Copying DC Backups from Backups

@Dreamcast

Published in 

Dreamcast

 · 3 years ago

"Copying DC Backups from Backups"
by: rn0g

-=if the text looks messed up, maximize this window and click on the Edit menu and then Word Wrap=-

I'll start this by saying that i take no credit for any of the software referred to in this guide. much props to DeXT because he codes some very clever programs. sorry to anyone who deserves credit if i forgot you. please include this part if you decide to put this on your web page. anyone can post this, print this for toilet paper or whatever without my permission.

ok people this is the first time i've ever written a tutorial so i hope it helps you out. i'm writing this because my burner, a memorex crw-1622, can't copy a game directly from a self booting backup. why can't our burners read & write all the subchannel data?? :(
this is for you if you get a "TAO error", "command descriptor block error" or a "buffer underrun error". i've had plenty. after 2 weeks and 15 coasters, look at me writing a guide for all of you.

in order to backup backups easily, you should know a few things. first is that a LBA number is the sector number that a session starts at. almost every backup DC game is 2 sessions. if the LBA # of the first session isn't the LBA # that the second session is set to the game will be a coaster. the way most games are is usually one very small audio file in the first session and the game in the second. in this case the LBA is 11700 or 11702 (this is the case with most games, but CDDA games have a higher LBA). the genuis behind this is that older burners supposedly don't support any track less than 302 sectors, and if the LBA # of the second session dosen't match up with the LBA specified in the bootfile, the game will boot to the sega screen and then you get pooped on after that. therefore they theoretically couldn't be copied. thanks to DeXT, even us people who don't have a big bad yamaha burner can burn these types of games by tricking the game into thinking the starting LBA is 11700 or whatever it is set to by adding a "pad" so to speak, and then burning the header in the second session. in some cases, there are multiple CDDA (audio) tracks in the first session and the game (mode2-xa) in the second session. the trick to this one is that some burners can't write SAO or mixed mode TAO or some shit like that. the first session has to be mode1-cdda and the second has to be mode2-xa and with some burning software you will get a TAO error. cdrecord lets you work around this on even the oldest burners. keep in mind that whenever you are burning a game the LBA is very important so WRITE IT DOWN. write down the track modes too. AND USE 80 minute CDRs. preferrably Verbatim, Sony, or PNY.
i also strongly suggest you carefully read the README.TXT files provided with cdirip and isofix.
**this may not work on the oldest of old Mitushi burners**

-=LETS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS=-

First i will list the tools i use. you will need these if you can't copy a 1:1 copy of a dc backup using DiscJuggler3.0 and don't want to buy a new burner. most are available for free and the ones that aren't are available as demos.
check out "www.dccopyworld.com" & "http://cdirip.cjb.net"

DOWNLOAD THESE:

1. DiscJuggler 3.0 (Padus)
2. CdiRip 0.5 (DeXT)
3. IsoFix 1.3 (DeXT)
4. CDRWin 3.8D (GoldenHawk Technologies)
5. cdrecord.exe (i dont know who made it but it's splendid)
6. cuttrack.exe (DExT)

-= i suggest you unzip all of these to the same folder so you don't have to move your game files around too much and get confused=-

so i guess i'll begin at the beginning.

• 1. First insert your backup into your cd drive. (complicated isn't it?) next load up discjuggler (DJ from now on) start a new project and click "cd reader to cd image". you might want to change the box that says "c:\windows\temp" to your cdirip directory, but it's not necessary now. make sure the "ISRC and UPC" box is checked off under the advanced tab. you don't have to check any other boxes. Click start and wait for it to copy. before you do anything else click on session explorer and look at the disc in your drive. if it has more than one audio track in the first session take note of it. if it has one very small track (6seconds or less) in the first session take note of that too.

• 2. Next CdiRip the cdi file from the dos prompt. to do this you should first drag and drop the file image1.cdi from the c:\Windows\Temp folder to wherever you have cdirip at. then, click the start menu, select run and type "command prompt". press enter. the msdos console will come up. switch to your cdirip directory. now depending on the game you are burning you will need to use different options.

• * if it's a game with multiple CDDA (audio) in the first session you will need to use cdrecord.(because for some reason my burner writes TAO with cdrecord, but gets a TAO error with any other burning utility) for games like this you will type "cdirip Image1.cdi /cutall /full /iso" in your cdirip directory.(these commands will cut all the audio tracks by 2 sectors so the LBA will still amount to the original LBA of the second session when your burner adds the 2 extra sectors) cdirip will start ripping the files from the cdi. take note of the LBA of the second session. if you are burning a game with multiple cdda in the first session, skip step 3 and 4 and go directly to step 5. (if you get a 300 sector track in addition to the larger tracks you will need to see the ******note a few lines under this

• * if it's a game with one 300 sector track in the first session you can just use cdirip with no options, then fix it with iso header extractor to burn with cdrwin. (you can determine if it's this type of game with DJ when you click on session explorer and look at the disc in your drive. the first session will have one track that is 6 seconds or less.) for games like this you will type "cdirip image1.cdi" write down the LBA number of the second session.(it will probably be 11700, sometimes its 11702 but make sure you write it down.)

