Hi. I got my hands on what was said to be a prototype. The disc won't play on console and won't open on PC, so I don't know what it is. The seller couldn't clearly remember/state where the disc originate from, and had a fair amount of other assorted identified and unidentified discs. The disc says: "ETG V0.0.1 The very first working disc" My first guess is Gex: Enter The Gecko. There are two distinct spots on the disc that I think are causing trouble reading it. So I wonder what's the most solid program or method for making perfect backups of almost broken discs? I also wonder what's the best of the best methods of backing up PS2 prototypes? Thanks a lot in advance.
That's awesome if it's really the first Gex 2 build on disc. If those spots are signs of disc rot though then it may be hopeless since that's typically non-repairable.
Dump to ISO using DVDisaster. Open the ISO file using for example 7Zip og Winrar. If it has a funky filesystem them sometimes those applications let you open up and view the filenames/structure of the ISO but it won't allow you to extract the files. Edit: if it has problems reading certain parts of the disc then the dump can take a looong time.
I salvaged what I thought was an unreadable Diablo disc, as you know, with CloneCD. Disc wouldn't play on a PS or PS2, not even with ePSXe. I dumped it with the PlayStation profile, it took 2+ hours but the image file created plays great with ePSXe. Not sure what it did with the bad sectors but it was fantastic as the image seems 100% playable.
When you say it won't open, do you mean that your drive doesn't recognize the disc at all? It looks like the seller was able to at least get a file list, so you might have to try the disc in a different drive. I know I have one old CD-R with a game on it that isn't even recognized by one of my drives (a Plextor drive, no less) but is read right away by the built in drive of an old laptop that I have access to.
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid is the case... Alright. So DVDisaster is the best program for hard-to-read discs? Any settings I should be adjust or be careful with? And how long is a looong time? That's right. It's maybe a good idea to use a program that "fills in data gaps", with dummy, or what I've heard? Yeah, neither my PS2 debugger or PC DVD drive picks it up... But were you watching the auctions from the seller of this disc too? Hmmm... I have an old 2002 model Dell laptop, but I don't know.... I'll see if I get DVDisaster downloaded later today. Best regards.
I think I saw some of the listings when they were live, like the GCN NR discs, but I just took a quick look at sold listings to see if I could glean anything else from the listing. In any event, it certainly wouldn't hurt to try it on a different drive - it can make a difference. Also, kinda hard to tell from the photo, but does light shine through the spots? Is the actual dye layer on the other side discolored in those areas?
No need for any settings using DVDisaster afaik, just a straight dump. And I think I spent several hours dumping a badly damaged disc once, but maybe it just felt like it was. A standard dump takes as long as disk IO/transfer though.
Just a note, if this is a DVD then it couldn't be Gex 2. Not unless someone had some reason to be digging up the first onto-disc working build of the PSX game and backing it up onto DVD for unknown reasons.
Yeah ok. I just thought I'd take a chance on something unknown. It's exciting. And yeah, the spots show on the other side as well, but they're not "holes". Great! Maybe I can PM you (på norsk) if I need any help? Yeah. I bet it's a CD-R of some sort tho. But DVDisaster will still work, right?
I was able to track down the listing and found that file screenshot Xzx123 mentioned. So an early, early version of a game developed in 2004/5 makes it being a PS1 game very unlikely. Now I think it can be anything basically... Interesting.
The SLES file would indicate that it is probably a 3rd party European/PAL game. From a brief look at PS2 games beginning with E, I couldn't immediately find something that matched that abbreviation.
If it is a CD-ROM, don't just use ISO because any data stored outside of the filesystem will be lost (especially if it is a multi-track disc). BIN+CUE would be better. The spot on the outer part of the disc may not be a problem if the disc wasn't used up to that point, so you may only have to contend with the inner spot. If you haven't already tried to clean the surface of the disc, you may want to try cleaning it first, to increase the odds of reading out all readable data. Even if the filesystem is damaged, we should still be able to recover some files. The PlayStation 2 uses ISO9660 level 1
Care to share a method for how to dump damaged discs to bin/cue? I'm also not sure if DVDisaster fills the gap when dumping. I think it does, but I'm not sure. As for the damages, it looks to me like the data-layer in the disc (some uses some kind of biological material afaik) and the damage reminds me that of the Halo beta disc I had problems with.
I tried searching as well, but didn't find anything that struck me as an immediate match... I've cleaned the disc so it should be ready to go. But I also would love to know, like VerticalE here ... I'm looking for the best method to make the perfect dump of PS1 and PS2 discs, one and two layers, and I'm looking for the best method to make the most complete and functional dumps of PS1 and PS2 discs in case they're damaged. I'm a patient guy, so time is not an issue as long as I get the most successful results possible. If there's a recommended disc drive I'll consider that too.
PS1 discs is best dumped with CloneCD. I fail to remember the details, but there is an anti-DRM option when dumping. As for damaged discs the best option afaik is DVDisaster.
