Multidisc SecuROM v4.8 protected titles?

[Chubby]

I have a question. I know the play disc of every v4.8 game will be protected, but how do you know if the other discs in the set (like NOLF2, UT2k3, NWN, etc..) are protected, since scanning programs can only scan the exe/dll and not the actual disc? I really don't want to use RMPS emulation and patching for discs where it isn't necessary to. I'll just use clonecd for those. Does the read error at the end of Alcohol image creation process tell it all? If the disc doesn't get that error does it mean there is no securom 4.8?

[NetSoerfer]

Actually, you can tell from the appearance of the disc whether it is protected with DPM mechanism or not. You surely know that "rainbow effect" when you hold a CD at an angle into the light...

If you look closely, you will see that DPM-protected discs have a structure on them, you can see a spiral line on the disc surface, quite faint though. The distance between the "lines" you see should be about a quarter millimeter.

Apart from that, I don't know a good way - e.g. with Gothic 2 CD2&3 I only realized after the DPM reading process was finished.

But why don't you want to use Alcohol for reading not-SecuROM4.8x-protected discs? Its dumping engine is much better than CloneCD's, so why bother and install more than one program? Apart from that, it is possible that CloneCD will also be blacklisted, so you'd have to constantly check for upgrades for two programs instead of one...


Sergei

[Chubby]

I don't mind using Alcohol, but if you have to use instructions to burn RMPS to the media (which I believe is equivalent to patching it) I'd rather not do that unless it's necessary (i.e. the protection is on the disc).

I believe it only does authentication on the play disc right? So the others should be fine without recording RMPS?

[Chubby]

I did the test you showed me, and you are right.. I can see the thick bands with varying gap between each band. They only appear on the play disc. However the gap is a lot bigger than a quarter milimeter...

[Andareed]

maybe he meant centimeter?

[NetSoerfer]

If you try enabling RMPS when burning a non-protected disc, you will notice that Alcohol will give you an error telling you that there is no DPM information available, and then it will automatically disable the RMPS option. So it will only use RMPS if necessary (i.e. if the original disc had a structured data track and was read correctly).

Concerning the visual appearance of DPM-discs:
I checked the first disc of UT2k3, it looks like there is a very fine spiral in the data track, below the protective plastic layer. The gaps between the spiral lines are about a quarter millimeter in size, the line itself is even smaller, only noticeable if you look closely.
Maybe it's different on other discs - which game did you check? It was the same with Gothic 2 (I checked a friend's disc, curious as I am).

I'm afraid I cannot make pictures of this effect, it simply won't show up on the pics...


Sergei

[Chubby]

I checked NOLF2 and UT2k3, disc 1 in both games had the large feint bands, I believe spiraling from the center to the outside edge, though I'm not sure if it's really spiralling or separate rings. It's hard to see. I suppose you need a magnifying glass to measure the quarter milimeter gaps you are referring to, I thought you meant the gaps between each of these bands or rings.

The other discs don't have these bands that I see, but alcohol still took the DPM test and read the image no different to the play disc...

Could you confirm if UT disc 2 or 3 have DPM? It will take you about 5 minutes to make an image which you can do in the background while surfing the net... It will give me a better idea on how to spot v4.8 that's all.

[NetSoerfer]

It's only disc 1 that is protected, disc 2&3 are not, according to their appearance.