Checking the integrity of a LiveDVD/CD

[ReemZ]

Is there a way to do this with a live-usb created with Unetbootin?

[ReemZ]

See also Fitz' answer to my problem with abovementioned method of checking burnt disks' integrity.

(...) the following methods can be used to check the integrity of the burnt LiveDVD/CD:

Method 1
This does not work anymore, this will give a false negative.

Method 2
Haven't checked.

Method 3

(...) http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php? ... _a_Live_CD (...)

The method for checking the integrity of a LiveCD under Linux, given on the above-mentioned Web page, does not work for me. If I use md5sum /dev/cdrom it does not return the same md5sum as published on the mirrors even though the LiveCD is good. So do not use that method under Linux, use either Method 1 or Method 2 given in this post.

This now seems the way to go about it!

So, in summary:

1. Verify integrity of downloaded iso by comparing the output of md5sum /path/to/file.iso with the hash on the site.
2. Verify integrity of burnt disk by comparing the output of md5sum /dev/cdrom (or whatever your optical drive may be, check your /dev directory) with the hash on the site.

Basically, one command for both the downloaded file and the burnt disk: md5sum.

[Fitzcarraldo]

I'll add the following to my first post to reflect the current situation:

Insert the LiveDVD into the optical drive, let the disc spin up and then enter the following three commands:

Code: Select all

md5sum /dev/cdrom | awk '{print $1}' > md5a.txt
md5sum ~/Sabayon_Linux_8_amd64_K.iso | awk '{print $1}' > md5b.txt
diff -qs md5a.txt md5b.txt

(Obviously change the path and/or the ISO file name to match your circumstances.)

If you get an error message while the md5sum is reading the disc, there must be something wrong either with the burn or with the optical drive itself.

If you get the message "Files md5a.txt and md5b.txt differ" then the burn was bad.

If you get the message "Files md5a.txt and md5b.txt are identical" then the burn was good.