CD-R; Finalizing after recording

[Bruce Johnson]

I have a question about the process of recording onto CD-R disks:

Last weekend, my band rehearsed and recorded in a rental studio, which had a built-in CD-R recording deck (I think it was a TASCAM) in the PA system rack. We recorded about an hours worth onto a single CD-R during the session. We stopped several times and played back tracks, and material was obviously being recorded on the disk.

However, when I got the disk home, it won't read on any computers or CD players. I think I forgot to do an operation called Finalize on the recorder before I pulled the disk out and we left. If I understand correctly, this closes out the CD-R and writes tracking info on it.

So, how can I do that now, to get this CD-R to work? Unfortunately, that exact studio and recorder are an hour's drive away. Can I put this disk into any other CD-R recorder and do the Finalize operation? Is there something that can be done in a computer? I'd hate to lose this disk, because it was a fun session with some good people.

[JoeM]

Bruce,
What software did you use on the computer? I had a similar problem years ago, windows couldnt read the CD, but I found that a disk burning/copying software could read and finalize the CD so it could be read normally. Not sure what software I used, maybe Nero?

[defaced]

Whatever you do, before you do it, make an image of the CD if you can. Alcohol is one software that I know of that can do this. I'm sure you can find an open source freeware piece that can do it to - I've just never looked for one.

[Bruce Johnson]

Thanks Joe & Mike;

I just checked and one of my computers (which I bought used with some good software on it) has Alcohol 120%, about a 2005 edition. Would this be the right software to use? I'm not familiar with it. It appears to have a whole suite of functions for audio recording and copying. Should I just try to open the disk from Alcohol and try to copy the files to the hard drive? Would that be the safest thing? What form would the files be in?

[defaced]

That'll work. Put the disc into the drive, open Alcohol, and look for something that says "make CD image". It'll give you some options probably, but you'll want to make an ISO file. It's one of the universal image formats.

Here are the current instructions. You should find something similar in the help file (press F1 while the program is open).
Alcohol 120%/52% Manual

[Bruce Johnson]

Mike;

Thanks for the link to the Alcohol manual! That computer isn't hooked to the internet, so there wasn't any Help function.

Okay, so assuming that Alcohol can open the disk (I haven't tried it yet), how do I convert or save the data as .mp3 files, or something audio? If I can image it into an ISO file, what do I do with that?

[defaced]

First make the ISO, then make a copy of it. Then use the copy to do your playing around on. You might be able to open it, you might not. You might be able to finalize the disc. Nero can do this when you burn a disc, but I'm 90% sure it's not required to use the CD, and I don't know if you'll be able to finalize after the fact like you're trying to do. Once you have your safe, "do not touch" backups, you will have to play around to see what works - if anything. You might find some help on the forum from the manufacturer of the CD recorder.

[Jag]

Once you've created your .ISO file (it's a safety precaution in case something goes south on finalization) you need to look for an option to "finalize" or "close" the disk. That should turn the original CD into one that can be read on almost any computer.

[Bruce Johnson]

Okay, so you guys are saying that the ISO file itself is only useful for making a replica of the un-finalized CD-R? That allows me to at least make multiple tries if needed. But I still have to finalize the CD-R somehow, in order to break its data up into .mp3 files. Is that correct?

Thanks again!

[defaced]

Yes, originally that's all I intended, but after thinking, it is an image of the disc, so that means you can work with it. But, depending on the format of what's in the ISO, you might be able to get the info from it too. In short, the info is there, the question is "can you access it" and make use of it. No one knows... yet.

[Steve Conner]

This thread recommends you use a data recovery program called Isobuster.
How to extract audio files from unfinalized CD - Club MyCE

The data is all there on the disc, all that's missing is the Table Of Contents that tells a CD player where each track starts. Without this, a CD player can't play it and ripping software can't rip it.

The CD recorder can't make the TOC as it goes along, because it doesn't know if you'll add new tracks later, and it can't erase things on the CD-R once it's burnt them. So, it uses its own temporary TOC, writing a new table every time you add a track, and the finalizing process writes the final TOC into the area of the disc where CD players expect it to be.

[Bruce Johnson]

Thanks to all for the info!

From the comments here, some reading online, and talking to a few audio engineer friends, here's what I learned:

1.) The Finalize process on these CD recorders essentially looks through the data on the CD and writes a Table Of Contents. That's essential for the future operation of the CD. Without the TOC, it's just a bunch of data that can't really be read by anything. The raw data can be copied onto a hard drive or another CD as an ISO file, but it's still very difficult to make any use of that data without the TOC.

2.) Different manufacturers of the CD recorders have slightly different software for doing the Finalizing process. So, attempting to Finalize a CD in one brand or model of recorder which was recorded in another brand or model is risky. It may or may not work, and could ruin the CD. The safest thing is to go back to the same model, or at least the same brand recorder.

In my case, I ended up going back to the same studio for another session. I took along the un-finalized CD, put it back in the same exact machine, and it was able to finalize without any problems.

[Steve A.]

I ran into a similar situation with Music CD-R's burned in my standalone CD burners. Funny thing is that a few programs could read and play the files before I had finalized the recording. EZ-CD as I recall...

While at the studio can you get a backup of your recordings? Like on a flash drive? I'd hate to trust just a single CD-R with my files...