only. All data sectors with
size 2352 have header field with sector number in it. This
option allows you to set the sector number from which sector
numbering will start. If the destination track will have the same
 position within image as source track leave the option set to
"Use numbers of source track". Otherwise, advanced users can
adjust this option accordingly.

Q: What about the "If error found" option in the Extract dialog?
A: This option is enabled only if the destination track for
extraction of the Mode2 tracks is set to the Mode1 track or to
the file based on the Mode1 track (VirtualCD or Virtual Drive
file). Mode2 sector can be either Form1 (with data field 2048
bytes long) or Form2 (with data field 2324 bytes long). Mode1
sector has a data field 2048 bytes long, thus Mode1 and
Mode2/Form1 sectors are fully "conversion compatible".
Conversion from Mode2/Form2 to Mode1 sectors isn't possible
without information loss. "If error found" option defines what to
do when there's an attempt to convert Mode2/Form2 sectors
into Mode1 sectors. Possible options are:

1. "Stop extraction" - extraction stops, partially extracted

destination file isn't deleted if "Keep broken files" checkbox is
on.

2. "Replace with empty sector" - extraction doesn't stop, data

field of source sector is ignored, destination sector data field is
filled with zeros.

3. "Ignore" - extraction doesn't stop, source sector is handled as

Form1 sector i.e. first 2048 bytes of data field are used for
destination sector.

After extraction CDmage reports number of sectors "replaced" or

"ignored" for options 2. and 3.

Q: What are the possible file/folder flags?

A: The possible flags are:

D - item is the folder

F - item is the file

 H - file/folder is hidden

A - associated file (def. by ISO9660 standard) (rare)

E - file has Extended Attribute Record (def. by ISO9660

standard) (rare)

M - files with "multimedia" signature (AVSEQ??.DAT files of

Video CD images as example)

Q: How do I set "first audio track properties" when opening raw image?
A: These settings apply to raw images with data tracks which
are followed by audio tracks (mixed mode and possibly video
cd). The pregap parameter adds silence of selected duration in
front of first audio track. Some images (Blindread, CloneCD)
already contain silence in the beginning of the first audio track,
therefore the value should be set to 00:00:00. CDRWin images
usually don't contain this silence, standard setting for most
CDRWin images should be 2 seconds (00:02:00). If the exact
value is known it should be entered here.

The start adjustment affects mixed mode and video cd images

which have data track(s) with sector size different than 2352
(m1/2048 or m2/2336). Such images are rare. It isn't possible
to determine the exact startpoint of the first audio track of these
images. First try to open the image with the start adjustment set
to 0. Then if there's strange sound in the beginning of the first
audio track reopen the image with slider shifted one position to
the right and repeat until sound disappears. Similarly, if the
first audio track starts later than it should, reopen image with
the slider shifted one position to the left until the track starts
ok. One slider position shifts the startpoint of the first audio
track by about 2 seconds (1:72 or 147 sectors exactly).

Q: I selected track for scanning, but I keep getting message "There are
no tracks selected..."
A: Tracks should be selected in the right panel, not in the left
 tree view...

Q: Extracted single data tracks other than first within the image cannot
by reopened by CDmage anymore. Why?
A: CDmage tries to find filesystem in all data tracks, which are
first within the sessions. If the filesystem isn't valid, CDmage
refuses to open such image/track. Extracted tracks, which
weren't as first (i.e. the first track of the first session) in their
source image, don't have valid filesystem. They either don't
have the filesystem at all (Video CD), or the filesystem is only
partial and internal links point to nonexisting sectors (session 2
and above).

Q: Two seconds precision when comparing files? Why is it there?

A: Precision of the FAT filesystem is two seconds. If the file
timestamp is set to some value, the real value can be shifted
withing range of +/- two seconds. Comparing of such files
would lead to the timestamp mismatch. Option allows to treat
files with the timestamp difference less that two seconds as if
they were exact same.