GTA San Andreas DVD

tommy_nw

has anyone had any success making a backup of Grand Theft Auto (San Andreas) useing CloneCD 5.2.5.1? ....

can it be copied?
if so how was it done?

my son tried backing up his copy last week, when he tried it it Worked fine.. Since then when he went to use it again got a message *Original disc could not be found or authenticated*

any help would be much appreciated..

regards
Tommy

Razor1982

you cannot backup a protected DVD 1:1 . it's just not possible because of missing features in the hardware...

but there are some ways of backing up the game, the method which works fine for me is just read the DVD with alcohol 120, then put away the original disc
mount the just made image in alcohol's virtual drive and use "Anti-Blaxx" (google will help you ) to prevent the securom protection to identify the v-drive...
all you have to do is just create a profile in anti-blaxx and then start the game via Anti-Blaxx's tray icon when you want to play.

tommy_nw

Thank's Razor for your fast reply i will do as you suggested..

regards
Tommy

Razor1982

ps: 'coz GTA:SA is SecuROM protected, don't forget to also read the DPM-Info which is important for SecuROM...

BradleyA

Could you please go through the process of which options to tick when making an image using Alcohol Build 3105 and could you give a more detailed account of how to create the profile for San Andreas using anti-blaxx? Why doesn't Alcohol Build 3105 offer a customized copy-protection selection when making an image of the San Andreas DVD? Do I select 'skip reading errors'? And is the Data Position Measurement selection to be 'normal' or 'high'? Please help. Thanks.

fedor

sorry i'm from the netherlands and i have downloaded alcohol 120 but i don't get the manuel can you tell it on a other way i'm just a beginner
please e-mail me at : fedorvanterheijden@home.nl

aard

hey fedor jij ook al?

geoff68

Hiya Folks, You can backup San Andreas DVD (securom 7) Using Alcohol. Open Alcohol/Image making wizard. Tick " skip reading errors" AND "data position measurement" Precision setting "Normal". Click Next. Click Start. When finished Open Image burning wizard. Tick "enable RMPS" (leave other settings) then Start. When you are finished burning you need to have Alcohol open (running in the Back ground) for it to work.Dont forget to Go to "emulation Options" of Alcohol and tick "RMPS Emulation".

There is a way to backup using Blindwrite Tweaker/Blindwite Method. It is more complicated but it is a proper backup without the need for background software to make it work. I did San Andreas, Boiling Point and Project Snowblind using this method (all securom 7 DVD's).

prplxd

What about providing details on how you achieved this?

geoff68

Ok Folks, Im not sure about the legalaties but here goes:
You will need:
Blindwrite Tweaker 1.5.6
Blindwrite 5. + (i have 5.2.9.142)
Download a BWA file from makeabackup.com (takes a second about 10kb file)

Its important things are done in the following order or it wont work.

1) Open Tweaker. On the topology tab tick "never extract" option. On Basic settings tab "read" All other settings will default to correct settings .

2)Click "Run Blindwrite" button in tweaker (important)
(when blindwrite opens it will have "settings by BW5 Tweaker" in the title bar)

Now make a cuppa tea coz it takes awhile 20 mins or so.

3)When its done put your Downloaded bwa file in the same folder as your image. Rename the bwa to EXACTLY how your image is named. eg if your image is named SAN_ANDREAS. Then rename The bwa as SAN_ANDREAS.bwa
This is important or it wont work

4) Next CLOSE Blindwrite and open tweaker.

5)Basic setiings tab tick "write"
Topology tab Tick "write with autoplay"
Where it says "select topology file" browse for your downloaded bwa file

6) click run blindwrite

You should have a working backup, without the need for background software, antblaxx,virtual drives etc. I sometimes get a "cant authenticate Disc" error (maybe once every 5 starts) but just reboot and it works again.
good luck.
BtW I Have only average hardware
P4 1.7g
512 ram
9600pro videocard
Pioneer dvdrw (108)
Liteon cdrw

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prplxd

Thanks for the prompt post. I've had Project Snowblind for a few months now and have used probably 6-7 blanks in trying to make a successful backup, using various combinations of software, always without success. This time I did exactly as you suggested and was able to make a copy that at least loaded the game. Unfortunately, when I tried to actually play the game I was confronted by the infamous spinning wheel and the message that the disk could not be authenticated in the time allowed. The image was read and burned on a Liteon 1213S and I also tried it in my old Pioneer DVD-114 DVD-ROM drive which has often been successful in the past. However, no better result this time. BTW, my burner read the original in 4.51 mins and wrote the file in 6.02 mins. Too fast perhaps? Any suggestions?

geoff68

Prplxd i shoulda mentioned that the BW method is hardware dependant and wont work for everyone but should work for most people. Have u tried alcohol with rmps enabled? if that didnt work too its most likely your hardware. My $90 (Australian) pioneer DVDRW drive does the job.

prplxd

geoff68 - thanks for the info but I've wasted enough time & resources on this. As I understand it, if I follow your latest suggestion I would have to keep Alcohol active on my computer at all times in order to play the game, and that's not what I want as I'm not a great fan of that program. As I've already played the game a couple of times I think I'll just put it away until the hardware manufactures come up with a burner that's capable of doing a 1:1 backup of game DVDs (if ever). If not, stiff.

