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Copy-Protected games - Page 2

Forum Index > Tech Support
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Prev 1 2 All
TheToast
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States4808 Posts
May 03 2012 20:41 GMT
#21
On May 04 2012 05:21 achristes wrote:
Still didn't work, I can't believe this old game with an outdated as shit copy-protection is so much trouble to break!


What did you try exactly?
I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly's a good design. People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.
Dire_Element
Profile Joined April 2011
United Kingdom10 Posts
May 03 2012 21:42 GMT
#22
Firstly, if youre unsure about the copy protection on any of your cds, this is the place to look

http://forum.daemon-tools.cc/gamedb.php

I can see from there that the nox cd also has safedisc protection.

On May 02 2012 13:48 achristes wrote:
Yeah, I tried it, I think it sort-of worked but the log told me it got a bunch of errors and so on and it took forever, I just cancelled it.


I've had this problem before when ripping safedisc protected games. Daemon Tools has a feature that solved the problem for me called fastdump. The way it works is as follows:

1) make sure Daemon Tools is running in the background
2) install game using original disc
3) start game with original disc (you just need to get past the initial loading screens into the main menu)
4) exit the game
5) rip the image using program of your choice, preferrably something like Alcohol or CloneCD
6) mount the created image

When the rip program gets to the stage where it would normally spend ages with lots of position read errors, it should now pass very quickly through this phase and start ripping the disc proper.

Personally i use Daemon Tools lite to mount the images, and Alcohol 52% to do the ripping, but that's just because they're both free, and they're the setup I've been using for years now.
"...good thing i brought my AXE CANE."
scudst0rm
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada1149 Posts
May 03 2012 22:35 GMT
#23
Is it still piracy when you own the game? I remember all the disclaimers on the old NES rom download sites said to only download the rom if you already own a copy of the game.
You're like a one ranger army comin' at me...
MyNameIsAlex
Profile Joined March 2011
Greece827 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-04 00:23:28
May 04 2012 00:22 GMT
#24
Its been years since i stopped copying games, but if my memory serves me right, .iso images can't store information related to copy protection. Thats why you are unable to create a working image.

Go with .mdf/.mds (media descriptor file or smthing like that) and you'll be fine. I used Alcohol many times to back up games without using cracks so it should work
Teliko
Profile Joined January 2011
Ireland1044 Posts
May 04 2012 00:29 GMT
#25
Indeed, considering you've actually bought the CD, you might as well just download a pirated copy and save yourself all this trouble. It might not feel right morally because you're using a copy others use to avoid spending any money, but you've contributed to the developers, so there's no reason to feel iffy about it.
Add a drop of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
TheToast
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States4808 Posts
May 04 2012 01:08 GMT
#26
On May 04 2012 09:22 MyNameIsAlex wrote:
Its been years since i stopped copying games, but if my memory serves me right, .iso images can't store information related to copy protection. Thats why you are unable to create a working image.

Go with .mdf/.mds (media descriptor file or smthing like that) and you'll be fine. I used Alcohol many times to back up games without using cracks so it should work


Most earlier games basically just checked certain files on the disc when the game booted to verify it was actually the game disc. For the most part, the "copy protection" just prevented legal versions of certain burning software, like Roxio, from making copies of the disc. For 99% of games from before like 2006ish, .ISO-ing the disc and mounting it on a virtual drive or to a virtual machine works perfectly fine.

I just checked my external, and I actually haven't made an iso of my DKII disc and thus have never tested it. It's possible that bullfrog used some more complex copy protection than most others. But I've tested this successfully with a number of games, it does work.
I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly's a good design. People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.
dUTtrOACh
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada2339 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-04 01:35:15
May 04 2012 01:34 GMT
#27
Relevant:



Hey, why not download a bootleg just for the files required to bypass the copyright protection?

