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A Friend of mine send me this Q&A about how Copy Protections work like SafeDisk, SecuRom and StarForce.
This FAQ is from some Game Crackers, but it Analizes more how Copyprotections work. I Hope its not Illegal to post it, otherwise delete it.
I modified it a little. Hope now everybody will understand how it works.
This FAQ is from some Game Crackers, but it Analizes more how Copyprotections work. I Hope its not Illegal to post it, otherwise delete it.
I modified it a little. Hope now everybody will understand how it works.
General
iNTRODUCTION
Q-1: What are these 'CloneCDs' really ?
A-1: CloneCDs are RAW copies of retail PC Games that use various protections to verify their authenticity, essentially CloneCDs should not require any kind of emulation or loaders to run.
Q-2: Why 'CloneCDs' what are they for ?
A-2: They are primarily used as backup copies of your retail game, that when burnt work as your retail, without compromising the integrity of either the protection or content.
Q-3: Why should I burn a CloneCD when I can easily find and apply 'Crack' ?
A-3: First of all you will need an updated 'Crack' each time a game is patched, currently there is no way of knowing if an updated 'Crack' is possible, Game software Publishers use copy protections mainly for their ability to withstand any manipulation to the protected executables, while 'CloneCDs' leave software untouched, and instead focus on producing a replica of the retail disc, that is guaranteed to work after numerous patches and updates, in the end it is a matter of individual choice and preference.
Q-4: What is the difference between a CloneCD and CloneDVD ?
A-4: Basically besides the obvious difference in format, 'CloneDVDs' cannot be burnt RAW, this is disabled on all DVDR* Drives, so a 'CloneDVD' will always require emulation and/or a loader to run, CloneDVDs are therefore not our primary choice.
Q-5: What are 'Emulation' and 'Loaders' and why are they considered a bad thing ?
A-5: They both require an additional software to run the protected game. 'Emulation' will try to fool the protection engine that authenticity of your software is valid, this is usually a resident program that activates when a specific command is sent to the CD/DVD drive, this is easily blacklisted and is therefore inefficient. 'Loaders' are addition to the 'Emulation' that attempt to prevent it from being detected or disabled, the risk of system instability is unavoidable, and unless there is no better way of making your backup copy work, they should not be used altogether.
Q-6: If burning these 'CloneCDs' is required, do I need specific hardware in order to get a working backup copy ?
A-6: Good hardware is always recommended, this does not mean the most expensive one or the best is required, in practice any CDRW/DVDRW burner is able to produce working 'CloneCDs' if you follow the instructions and stay away from using 'Emulation' or 'Loaders' that are frequently getting blacklisted by a software update of the protection engine.
Q-7: How does a 'Protection Engine' work, what is its main function and purpose ?
A-7: The main focus of current PC-CDROM Game protections is to prevent cracking, backward engineering and mass manufacturing copyrighted software, operations include scanning for possible emulation, virtual drive detection, media is scanned for ability to write or format, the three of the currently most popular protections that we will be covering in this Q&A are also checking for specific anomalies that are present on the retail disc and help verify its authenticity.
Q-8: What about quality assurance, how do I know my CloneCD image qualifies current standards and requirements ?
A-8: There are a number of applications used typical for each protection to make sure it is 100% before actually burn testing, these are CDMage scan that will determine if the image structure is unmodified and weather or not it contains unwanted errors, DPMViewer or BWAReader will show if the physical sector scan is clean and correct. Quality is top priority when it comes to CloneCDs, if the image is less than perfect, it may fail to run.
Q-9: How come this Q&A is only covering SafeDisc, SecuROM and StarForce ?
A-9: These 3 protections are the only ones possible to Clone 1:1 that is a fully working standalone CDs that run exactly as retail, without compromising or editing the contents or integrity, these are so called 'True Clones' the methods we use cloning them have proven to be the best available, since there are currently no rules concerning CloneCDs in the community, the aim of this Q&A is to implement Quality Control.
Q-10: Is it true that Cloning requires no talent, very little effort and no basic intelligence to accomplish ?
