Each verb is listed with its description and individual arguments. Drive selection arguments must appear before individual arguments. Drive selection and argument descriptions can be found after the verb descriptions in the Drive Selection Criteria section.

-drive drive(s)

Lets you specify a drive or drives, per the output of list, for those verbs that can operate on one or more drives. See the Drive Selection Criterion section for more info.

help verb

Display the usage information for the specified verb.

atip

Displays the Absolute Time in Pre-Groove (ATIP) for inserted CD-R/RW media.

bulkerase type

Starts bulk erase mode, in which the drive will continually erase inserted -RW media, eject it, and prompt for another disc until terminated.

Types of erase:

quick

Performs a quick erase, doing the minimal amount of work to make the disc appear blank. This operation typically takes only a minute or two.

full

Performs a complete erase, erasing every block on the disk. This operation is slow (on the order of 30 minutes) to complete.

burn options path

Burns a valid directory or image file to disc. The default is to burn the specified directory to a new filesystem. The -audio option creates an audio CD (redbook) in which any valid QuickTime audio file present in the path is converted to a track (in alphabetical order). If a file is specified (valid image files only: .dmg, .iso, .cue/bin, and .toc) the contents of the image file are burned. Pre-burn and post-burn options, and filesystem exclusions can be specificed for enhanced functionality. Last option takes precedence. Invalid commands are ignored.

path

A valid path to a directory or file.

options

Specify an arbitrary valid burn option(s): -test, -appendable, -erase, -mount, -noverify, -nohfsplus, -noiso9660, -nojoliet, -noudf, -nofs, -audio, -speed, -pregap. Or specify a default burn option: -notest, -noappendable, -noerase, -allfs, -hfsplus, -iso9660, -joliet, -udf, -data, -eject, -verify.

cdtext

Reads and displays any CD-Text information reported by the drive. The drive must contain an audio CD, and be capable of reading CD-Text.

discinfo [-xml]

Displays detailed information about present media.

From the MMC command of the same name.

dumpiso device block [format]

Tool to inspect and interpret ISO-9660 and Joliet structures on the media.

device

Disk node, e.g. /dev/disk1, /dev/disk1s1, /dev/rdisk1.

block

Block number to dump (in decimal or 0x hex notation). Blocks are assumed to be 2048-byte blocks.

format

How to interpret the block. If format is not specified, dumpiso will attempt to guess. If present, this argument should be one of the following: None, Boot, BootCat, PVD, SVD, VPD, VDST, MPath, LPath, Dir, HFSPlusVH.

dumpudf device block

Tool to inspect and interpret UDF structures on the media.

device

Disk node, e.g. /dev/disk1, /dev/disk1s1, /dev/rdisk1.

block

Block number to dump (in decimal or 0x hex notation). Blocks are assumed to be 2048-byte blocks.

eject

Synonym for drutil tray eject.

erase type

Erases -RW media in the drive(s) and ejects it.

Types of erase:

quick

Performs a quick erase, doing the minimal amount of work to make the disc appear blank. This operation typically takes only a minute or two.

full

Performs a complete erase, erasing every block on the disk. This operation is slow (on the order of 30 minutes) to complete.

filename name

Shows how the specified filename will be modified to comply with the naming rules of the filesystems that DiscRecording generates.

getconfig type

Displays device feature and profile list.

Types of config information:

current

Displays current features and profiles for a drive.

supported

Displays all supported features and profiles for a drive.

info [-xml]

Displays various pieces of information for each drive, including how it's connected to the computer and a summary of capabilities.

list [-xml]

Lists all burning devices connected to the machine.

poll

Displays device and media notifications until terminated.

size options path

Estimates the size of a valid directory or image file (in blocks). The default is to estimate the size of the specified path as a hybrid filesystem. The -audio option calculates the contents of the directory as an audio CD (redbook) (for applicable files). If a file is specified (valid image files only: .dmg, .iso, .cue/bin, and .toc) the contents of the image file will be calculated. Filesystem exclusions can be specificed for enhanced functionality. Calculated size will be compared against blank media that is found unless the -nodrive argument is specified. Last option takes precedence. Invalid commands are ignored.

path

A valid path to a directory or file.

options

Specify an arbitrary valid burn option(s): -nodrive, -nohfsplus, -noiso9660, -nojoliet, -noudf, -nofs, -audio, -pregap. Or specify a default burn option: -allfs, -hfsplus, -iso9660, -joliet, -udf, -data.

status [-xml]

Displays detailed media-specific information.

subchannel

Displays information from the subchannels on CD media. This prints the MCN (media catalog number) for the disc, and the ISRC (international standard recording code) for all tracks. This command only works when CD media is present.

From the MMC command of the same name.

toc

Displays table of contents (TOC) of inserted media.

trackinfo [-xml]

Displays detailed information about all tracks present on the media.

From the MMC command of the same name.

tray command

Performs a tray/media related command. Note that some drives do not have trays, and some have trays but may lack motorized eject or inject capability.

Tray commands:

open

Opens a drive's tray, if no media is present and the drive has a tray capable of motorized eject.

close

Closes a drive's tray, if the drive has a tray capable of motorized inject.

eject

Ejects media from the drive, if the drive has a tray capable of motorized eject. If no media is present, this is equivalent to open. If media is present and can be unmounted, it will be unmounted and then ejected. If media is present but cannot be unmounted, the eject will fail.

version

Displays operating system and DiscRecording framework version numbers.

-xml

When specified (valid options only: discinfo, info, list, status, and trackinfo) the output for the specified verb will be shown in xml format.

Some functions of drutil operate on a specific drive. Since any number of drives may be available, and they may come and go at any time, the device selection arguments provide a method for selecting among them.

The candidate list starts out as a list of all attached drives. One or more arguments of the form -drive drive(s) may be specified. Each argument has the effect of narrowing the candidate list, depending on what drive(s) is. It may be:

• A positive decimal number, assumed to be a 1-based index into the candidate list. The candidate list is trimmed to just that device.

• One of the following keywords: internal, external, usb, firewire, atapi, scsi. The candidate list is trimmed to devices which match the specified location / bus. Case is ignored in this comparison.

• Any other string, assumed to be a vendor/product name. The candidate list is trimmed to devices whose vendor or product strings exactly match the argument. Case (but not whitespace) is ignored in this comparison.

Multiple -drive arguments may be specified; each argument narrows the candidate list further. After all the -drive arguments have been processed, the candidate list is considered. If it contains exactly one item, that drive is used. If it contains zero items, drutil prints an error message and exits. If it contains more than one item, the selected function is executed on all drives remaining in the list.

Simple verbs with no drive commands

Displays help for the verb "status".

Displays a list of attached devices.
Displays miscellaneous information for all attached devices.
Displays media-specific information for all attached devices.

Burns the Documents directory to the internal drive without
verifying, then ejects the disc.

Creates a XML file containing info about internal drives.

Examples of drive selection

Closes the tray of the first burning device seen, if possible.

Lists drive specific information for all externally
connected burning devices.

Lists media specific information for media present in
attached firewire burning devices.

Opens the tray of all burning devices whose vendor id is
VENDOR, if possible.

Lists supported features and profiles for attached devices
whose product id is 'CD-RW CDW827ES'.

drutil first appeared in MacOS X 10.3.