EDIT: I am aware they are on CD
twitch.tv/duttroach
Deleted User 101379
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
4849 Posts
May 04 2012 05:11 GMT
#28
On May 04 2012 10:08 TheToast wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 04 2012 09:22 MyNameIsAlex wrote:
Its been years since i stopped copying games, but if my memory serves me right, .iso images can't store information related to copy protection. Thats why you are unable to create a working image.

Go with .mdf/.mds (media descriptor file or smthing like that) and you'll be fine. I used Alcohol many times to back up games without using cracks so it should work


Most earlier games basically just checked certain files on the disc when the game booted to verify it was actually the game disc. For the most part, the "copy protection" just prevented legal versions of certain burning software, like Roxio, from making copies of the disc. For 99% of games from before like 2006ish, .ISO-ing the disc and mounting it on a virtual drive or to a virtual machine works perfectly fine.

I just checked my external, and I actually haven't made an iso of my DKII disc and thus have never tested it. It's possible that bullfrog used some more complex copy protection than most others. But I've tested this successfully with a number of games, it does work.


Copy protections far older than windows 95 already used the "check for specific errors on the disk" (Floppy and CD) stuff that was hard to copy back then.
However, CloneCD or similar should be able to copy that anyways, if not, maybe the disk is already damaged from basically old age.
achristes
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Norway653 Posts
May 04 2012 05:15 GMT
#29
Lot of new posts now, will try them out when I get home later. Thanks!
youtube.com/spooderm4n | twitch.tv/spooderm4n | Random videos and games I feel like uploading
Dire_Element
Profile Joined April 2011
United Kingdom10 Posts
May 04 2012 11:23 GMT
#30
On May 04 2012 09:22 MyNameIsAlex wrote:
Its been years since i stopped copying games, but if my memory serves me right, .iso images can't store information related to copy protection. Thats why you are unable to create a working image.

Go with .mdf/.mds (media descriptor file or smthing like that) and you'll be fine. I used Alcohol many times to back up games without using cracks so it should work



+1 for this. Just had a quick look through my old backups and 90% of them are all .mdf/.mds files, pretty sure the reason was something to do with .isos struggling with more advanced copy protection types.


On May 04 2012 14:11 Morfildur wrote:
Copy protections far older than windows 95 already used the "check for specific errors on the disk" (Floppy and CD) stuff that was hard to copy back then.
However, CloneCD or similar should be able to copy that anyways, if not, maybe the disk is already damaged from basically old age.


I don't remember copy protection being that prevalent back then - I used to just literally copy and paste the CD into a place on my harddrive then install it from there. Only started having trouble with that approach around the time win98 came out. DK I and AOE 1 I remember in particular having nothing stopping me copying them across manually. Then again I was only like 10 at the time so there could well have been a lot of copy protected games out there that I wasn't exposed to
"...good thing i brought my AXE CANE."
achristes
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Norway653 Posts
May 04 2012 12:51 GMT
#31
Btw, this is the error(s) I get when trying to use Alcohol 120% with reading speed at 2x and SafeDisc selected.
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]
youtube.com/spooderm4n | twitch.tv/spooderm4n | Random videos and games I feel like uploading
MrCon
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
France29748 Posts
May 04 2012 13:07 GMT
#32
Try gamecopyworld, it'll work.
Dire_Element
Profile Joined April 2011
United Kingdom10 Posts
May 04 2012 16:20 GMT
#33
On May 04 2012 21:51 achristes wrote:
Btw, this is the error(s) I get when trying to use Alcohol 120% with reading speed at 2x and SafeDisc selected.
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Yeah that looks kinda familliar. Did you have the options to skip reading errors and fast skip error blocks turned on? And were you using the fastdump method I mentioned earlier?
"...good thing i brought my AXE CANE."
achristes
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Norway653 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-04 17:19:20
May 04 2012 17:18 GMT
#34
I just came when this screen popped up...
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Thank you all for your help, it has been a long and frustrating journey but it's finally over.
GG

(To you wondering, I used Dire_Elements method, a little bit up on this page)
youtube.com/spooderm4n | twitch.tv/spooderm4n | Random videos and games I feel like uploading
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