A-10: Yes, this is true, in theory ANYONE can make a CloneCD, however practice has shown otherwise, unfortunately attaining quality is not possible when you do not know what you are doing, information available is usually outdated and based on rumors instead of facts and tutorials will prefer one method to the other for other reasons then user benefit. Given all these misguidances, it is apparent that intelligence is definitely necessary, at least to filter out the spam.
---SafeDisc---CloneCDs:
Q-1: What is 'SafeDisc' who made it and how does it work ?
A-1: SafeDisc is a protection engine developed by Macrovision, its main function is encrypting, anticracking and emulation detection, current version 4.xx is extremely difficult to circumvent even for an experienced cracker, there is probably no question of actual possibility to crack, but requires a lot of time, since with each updated version new and improved security system is introduced, this will soon mean that the community is forced to find and learn burning CloneCDs or wait literally weeks for a NoCD.
Q-2: What kind of 'Emulation' is safedisc currently blacklisting ?
A-2: Latest versions 4.6x blacklist Slysoft's CloneCD and CloneDVD entirely, not to mention its virtual drive, if you have this application installed, SafeDisc CloneCD backups will not run, Daemon Tools 4 v-drive and Alcohol 120% v-drive will not work because of implementation of 'IDE Priority' this means that v-drives on SCSI bus are ignored, if any IDE optical drives are found, their respective Emulation options are totally useless/nonworking.
Q-3: What are your recommendations, do I need specific hardware to burn 'SafeDisc' CD ?
A-3: Burning is necessary, since software emulation and virtual drives are easily blacklisted by the next patch of game in question. The good news are that most new Quality CDRW/DVDRW Drives are fully capable of burning a working backup, Plextor, LiteON, LG and Asus can currently burn SafeDisc without modifying the so called 'weak sectors' their main superiority is hardware 'correct EFM encoding' which is essential to pass the verification system, alternatively if you do not own any of the above mentioned Drives, use 'Bypass EFM Error' in Alcohol 120% SafeDisc 2/3 profile.
Q-4: What about Format of a SafeDisc image, does it really matter ?
A-4: The only advantage of a CloneCD format (.ccd) is that you can easily use it for either application and it doesn’t have to be converted in order to scan for possible unwanted errors, other than that, both formats will produce a working CloneCD.
Q-5: Does media or recording speed have a significant impact on the outcome ?
A-5: Low burning speed is highly recommended for a quality backup, the result is faster authentication, your CloneCDs should work without any kind of problems even if you burn it at 52x, provided it is readable by your ROM device, use 4x-16x for best results. There are no media preference other than faster loading times and verification, if the quality of the media is very bad the SafeDisc loader may time out in some extremely rare cases.
Q-6: How will I know my backup image is top quality ?
A-6: Use CDMage 1.05b to scan the image, there should be approximately 580+ specially designed errors placed on the first 10.000-11.000 sectors, with unused/empty content. * #| Sector|Sync|Header|Subheader|EDC|Intermediate|ECC P|ECC Q|Severity|Content of sector 1| 1 045| No | No | N/A |Yes| No | Yes | Yes |Medium |unused/empty 1| 10 359| No | No | N/A |Yes| No | Yes | Yes |Medium |unused/empty *(as example this is a CDMage scan - first and last sectors of a SafeDisc image)
Q-7: Why does this CloneCD only work from a CD/DVD-Rom and not from CDRW/DVDRW ?
A-7: SafeDisc protection engine uses something called 'ATIP Checker' Basically this is a default command that is frequently used by your burner to register size and ability to write to your CDR/CDRW media, SafeDisc performs this scan it to establish weather or not the media is burnt or printed. Currently there is a way to hide or block this ability by Alcohol 120% 'Ignore Media Type' however running CloneCDs is always recommended from a *-ROM drive that by default doesn’t support 'ATiP Checker' command, since it isn’t required for its only function.
Q-8: What about CloneDVDs, why is it impossible to make them work burnt ?
A-8: This is unfortunately a hardware issue, apparently DVDs cannot be burnt RAW mode, which is necessary to reproduce the SafeDisc verification signature, the only possible, but currently unavailable solution to this might be either modified firmware or a 'chipped' DVDRW Drive.
