A little while ago we received a message that a small freeware application would be able to backup SafeDisc 2 protected CD's, but of course only if you have hardware that is capable of it too.
The application is called Cdrdao, is open source and totally free. As this software seem to come from nowhere, I contacted one the developers ( Andreas Mueller) and asked him some questions.
Who are you guys, and what are your backgrounds ?I was always working alone on the writing backend 'cdrdao' and I'm working together with two other programmers on the GUI 'gcdmaster'.
Regarding the backgrounds I can only speak for myself: I used to develop EDA tools (software for for designing integrated circuits) in a small German company. Some time ago I moved to bigger international company where I'm supporting IC designers in the field of EDA tools.
Do you plan to make your own GUI (Graphical User Interface)There's already a Gnome/Gtk based GUI called 'gcdmaster'. It will probably only work on Unix platforms.
(Ed: there is also a Windows GUI available here)
Will CDRDao always be free ?Yes
How did you find the technology behind CDRDao, how does it work ?I started work on cdrdao in 1998 after I bought my first CD-recorder, a Philips CDD2600. I was disappointed about the DAO features of WinOnCd which came with the recorder and cdrecord (the other free mastering tool for Unix/Win32) did not support DAO writing at all. While browsing the internet I found the complete command set of the CDD2600 on Philips' web site. So I started to develop my own tool on my Linux box. After publishing the first version at the end of 1998 I got a lot of feedback and requests to support more recorder models and more features. This led to the state cdrdao currently has. Most of the required information is freely available (SCSI-2/3-mmc command set). For the remaining stuff I had to complete the puzzle from a lot of different internet resources.
Now I spend most of my time for answering all the emails and the further development of the tool slows down more and more; but I'll try to catch up again.
What is in your opinion the best CD Writer manufacturer, and what do you think will be the best in the future ? And same for CD reader (CD-ROM)I would still say that the major brands like Plextor, Yamaha, HP and Sony produce the best recorders or better say the best firmware. I think the hardware itself does not make a big difference since the components come from a small number of suppliers.
For CD-ROM readers I've never seen a big difference between brand and no-name products except for the digital audio extraction part
where Plextor was always leading. But today even most of the very cheap CD-ROM drives can do perfect and fast audio extraction.
Thank you for your time and answers !For those of you who are intrested in more information about this piece of free software, you can find more information on their sourceforge page. On this page you can also find a list of supported drives. They also have a forum that you can find right here.
If you have questions about the software then be sure to read their forum first, of post a question on our forum, because as Andres said, he receives lot's of mails !
