cdrskin

cdrskin is a Linux kernel module that provides an interface for controlling optical disc writers, such as CD, DVD, and Blu-ray drives, through the SCSI generic (sg) subsystem. It was developed to offer an alternative path for burning operations when standard kernel CD-writing interfaces were insufficient or unavailable. The module communicates with drives using SCSI MMC (MultiMedia Command) style commands and provides a backend that user-space burning tools can drive, typically in combination with cdrecord or other tools that support the cdrskin interface.

In operation, cdrskin is loaded into the kernel (for example via modprobe) and relies on the sg and cdrom subsystems being present. User-space burning applications can then target a drive through the cdrskin backend, issuing commands to manage sessions, verify data integrity, and perform the actual write operations. The exact feature set depends on the hardware capabilities and the capabilities of the user-space software interfacing with it.

Availability and usage have varied by distribution and over time. Some modern setups rely primarily on the kernel’s built-in sg_io interface and standard burning stacks (such as libcdio/libburn) rather than the cdrskin module. In environments where traditional burning paths are incompatible or lacking, cdrskin may still be used as part of a broader toolchain that includes cdrecord or related utilities.

See also: cdrecord, sg (SCSI generic), libburn, cdrtools, optical disc drive.