Tweet
securom images mounted via mds can be really slow
this is nothing new as such but since i just ran across this issue again, and this particular one, was a real pain, i will post about it. it has already been discussed before that since a few versions ago, dt was changed to "slow down" when an image contains securom data in the mds. an easy workaround is to know this and mount the mdf for install purposes and then remount via mds for disc checking purposes. if nothing else this isn't very elegant and it's slightly cumbersome. it's been asked/suggested before, so why can't we have an option of some kind when mounting to prevent this issue ? i won't suggest a particular method because there could be a few. rather i just want to know if it's something dt would consider doing or if it's no point talking about it since they looked at the pros/cons and decided it won't ever be implemented. so just answer that sway, so i know what's what.
my specific issue. i started installing saw: the video game and it was a bitch. it's one disc (dvd-5) with securom. after 2+ hours of installing i stopped it. rebooted and tried again. same thing. i knew about the mds issue, but since many other games install much faster even from dvd-9 discs with securom i was thinking it's something else. by this time i already knew that this game's install routine is a bit shit. instead of using the de facto installer, (installshield) they went with nullsoft. this in itself is no problem, just saying what i think. so anyway, instead of using cab files or similar they have two large exe's. one is 1.9gb and the other 1.7gb. when i saw that, i went:"aha, i know why its so bloody slow" i thought it was because i have my antivirus scan files when accessed/run and since these two are huge exes it's scanning them as they are installing and extracting files. makes sense right ? ...by this time i was also watching the processes via task manager, specifically vsmon.exe (zonealarm) and saw it climb as files were being extracted from the two large exes. there was identical correlation between the installer exe's and vsmon's i/o read bytes. it was scanning the all the files being installed from those two exe's. (which is normal and what it was supposed to do). anyway, so i stop the saw install, disable zonealarm and some other similar programs and try again. nope, no difference. the saw installation was still a dog - after 45 minutes i stop it again. i now decide to mount the mdf and try again. sure enough the installation flies through. (about 5 minutes total)
now since i was already aware of this issue you could just say that i should always mount via mdf for any securom game and not worry about slow installs. yes, but like i also said, all other securom games that i installed in the last several months (over 30 new titles), whilst a little slower then when mounting via mdf, have still got very acceptable install times. saw is the worse one yet, and i'm pretty sure it's because of the "crappy" install method they use. i mean, honestly, what major company (in this case konami) uses two large executable files to install an entire game ? i'd expect that from a joe compaq who's just starting out with installers, or a "scene" release of a game that was already installed.
here's the directory structure of the saw disc. i highlighted the main data files i'm talking about.
my specific issue. i started installing saw: the video game and it was a bitch. it's one disc (dvd-5) with securom. after 2+ hours of installing i stopped it. rebooted and tried again. same thing. i knew about the mds issue, but since many other games install much faster even from dvd-9 discs with securom i was thinking it's something else. by this time i already knew that this game's install routine is a bit shit. instead of using the de facto installer, (installshield) they went with nullsoft. this in itself is no problem, just saying what i think. so anyway, instead of using cab files or similar they have two large exe's. one is 1.9gb and the other 1.7gb. when i saw that, i went:"aha, i know why its so bloody slow" i thought it was because i have my antivirus scan files when accessed/run and since these two are huge exes it's scanning them as they are installing and extracting files. makes sense right ? ...by this time i was also watching the processes via task manager, specifically vsmon.exe (zonealarm) and saw it climb as files were being extracted from the two large exes. there was identical correlation between the installer exe's and vsmon's i/o read bytes. it was scanning the all the files being installed from those two exe's. (which is normal and what it was supposed to do). anyway, so i stop the saw install, disable zonealarm and some other similar programs and try again. nope, no difference. the saw installation was still a dog - after 45 minutes i stop it again. i now decide to mount the mdf and try again. sure enough the installation flies through. (about 5 minutes total)
now since i was already aware of this issue you could just say that i should always mount via mdf for any securom game and not worry about slow installs. yes, but like i also said, all other securom games that i installed in the last several months (over 30 new titles), whilst a little slower then when mounting via mdf, have still got very acceptable install times. saw is the worse one yet, and i'm pretty sure it's because of the "crappy" install method they use. i mean, honestly, what major company (in this case konami) uses two large executable files to install an entire game ? i'd expect that from a joe compaq who's just starting out with installers, or a "scene" release of a game that was already installed.
here's the directory structure of the saw disc. i highlighted the main data files i'm talking about.
Volume in drive L is SAW
Volume Serial Number is B11C-1AFD
Directory of L:\
04/28/2009 03:47 AM 58 autorun.inf
10/23/2009 02:25 AM <DIR> Installer
04/28/2009 03:48 AM 67,646 SawSetup.ico
10/23/2009 02:25 AM 35,783 SetupApp.exe
3 File(s) 103,487 bytes
Directory of L:\Installer
10/23/2009 02:25 AM <DIR> .
10/23/2009 02:28 AM <DIR> ..
09/30/2009 02:59 AM <DIR> DirectXRedist
09/30/2009 03:00 AM <DIR> PhysX
10/23/2009 02:20 AM 1,989,695,347 SawInstaller.exe
10/23/2009 02:24 AM 1,781,745,061 SawInstallerPart2.exe
10/10/2009 03:26 AM 6,414 SawReadme.txt
3 File(s) 3,771,446,822 bytes
Total Files Listed:
147 File(s) 3,923,821,652 bytes
9 Dir(s) 0 bytes free
Volume Serial Number is B11C-1AFD
Directory of L:\
04/28/2009 03:47 AM 58 autorun.inf
10/23/2009 02:25 AM <DIR> Installer
04/28/2009 03:48 AM 67,646 SawSetup.ico
10/23/2009 02:25 AM 35,783 SetupApp.exe
3 File(s) 103,487 bytes
Directory of L:\Installer
10/23/2009 02:25 AM <DIR> .
10/23/2009 02:28 AM <DIR> ..
09/30/2009 02:59 AM <DIR> DirectXRedist
09/30/2009 03:00 AM <DIR> PhysX
10/23/2009 02:20 AM 1,989,695,347 SawInstaller.exe
10/23/2009 02:24 AM 1,781,745,061 SawInstallerPart2.exe
10/10/2009 03:26 AM 6,414 SawReadme.txt
3 File(s) 3,771,446,822 bytes
Total Files Listed:
147 File(s) 3,923,821,652 bytes
9 Dir(s) 0 bytes free