Problems With NOLF2 Securom

[dan001]

Hi,

I just bought an old copy of No One Lives Forever 2 and have test installed it and it works fine.

However, I have also tried to back it up to msd/mdf and run it from the image and I cannot make it work. I have patched NOLF2 to v1.3 which uses Securom 4.84.64.0049 and have gone through a few old posts about problems getting this to work in DT.

The only posts I can find specifically referencing this version talk about similar symptoms (start game up, get to launcher, hit play, then LithTech initialises, does its check, then nothing further happens, presumably because it failed its check). They mention that maybe there is blacklisting happening and that it will be patched up in the next version of DT, but this doesn't appear to be happening in my versions (DT Pro 4.36.0309.0160 or DT Ultra 1.10.0103).

Can anyone help?

Cheers
Dan

[Terramex]

Which datatype setting have you chosen when creating your MDS/MDF image ?
Could you please attach/upload your zipped MDS file ?

[dan001]

Hi Terramex,

By datatype, do you mean profile? I have checked Advanced Options and don't see a datatype setting (this is in DT Ultra). I have chosen the New Securom option, but I think I also initially tried the Old Securom one as well (I have tried a few times now and have lost track a bit!). I also tried to make an image with Alcohol, but I got the same result as with DT.

I am sure I am missing something simple as it has been a long time since I dealt with this scenario (i.e. imaging a Securom protected game) and I have forgotten how most of it works!

I have been trying to attach a zip of the mds, but the file upload manager does not seem to be working in either chrome or IE (the popup window appears, but no links is clickable) - is there another option for uploading a file?


Cheers
Dan

[Terramex]

Yeah, sorry, i meant 'profile', it's called 'datatype' in Alcohol
NOLF 2 was one of the first titles using New SecuROM back in 2002.

In contrast to DVDs it's recommended for CDs to select a low/middle DPM extraction speed.
So if necessary, you maybe want to retry with another DPM speed setting.

Have you mounted your image in a SCSI or IDE device, or in a "simple" DT device ?

You can upload the MDS to a OCH like Zippyshare.com or Firedrive.com

[dan001]

Ah ok, I will give the low/middle DPM speed a shot! Didn't know that at all, thanks

I think I mounted in a simple DT device as there doesn't seem to be too many options in DT Ultra to change that (as compared with DT Pro or Alcohol). I have Alcohol on another machine so once I have done the new DPM image, I will try mounting in Alcohol - should I try both SCSI and IDE? Which would be better?

I may reinstall DT Pro again if it has some options that will help this work. I'll also post the link to the mds zip once I have uploaded it somewhere.

[Terramex]

If the DPM with maximum speed was good/precise enough, both SCSI and IDE will do the job - in contrast to a DT device.
DT devices don't provide advanced emulation (e.g. copy protections).
To use a SCSI/IDE device in DT Ultra you need to 'Mount in Advanced Mode...'
You can also save a setting in the 'Image Parameters' to always mount an image in a certain device type.

So before trying another DPM speed try in a SCSI/IDE device.

[dan001]

This is interesting - on my backup machine where I have Alcohol and DT Pro, I had a play with the DT Pro settings and checked RMPS and Securom boxes in the Advanced section of the Preferences menu and the game starts up fine! (I have no idea what checking these options actually does, I was in click-everything mode!).

However, I tried DT Ultra (on the machine I need it to work on) using Mount In Advanced Mode and it still doesn't work. It is a bit strange that you get no options when choosing mount in advanced mode so it's not really very obvious that it is doing anything different than before. Has DT Ultra been dumbed down to get more mass market appeal? I cannot find the equivalents of those DT Pro settings anywhere in the options.

[Terramex]

This is interesting - on my backup machine where I have Alcohol and DT Pro, I had a play with the DT Pro settings and checked RMPS and Securom boxes in the Advanced section of the Preferences menu and the game starts up fine!

Both are more or less obsolete emulation options from the past. Try without RMPS and Securom boxes checked and it will still work
RMPS is/was required for burned (RMPS-)backups which have the DPM information stored in a field before the user data section, and Securom is required for Subchannel emulation of imperfect CD backups of SecuROM versions prior 2002 - the versions without non-standard sector density which don't require a DPM.
Neither is responsible for your image to work.

However, I tried DT Ultra (on the machine I need it to work on) using Mount In Advanced Mode and it still doesn't work. It is a bit strange that you get no options when choosing mount in advanced mode so it's not really very obvious that it is doing anything different than before. Has DT Ultra been dumbed down to get more mass market appeal? I cannot find the equivalents of those DT Pro settings anywhere in the options.

You're using the very same image which works in DT Pro ?

I take it you don't get this window as described here: http://ultra.daemon-help.com/image/mounting

[dan001]

sorry took a while to get back to this!

ok yes, you're absolutely right - the image worked fine even without those options

yep i am using the very same image which works in DT Pro! i didn't get that window at all so i guess i was only getting the basic DT device. i was doing "mount advnced" from the system tray icon so i thought to try it from the app itself and hey presto, i finally got that window! but choosing either scsi or ide still did not get the game to play although the behaviour did change. now lithtech.exe hits 100% cpu and seems to never finish. i end tasked it after a few minutes as something definitely seemed wrong with it.

so if it works in dt pro it should work in dt ultra - is that right?

[Terramex]

Maybe there's a emulation timing problem.
Could be caused by some security software disturbing the check, overclocking, (very) fragmented HDD, or simply SecuROM messing around
Exit as many running processes as possible and retry.

Sometimes it helps to use a so called mini image instead of a full image: http://forum.daemon-tools.cc/f20/min...29/#post110456
But instead of start sector 17 leave the default '50'.

btw. you've checked whether or not the original disc runs without problem ?

[dan001]

yeah i think you're right, there must be something on this pc that is causing it to fail!

quick recap

- the image and the original disc both work fine on my backup machine with dt pro and alcohol installed
- neither the image or the disc (i found this one out yesterday as i had been trying the original disc on my backup!) work on my dt ultra machine

so the variables are dt and the machine, although i reckon that as the disc also doesn't work it prob isn't dt ultra causing the problem (i could try installing dt pro and testing that just to be sure). i think though that i have some process-disabling-testing to do! its a bit annoying coz all my other dt ultra games (including securom 7 ones!) run fine.

thanks so much for your help in this! we got to a point where we proved the important stuff was ok (disc and image), the rest is me cleaning up my pc

cheers
dan