How to examine an unknowm format dvd?

They will be DVD data format as the disks are DVDs. Can you give the output of:

cat /etc/fstab; sudo lshw -C drive; sudo lshw -C disk

Thanks

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=81759b4c-25ef-437d-b910-873ec945e94b / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=5ca7d775-b778-4444-a673-3241501a0b15 none swap sw 0 0
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=467a64c1-6929-4fb4-bdbf-0768cf4d7d7e none swap sw 0 0
john@john-GA-MA78LM-S2H:~$ sudo lshw -C drive
No output
john@john-GA-MA78LM-S2H:~$ sudo lshw -C disk
  *-disk
       description: ATA Disk
       product: ST3500418AS
       vendor: Seagate
       physical id: 0
       bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0
       logical name: /dev/sda
       version: CC3E
       serial: 5VM9W9YT
       size: 465GiB (500GB)
       capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
       configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=10983613
  *-cdrom
       description: DVD-RAM writer
       product: CDDVDW SH-S223C
       vendor: TSSTcorp
       physical id: 1
       bus info: scsi@3:0.0.0
       logical name: /dev/cdrom
       logical name: /dev/cdrw
       logical name: /dev/dvd
       logical name: /dev/dvdrw
       logical name: /dev/scd0
       logical name: /dev/sr0
       logical name: /media/SC4RUSHHOUR
       version: SB02
       capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
       configuration: ansiversion=5 mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,mode=0400,dmode=0500 state=mounted status=ready
     *-medium
          physical id: 0
          logical name: /dev/cdrom
          logical name: /media/SC4RUSHHOUR
          configuration: mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,mode=0400,dmode=0500 state=mounted

At the time, there was a game CD mounted.

In future don't butcher commands like that, the command was intended to be copied as is. If you cut commands up wrong you may damage your OS.

ok run:

sudo mkdir /media/cdrom0; gksudo gedit /etc/fstab

/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

In future don't butcher commands like that, the command was intended to be copied as is. If you cut commands up wrong you may damage your OS.

ok run:

sudo mkdir /media/cdrom0; gksudo gedit /etc/fstab

add the below line:

/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

Save the new file and reboot, should now mount just fine

Listen sonny, I was writing command lines while you were still a glimmer in your grandfather's eye. I recognize semi-colons on a shell command for what they are. I don't 'butcher' anything except egos. I don't think the gk prefix is necessary, but to soothe you I will use your command as written. Someday, you might learn a little politesse. Did anyone ever teach you the word please?

I have executed your scenario and will now boot. I will let you know when the system comes back whether it worked. Meanwhile, thanks for the advice. I would not have thought of putting the device into the system mount table like that.

Ok, I did all that, and rebooted. Went to another desktop because this one is full of this junk, and tried a mount. No soap.

If you have any more ideas, I would appreciate seeing them. If I can somehow mount this as raw media and have a look at it with a dump of some kind, I can carry on by myself. I only posted this as a last resort because the universe of discourse is so large.

Considering the massive range of ability of users on ubuntu, I give absolute commands and don't expect them to be modified. I have no way of knowing your skill level do I, so if I play safe and assume new user it makes the world a lot safer rather than assuming everyone knows what I mean if I start using advanced linux speak do I? I have seen people split up commands where they THINK it should be and made their own situation worse.

I use thanks, instead of please, you can see this in the ends of the start of this and EVERY post I have replied to. You can check by scrolling up.

you can possibly use foremost on the raw drive to extract data. What OS was the CD burned under?

Either XP or Vista.

My point is that if you want a line copied exactly, you should say so. I've only been using this system for about three years, but I saw the guts of my first operating system in about 1966.

When one operates on a help desk, one should be unfailingly polite and not "issue commands". You are not an officer and I am not under your command. A phrase like 'copy this line exactly' is not an imposition. Try to think of the other end as a quaking housewife who is afraid that if she pushes the wrong key she'll break her computer. Most people on Linux are not that naive, but it is always good to fail on the 'be nice' side.

As far as Linux terminology is concerned, I am only an egg. I've just started digging into the documentation and am up to IPC. I have found nothing in this system that I wouldn't have done myself. I taught operating system construction for a few years as a professor in a public college. However, I am still groping around in the fog of jargon that surrounds all operating environments.

Vista has a strange burning rationale if the burner was the inbuilt one. If its nero or something like that then it's a little easier.

Simply copy and pasting commands given ensures the right result. It was meant as no insult and the fact that you have being messing with systems for a while is moot to the question. I give full commands to cover all bases. Makes life smoother.

mkdir ~/recovery; sudo foremost -i /dev/sr0 -o ~/recovery

john@john-GA-MA78LM-S2H:~$ mkdir ~/recovery; sudo foremost -i /dev/sr0 -o ~/recovery
[sudo] password for john:
sudo: foremost: command not found
john@john-GA-MA78LM-S2H:~$

Oops. some package isn't loaded. I'll have a look in synpatic and see if I can find it.

s/pa/ap/

Loaded Foremost. Seems like a most interesting package. It found nothing on that disk, which surprises me no end. Here is its output.

Foremost version 1.5.7 by Jesse Kornblum, Kris Kendall, and Nick Mikus
Audit File

Foremost started at Wed Nov 24 14:51:56 2010
Invocation: foremost -i /dev/sr0 -o /home/john/recovery
Output directory: /home/john/recovery
Configuration file: /etc/foremost.conf
------------------------------------------------------------------
File: /dev/sr0
Start: Wed Nov 24 14:51:56 2010
Length: 654 MB (686284800 bytes)

Num Name (bs=512) Size File Offset Comment

Finish: Wed Nov 24 14:52:17 2010

0 FILES EXTRACTED

------------------------------------------------------------------

Foremost finished at Wed Nov 24 14:52:17 2010

Is it possible that the data are not there (anymore). I thought DVD's were archival unless you got them wet. There is a sticky paper label on the disk. Is is possible that the adhesive may have destroyed the substrate containing the data? If this is so, I'll abandon the attempt on this and the remaining four disks.

How reliable is the program?

gah, you may need to try an alternate recovery app then. Could try Scalpel or photorec

I assume you mean that the app is pretty good. I'll try the others, thanks.

Consider this closed. I suspect these archives are lost.