I originally started backing up my PC games several years ago, as I'm a keen FPS fan and have bought lots of games over the years, some of which were damaged to varying degrees by mishandling, mishaps, etc.

As copy protection became more sophisticated, I kept on upgrading my hardware and started frequenting this forum for additional information, and it became a personal challenge to try and make working backups without resorting to that ultimate admission of failure, that we all know about but won't admit to here.

I'm glad to say that my success ratio has been pretty high (thanks in no small part to the info provided in these forums) but there comes a point beyond which it isn't worth going and I've reached that in this case. I've recently reloaded and played Far Cry again (best game I've ever played) and I've just placed an order for Area 51 with my local supplier (apparently it's pretty scarce at the moment) so I look forward to going through the whole rigmarole again when I get that game.

Thanks for your input and I'm sure that there are many people out there in cyberspace (and the real world) that appreciate it as well

aard

@ geaoff68, thanks it's works perfectly woeeeeeheee

datz2

Geoff68
Do you think this method would work for MotoGPURT3 (MotoGP 3)
they both use secuROM 7 but MPG3 is on CD
thanx

saccio

Geoff68
You are the expert and maybe you could help me:
I tried to play GTA S.A. with antiblaxx and it works only if i keep
the original dvd inside at the beginning (once started i can play without dvd).
I made an image with alcohol 120 but gta dvd make desappear all the possibilities
to select profiles (alcoholer's one too) .

I tried to use your method but when i have to write, blindwrite doesn't enable
the key "write".This works only if i select a image file. It seems it doesn't recognize
the bwa file that i renamed just as you said.
Can you tell me all the other settings i have to tick?
Thanx

LanceDiamond

I'm also trying play GTA San Andreas using an image. I've tried Alcohol120 with DaemonTools & Anti-Blaxx with no luck - in all cases when trying to play using the image I get the message:

"Please remove disc from current CD/DVD drive and insert the original disc in another drive D:."

I have made a backup of my original using the steps geoff68 provided and the backup works BUT I'd really prefer to not have to have the DVD in the drive at all - backup or not, it's just annoying to have to shuffle discs.

Short of using a no-disc crack, which I don't want to do, Is it possible to play GTA San Andreas without having to have the DVD in? As I said, my backup works - but I have a ton of drive space and would prefer just having an image on the hard drive.

Thanks
Lance

BradleyA

You are exactly correct. Geoff68 gave excellent instructions on how to go about making a 1:1 backup without requiring a no-cd crack or antiblaxx, but, he forget to list selecting the image file itself as part of the procedure. You do have to select the image file to write it. I just made a successful backup of GTA San Andreas DVD today using his instructions and I am very happy. Someone mentioned in an earlier post of this thread that making a 1:1 backup of a securom title is not possible with todays hardware. After having made a successful backup of San Andreas I would tend to disagree. Anyone got any comments on this? Please post your thoughts. Thanks.
P.S. Read and Wrote image with a Lite-On DVDRW SOHW 832S recorder.
P.S.S. I confirmed the backup was successful by actually launching the game from the DVD and starting a new game. I didn't play the game for any amount of time. Maybe 30 minutes into the game it will quit or something. I dunno....

Terramex

When depending on any kind of emulation it can't be called "1:1 backup"; different sector densities (as used by Securom) can't be reproduced with current hardware.

BradleyA

How do you explain me and others making a successful backup of San Andreas then using Blindwrite Tweaker and Blindwrite?

Terramex

Copy behaves like original in every drive without emulation = 1:1 backup
Copy needs emulation in background (RMPS, Autoplay) = not 1:1

P.S.: Try to extract topology from your copy with BWA-Builder; very fast "extraction"

BradleyA

No emulation required using my copy of San Andreas. If I can make a copy of a game and launch it on my computer without emulation, which I am not using, then Im satisfied. Regardless of whether or not its a 1:1 copy. 1:1 copy would be nice though.

Terramex

When writing with Autoplay, Blindwrite's emulation will be used automatically for that backup. Watch sector 1 in the sector viewer of Alcohol or IsoBuster... there you can read "BLINDWRITE PATCH"

Clovis S. Caribe

I did it as you explained here but It didn't work... It installs the game and etc... but when it's time to play it just keeps saying that "the original disc could not be found or authenticated".
I've tried many times and just doesn't work.

Terramex

Usually this meassage means, that your BWA's quality isn't good enough or that you simply burned too fast (btw. do your drives usually run Autoplay emulated copies ?). You could try the attached B5T file (hope it fits your version); use it instead of your own B5T (don't forget to rename) and burn with 'Automatic' profile.

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