Q-9: How can I run a CloneDVD or CloneCD mounted ?
A-9: With recent versions of SafeDisc 4.6x you will have to resort to using 'Loaders' to run the game mounted, such as antiblaxx, sd4 hider etc.. to resolve emulation detection and blacklisting.
iNTRODUCTION
Q-1: What are these 'CloneCDs' really ?
A-1: CloneCDs are RAW copies of retail PC Games that use various protections to verify their authenticity, essentially CloneCDs should not require any kind of emulation or loaders to run.
Q-2: Why 'CloneCDs' what are they for ?
A-2: They are primarily used as backup copies of your retail game, that when burnt work as your retail, without compromising the integrity of either the protection or content.
Q-3: Why should I burn a CloneCD when I can easily find and apply 'Crack' ?
A-3: First of all you will need an updated 'Crack' each time a game is patched, currently there is no way of knowing if an updated 'Crack' is possible, Game software Publishers use copy protections mainly for their ability to withstand any manipulation to the protected executables, while 'CloneCDs' leave software untouched, and instead focus on producing a replica of the retail disc, that is guaranteed to work after numerous patches and updates, in the end it is a matter of individual choice and preference.
Q-4: What is the difference between a CloneCD and CloneDVD ?
A-4: Basically besides the obvious difference in format, 'CloneDVDs' cannot be burnt RAW, this is disabled on all DVDR* Drives, so a 'CloneDVD' will always require emulation and/or a loader to run, CloneDVDs are therefore not our primary choice.
Q-5: What are 'Emulation' and 'Loaders' and why are they considered a bad thing ?
A-5: They both require an additional software to run the protected game. 'Emulation' will try to fool the protection engine that authenticity of your software is valid, this is usually a resident program that activates when a specific command is sent to the CD/DVD drive, this is easily blacklisted and is therefore inefficient. 'Loaders' are addition to the 'Emulation' that attempt to prevent it from being detected or disabled, the risk of system instability is unavoidable, and unless there is no better way of making your backup copy work, they should not be used altogether.
Q-6: If burning these 'CloneCDs' is required, do I need specific hardware in order to get a working backup copy ?
A-6: Good hardware is always recommended, this does not mean the most expensive one or the best is required, in practice any CDRW/DVDRW burner is able to produce working 'CloneCDs' if you follow the instructions and stay away from using 'Emulation' or 'Loaders' that are frequently getting blacklisted by a software update of the protection engine.
Q-7: How does a 'Protection Engine' work, what is its main function and purpose ?
A-7: The main focus of current PC-CDROM Game protections is to prevent cracking, backward engineering and mass manufacturing copyrighted software, operations include scanning for possible emulation, virtual drive detection, media is scanned for ability to write or format, the three of the currently most popular protections that we will be covering in this Q&A are also checking for specific anomalies that are present on the retail disc and help verify its authenticity.
Q-8: What about quality assurance, how do I know my CloneCD image qualifies current standards and requirements ?
A-8: There are a number of applications used typical for each protection to make sure it is 100% before actually burn testing, these are CDMage scan that will determine if the image structure is unmodified and weather or not it contains unwanted errors, DPMViewer or BWAReader will show if the physical sector scan is clean and correct. Quality is top priority when it comes to CloneCDs, if the image is less than perfect, it may fail to run.
Q-9: How come this Q&A is only covering SafeDisc, SecuROM and StarForce ?
A-9: These 3 protections are the only ones possible to Clone 1:1 that is a fully working standalone CDs that run exactly as retail, without compromising or editing the contents or integrity, these are so called 'True Clones' the methods we use cloning them have proven to be the best available, since there are currently no rules concerning CloneCDs in the community, the aim of this Q&A is to implement Quality Control.
Q-10: Is it true that Cloning requires no talent, very little effort and no basic intelligence to accomplish ?
A-10: Yes, this is true, in theory ANYONE can make a CloneCD, however practice has shown otherwise, unfortunately attaining quality is not possible when you do not know what you are doing, information available is usually outdated and based on rumors instead of facts and tutorials will prefer one method to the other for other reasons then user benefit. Given all these misguidances, it is apparent that intelligence is definitely necessary, at least to filter out the spam.
