I know this might not be the best place to ask this question but it seems there are more knowledgable people here. I'm having trouble with multisessin burning. Problem is I don't know what it is. And I have several burning programs, I have Nero, Alcohol120% and CDRWIN5 and neither one of them have it. Or it might be that I'm just not looking hard enough.
What is multisession burning?
- Thread starter martus20
- Start date
Whirlinurd
New member
Nero always had it in the cdrom multisession tab.
Multi-session is something very simple. Every cd file system can handle 99 tracks. This can be audio or data. When you only burn 50mb of data with Nero you have 650mb of free space left. So a first track is born with 50mb of data. A week later you decide to burn another 100mb of data. You drop the same cd in your burner and choose continue multisession disc in Nero. Now the 100mb is added to the already burned 50mb. Now there are two tracks with a total of 150mb. Windows will merge these two tracks so you will never see these separate tracks with normal browsing. Never finalize a cd-recordable if you want to add new data. Finalized cd's are made ready to be compatable with all cd-readers. Not finalized the cd can only be read by computer cd-readers. This was the case when cd recording just was possible. Maybe some machines now can read non-finalized cd's. This depends on what kind of machine the cd is used.
With multisession discs it is also possible to remove data from a cd. For example that a newer document has to replace the old one. The burning program will add all new data but also will remove all files that are marked for deletion. With the new session a new filetable is written and the old document can't be accessed anymore. Offcourse the data removed will not come back again.
A cd with multiple data tracks or a audio cd with multiple audio tracks are not multi-session discs. These discs just contain more tracks. A official multi-session disc is closed temporarely so it can be read and it can be re-opened when new data is written.
Just ask if you want to know more.
ps. I wrote this from the top of my mind. Anybody correct me if I am wrong.
Multi-session is something very simple. Every cd file system can handle 99 tracks. This can be audio or data. When you only burn 50mb of data with Nero you have 650mb of free space left. So a first track is born with 50mb of data. A week later you decide to burn another 100mb of data. You drop the same cd in your burner and choose continue multisession disc in Nero. Now the 100mb is added to the already burned 50mb. Now there are two tracks with a total of 150mb. Windows will merge these two tracks so you will never see these separate tracks with normal browsing. Never finalize a cd-recordable if you want to add new data. Finalized cd's are made ready to be compatable with all cd-readers. Not finalized the cd can only be read by computer cd-readers. This was the case when cd recording just was possible. Maybe some machines now can read non-finalized cd's. This depends on what kind of machine the cd is used.
With multisession discs it is also possible to remove data from a cd. For example that a newer document has to replace the old one. The burning program will add all new data but also will remove all files that are marked for deletion. With the new session a new filetable is written and the old document can't be accessed anymore. Offcourse the data removed will not come back again.
A cd with multiple data tracks or a audio cd with multiple audio tracks are not multi-session discs. These discs just contain more tracks. A official multi-session disc is closed temporarely so it can be read and it can be re-opened when new data is written.
Just ask if you want to know more.
ps. I wrote this from the top of my mind. Anybody correct me if I am wrong.
Last edited:
General Plot
Britchie Crazy
Um, you're kinda on the money with that answer......, however, in the case that he brings it up (for cd backup images of DC games) the multisession is purposely added to allow the game to be self bootable. The first session is burned in CDDA (CD audio format) which this session only uses a small portion of the entire disc. That session serves no other purpose than to make the DC boot the game. That session is closed out and a second session is burned with a new lead in (beginning of a new session) and this is done in Mode 1 format (mode 1 is a standard sector and track layout for information discs (CD-ROM). This is the session that actually contains the game data. This session is also burned with a lead out (finalized) and this procedure creates a CDR copy of a DC game that is bootable by using an exploit that was discovered which allows normal CD's to instruct the DC bios to boot the disc.
You are right as well Whirlwind, as far as standard multisession goes with a burning application, but there are also other types of multisession than one that allows you to add other tracks at a later time. In the case of a CDR backup, the two separate sessions are burned in one process. So no need to eject the disc after the first session is burned before you burn the second session.
You are right as well Whirlwind, as far as standard multisession goes with a burning application, but there are also other types of multisession than one that allows you to add other tracks at a later time. In the case of a CDR backup, the two separate sessions are burned in one process. So no need to eject the disc after the first session is burned before you burn the second session.