Help with understanding illigal CDR format

Hopping for CD experts to comment, I have researched and not found answers.

I like finding local/regional bluegrass CDs/CDRs on eBay. It can be hit/miss for quality and there is always the chance for someone bootlegging a CDR and burning it “real bad”. I just got set of 3 used CDRs for a group, 2 of them are good, the 3rd appears to be a illegal format that I have never seen. The art appears to be professionally made but it is possible the CDR may have been a copy.

I have added the cdrecord -atapi and -toc output. I have never seen “control: 2”, and the first toc entry appears (as best as I can tell) to be a hidden track at the end of the disk. Windows will not recognize the CDR. The isrcsubmit opened web page gives the following error.
Technical information
Date and time: 2025-07-18T11:58:37.300Z
URL: Log in - MusicBrainz
Request data:
{
“body_parameters”: {},
“query_parameters”: {
“tracks”: “11”,
“id”: “Dw7dwprNQ1_Q5QTv0PFnCCIDjes-”,
“toc”: “1 11 166942 219648 13512 33447 49008 63624 73613 91966 107565 125550 136765 154546”
}
}

Linux cdrecord queries follow:
$ cdrecord -toc
Device was not specified. Trying to find an appropriate drive…
hm, 1, 0, 0
hm, 1, 0, 0
Using drive: H:
Device type : Removable CD-ROM
Version : 0
Response Format: 2
Capabilities :
Vendor_info : 'hp ’
Identification : 'DVD-RAM GH40L ’
Revision : ‘RB12’
Device seems to be: Generic mmc2 DVD-R/DVD-RW.
Using generic SCSI-3/mmc CD-R/CD-RW driver (mmc_cdr).
Driver flags : MMC-3 SWABAUDIO BURNFREE
Supported modes: TAO PACKET SAO SAO/R96P SAO/R96R RAW/R16 RAW/R96P RAW/R96R
first: 1 last 11
track: 1 lba: 219498 ( 877992) 48:48:48 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 2 lba: 13362 ( 53448) 03:00:12 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 3 lba: 33297 ( 133188) 07:25:72 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 4 lba: 48858 ( 195432) 10:53:33 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 5 lba: 63474 ( 253896) 14:08:24 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 6 lba: 73463 ( 293852) 16:21:38 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 7 lba: 91816 ( 367264) 20:26:16 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 8 lba: 107415 ( 429660) 23:54:15 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 9 lba: 125400 ( 501600) 27:54:00 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 10 lba: 136615 ( 546460) 30:23:40 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track: 11 lba: 154396 ( 617584) 34:20:46 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: 0
track:lout lba: 166792 ( 667168) 37:05:67 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1

$ cdrecord -atip
Device was not specified. Trying to find an appropriate drive…
hm, 1, 0, 0
hm, 1, 0, 0
Using drive: H:
Device type : Removable CD-ROM
Version : 0
Response Format: 2
Capabilities :
Vendor_info : 'hp ’
Identification : 'DVD-RAM GH40L ’
Revision : ‘RB12’
Device seems to be: Generic mmc2 DVD-R/DVD-RW.
Using generic SCSI-3/mmc CD-R/CD-RW driver (mmc_cdr).
Driver flags : MMC-3 SWABAUDIO BURNFREE
Supported modes: TAO PACKET SAO SAO/R96P SAO/R96R RAW/R16 RAW/R96P RAW/R96R
ATIP info from disk:
Indicated writing power: 6
Is not unrestricted
Is not erasable
Disk sub type: Medium Type C, low Beta category (C-) (6)
ATIP start of lead in: -11231 (97:32/19)
ATIP start of lead out: 359846 (79:59/71)
Disk type: Short strategy type (Phthalocyanine or similar)
Manuf. index: 27
Manufacturer: Prodisc Technology Inc.

1 Like

An update to this dilemma:
EAC was able to read the CDR, but EAC is able to read copy control media so it looks like EAC knows how to get around this Bull####. From the EAC log I created and attached a discid, but maybe I shouldn’t have. I will look at the CD with picard later on and see if it generates the same discid and if so I will leave it.

Still I am very baffled over this. And it gets better.
With one CD device it gets the error, with the other (the ripper) it does not. I am waiting on a rip to finish so that I can use cdrecord with the ripper drive to see its TOC. Maybe I have some hardware going bad.

The plextor sees the CDR differently but shows “control: 2” also.

$ cdrecord -dev=I: -toc
Device type : Removable CD-ROM
Version : 0
Response Format: 2
Capabilities :
Vendor_info : 'PLEXTOR ’
Identification : 'PX-891SAF ’
Revision : ‘1.JC’
Device seems to be: Generic mmc2 DVD-R/DVD-RW.
Using generic SCSI-3/mmc CD-R/CD-RW driver (mmc_cdr).
Driver flags : MMC-3 SWABAUDIO BURNFREE FORCESPEED
Supported modes: TAO PACKET SAO SAO/R96P SAO/R96R RAW/R16 RAW/R96P RAW/R96R
first: 1 last 11
track: 1 lba: 0 ( 0) 00:02:00 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 2 lba: 13362 ( 53448) 03:00:12 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 3 lba: 33297 ( 133188) 07:25:72 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 4 lba: 48858 ( 195432) 10:53:33 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 5 lba: 63474 ( 253896) 14:08:24 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 6 lba: 73463 ( 293852) 16:21:38 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 7 lba: 91816 ( 367264) 20:26:16 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 8 lba: 107415 ( 429660) 23:54:15 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 9 lba: 125400 ( 501600) 27:54:00 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 10 lba: 136615 ( 546460) 30:23:40 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track: 11 lba: 154396 ( 617584) 34:20:46 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1
track:lout lba: 166792 ( 667168) 37:05:67 adr: 1 control: 2 mode: -1

Final update on this nonstandard burned music CDR. I ran cdparanoia on the disc in the drive that would not work. Big take away was:

“TOC entry claims an overly large start offset: massaging.”

Different drives and different software programs may not handle these structures the same.