---SafeDisc---CloneCDs:
Q-1: What is 'SafeDisc' who made it and how does it work ?
A-1: SafeDisc is a protection engine developed by Macrovision, its main function is encrypting, anticracking and emulation detection, current version 4.xx is extremely difficult to circumvent even for an experienced cracker, there is probably no question of actual possibility to crack, but requires a lot of time, since with each updated version new and improved security system is introduced, this will soon mean that the community is forced to find and learn burning CloneCDs or wait literally weeks for a NoCD.
Q-2: What kind of 'Emulation' is safedisc currently blacklisting ?
A-2: Latest versions 4.6x blacklist Slysoft's CloneCD and CloneDVD entirely, not to mention its virtual drive, if you have this application installed, SafeDisc CloneCD backups will not run, Daemon Tools 4 v-drive and Alcohol 120% v-drive will not work because of implementation of 'IDE Priority' this means that v-drives on SCSI bus are ignored, if any IDE optical drives are found, their respective Emulation options are totally useless/nonworking.
Q-3: What are your recommendations, do I need specific hardware to burn 'SafeDisc' CD ?
A-3: Burning is necessary, since software emulation and virtual drives are easily blacklisted by the next patch of game in question. The good news are that most new Quality CDRW/DVDRW Drives are fully capable of burning a working backup, Plextor, LiteON, LG and Asus can currently burn SafeDisc without modifying the so called 'weak sectors' their main superiority is hardware 'correct EFM encoding' which is essential to pass the verification system, alternatively if you do not own any of the above mentioned Drives, use 'Bypass EFM Error' in Alcohol 120% SafeDisc 2/3 profile.
Q-4: What about Format of a SafeDisc image, does it really matter ?
A-4: The only advantage of a CloneCD format (.ccd) is that you can easily use it for either application and it doesn’t have to be converted in order to scan for possible unwanted errors, other than that, both formats will produce a working CloneCD.
Q-5: Does media or recording speed have a significant impact on the outcome ?
A-5: Low burning speed is highly recommended for a quality backup, the result is faster authentication, your CloneCDs should work without any kind of problems even if you burn it at 52x, provided it is readable by your ROM device, use 4x-16x for best results. There are no media preference other than faster loading times and verification, if the quality of the media is very bad the SafeDisc loader may time out in some extremely rare cases.
Q-6: How will I know my backup image is top quality ?
A-6: Use CDMage 1.05b to scan the image, there should be approximately 580+ specially designed errors placed on the first 10.000-11.000 sectors, with unused/empty content. * #| Sector|Sync|Header|Subheader|EDC|Intermediate|ECC P|ECC Q|Severity|Content of sector 1| 1 045| No | No | N/A |Yes| No | Yes | Yes |Medium |unused/empty 1| 10 359| No | No | N/A |Yes| No | Yes | Yes |Medium |unused/empty *(as example this is a CDMage scan - first and last sectors of a SafeDisc image)
Q-7: Why does this CloneCD only work from a CD/DVD-Rom and not from CDRW/DVDRW ?
A-7: SafeDisc protection engine uses something called 'ATIP Checker' Basically this is a default command that is frequently used by your burner to register size and ability to write to your CDR/CDRW media, SafeDisc performs this scan it to establish weather or not the media is burnt or printed. Currently there is a way to hide or block this ability by Alcohol 120% 'Ignore Media Type' however running CloneCDs is always recommended from a *-ROM drive that by default doesn’t support 'ATiP Checker' command, since it isn’t required for its only function.
Q-8: What about CloneDVDs, why is it impossible to make them work burnt ?
A-8: This is unfortunately a hardware issue, apparently DVDs cannot be burnt RAW mode, which is necessary to reproduce the SafeDisc verification signature, the only possible, but currently unavailable solution to this might be either modified firmware or a 'chipped' DVDRW Drive.
Q-9: How can I run a CloneDVD or CloneCD mounted ?
A-9: With recent versions of SafeDisc 4.6x you will have to resort to using 'Loaders' to run the game mounted, such as antiblaxx, sd4 hider etc.. to resolve emulation detection and blacklisting.
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