in either case cdirip will produce TAudioXX.wav and TDataXX.iso

****note: for some cdda games (like coaster works) that have a 300 sector track(s) in the first session in addition to the other tracks, you might need to use cuttrack because your burner may be restricted to write at least 302 sectors per track. the problem here is when you do cdirip with the /cutall /full /iso options it will make the original 300 sector CDDA track a 298 sector track and cdrecord will not write it. so you have to outthink your burner once again. here's how:

• first cdirip it with the /cutall /full /iso options i listed originally, then make a new folder in the cdirip folder. move all the files except the 300 sector track into the folder you just created(even the .iso file).
• now open your dos console again and cdirip it again. this time use only the /full option by typing "cdirip image1.cdi /full". it should not say [cut: 2] next to the track info like it did the first time. you only have to let it write the 300 sector track(s) because you are going to use the /cut files that you moved to your new folder.(you can use alt+ctrl+del then end task to cancel cdirip.) then you delete all the files that cdirip produced except for the 300 sector track that you had left in there.(this has been rewritten to 300 sectors instead of the 298 that cdirip had first made it.) next comes moving the /cut files from your new folder back to their original location.
• time for a little math. for every 300 sector track in the first session that you had to save as full, you will need to cut 2 additional sectors from one of the larger .wav files. for instance, if track2 and track5 are both 300 sector tracks, you would have to cut an additional 4 sectors from one of the larger .wav files (or cut 2 sectors from 2 different, larger, .wav files) this can be done with cuttrack
• open a dos console and type "cuttrack TAudioxx.wav 2" and it will cut the 2 sectors you need to make the LBA right. you can replace the 2 with a 4, or cuttrack 2 different ones by 2 if you have two 300 sector tracks. now you're all set, just follow the rest of the instructions.

FOR GAMES WITH THE SMALL TRACK IN THE FIRST SESSION

• 3. ok, now that you have all your files in the cdirip directory you can delete the image1.cdi file.(unless you don't mind a few hundred megabytes being taken up on your drive.) it is also safe to delete the TAudio01.wav file. you should KEEP TData02.iso. that is just what you need. move TData02.iso to your IsoFix folder and run isofix on it. isofix will ask you for the name of the ISO to fix, you should type TData02.iso here. it will then ask you for the LBA number the iso should be. remember i told you to write down the LBA # that cdirip told you for the second session? now you will need it. most likely it will be 11700 incase you forgot. isofix will then produce a few files. the two you need will be named fixed.iso and header.iso.

• 4. it's time to burn! load up your CDRWin and click on file backup tools(it has a picture of a screwdriver & a wrench) then set the top bar to say "Record an ISO 9660 Image File". click on the 3 dots to the right of the Image Filename box. locate your "fixed.iso" and double click it. (it will be in the same directory as ISOFix) now this it the important part. look at Recording Options. You must:
• Set disc type as CDROM-XA and track mode as MODE2 (i also recommend to burn no faster than 4x)
• -=UNCHECK=- THE WRITE POSTGAP BOX
• make sure that "Finalize/Close Session" and "Open New Session" are BOTH CHECKED.
• now burn fixed.iso
• when it's done change "fixed.iso" to "header.iso" and burn the second session.
• now you're ready to play!!!

FOR GAMES WITH MULTIPLE CDDA TRACKS IN THE FIRST SESSION

• 5. now that you have all your files in your cdirip directory you are going to have to cdrecord! hopefully you know a little bit about DOS, cause you're going to have to use it now. open a DOS prompt,(start menu, run, "command prompt" and go to the directory with cdrecord in it. type "cdrecord -scanbus", and it will give you 3 numbers in this format x,x,x (mine are 1,1,0) you will need this to write a batch file. complicated? no. now what you do, is open My Computer and click your way to the directory with cdrecord and all your cdiripped files in it. now right click in any empty space in the window with the files. select New from the menu, and then "text file" from the resulting menu. open the file and it will be blank. you will need to type something in it. type this: without the " "
• "cdrecord dev=x,x,x speed=2 -multi -audio taudio01.wav -audio taudio02.wav -audio taudio03.wav"
• and so on and so on until all the cdda tracks (.wav files) that cdirip produced are listed. save the file and close it. now rename the file to poop.bat or whatever you want to name it. the important thing is that you delete the ".txt" part and replace it with ".bat". make sure there isn't anything running in the background before burning. now just double click on the batch file you just made(i'm so proud of you!) and cdrecord will do the rest. when it's done if you want to make sure it will work just type this "cdrecord -dev=x,x,x -msinfo" it should give you 2 numbers in this format x,x (for games with the small track in the beginning it will be 0,11700)
• the second number is the one that matters. if it's the same as the LBA of the second session that cdirip game you, you got it made in the shade. now to burn the second session. type this in the DOS command line.
• "cdrecord dev=x,x,x speed=2 -multi -xa1 TData20.iso" or whatever the name of the iso is that cdirip produced. when it finishes burning you are all set. go play!!

yes, folks. it's that easy!!

i would appreciate any feedback you feel obliged to provide. email me at rn0g@aol.com
oh, yea. if any of you have any idea why my starwars jedi power battles backup works great except for no VMU please let me know what it might be. thanks!