Homeworld 2

Burning Software Copy Protection
#1

Dear all, especially philamber!

Firstly, allow to give you my thanks for all your effort put into this knowledge base; I was already successful using this fine repository, however, Homeworld 2 (Securom) is making me really crazy right now. So please, have a look on my problem:

I made an image of Homeworld 2 (the patched game, i.e. version 1.1) exactly using the method described in the thread Copying Securom 4.8x/5.x/7.x CDs with Alcohol and A-Ray Scanner. So at the end I had 4 files, “HW2.mdf” (and “HW2.mds”) and the “patched.mdf” (and “patched.mds”), as well as 1 CD, the latter again made exactly according to the rules given in that thread.

The result, based on an installation of the original Homeworld-CD, so to say, is somewhat strange:

  1. My new created CD doesn’t work (“Unable to authenticate original disc within time limit”). :frowning:

  2. Loading the un(!)patched image with “HW2.mds” by means of Alcohol or Daemon tools works! :), but :confused:

  3. On the other hand, loading “patched.mds” by means of Alcohol or Daemon tools does not work (even if I get no error message). :frowning:

For nearer specifications, please note the following:

  1. Alcohol 120% Version 1.9.5 (Build 3105)

  2. A-Ray scanner v2.0.2.3 (it reports Securom 5.00.03.0048 from “…\bin\release\Homeworld2.exe” after a Scan Directory in the program folders, which were created by the installation made on basis of the original CD. Note that only the homeworld update (by means of the manufacturer-patch to homeworld version 1.1) took Securom to 5.00…, before it was 4.84…).

  3. Daemon tools 3.47

  4. Everything took place on a notebook equipped with some no-name (?) Matshita DVD-Ram UJ-822s reader/burner, running Windows XP pro.

Hope, I gave you enough details for a small anlysis. I would feel very grateful for the solution of this problem (= no working CD) and, above all, I would be interested why the unpatched image (hold by Alcohol or the Daemon) works (and not the patched one).

Many thanks for eventually offering help,

nothadavid

#2

  1. Not all drives can read CD with twin sectors (it’s totally outside the CD-ROM specifications to have several sectors with the same address) ; you can’t do anything about it except playing from another, more tolerant drive…

  2. The unpatched image still contains the topology within the .mds file, so it’s normal it works

  3. The patched image is only meant to be burnt to a CD ; the twin sectors it contains just confuse the virtual drive’s drivers AND don’t reflect what the “real” topology is at all.

#3

First thanks, secondly, excuse my possibly stupid questions and statements:

  1. If not “all drives can read CD with twin sectors”, then why does HW2 work with the original CD? (A logical answer could be that the orginal CD doesn’t contain such sectors at all, and that these sectors are built by Alcohol’s image writer or A-Ray’s TwinCreator module.)

  2. So, basically, then I’m fine with (Alcohol’s image manager or the Daemon and) my 2 unpatched files (mdf and mds); there won’t be any difference to an original-CD-start?

  3. Hm. This must have the consequence that a patched-image-CD does not physically correspond to the original CD and, nevertheless, this patched-image-CD will work (not in my case, but if the drive is a more advanced one.) The technics behind that must be appealing.

Copy protection appears to be a science. Thanks again.

#4

1 ) The original CD doesn’t contains twin sectors ; physically the pits and lands are a bit longer or shorter than what they should be in some areas, thus creating a non linear density. Normal CD burners (with the exception of the Plextor Premium) cannot replicate this because they use the CD-R’s ATIP as a “clock” to determine the standard length of the pits & lands on the CD-R(W), so “twin sectors” were used as a method to make some areas of the CD be read slower (when the drive sees 2 identical sectors, it only reports one but the drive’s head still has to read both sectors).

( See http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/showthread.php?t=235 for a better explanation)

2 ) No difference at all

3 ) patched CD images only work when burnt to a CD ; they don’t correspond to the original CD

#5

Thank you very much for your detailed answers.

#6

If you want a quick and painless way to make a backup of the Homeworld 2 cd (as I just found out recently). Simply:

  • use Blindwrite 5 and make an image using the ‘automatic profile’
  • Then use Daemon Tools 4 to mount/load the image
  • However, before playing the game, make sure to go into the Device Manager & Disable you CD & DVD drives.
  • After you finish playing the game you can enable them back or whenever you like.
  • I heard Daemon Tools Pro (which I think may come out in a couple months or so) will solve this problem of having to disable the CD & DVD drives.

Hope this helps.
Jordan

#7

Thank you, Jordan, will try that if nothing more helps! (I feel a little uncomfortable with that device management mentioned.)

But with respect to a working CD, made according to “C. Burning the patched image.” of that tutorial (see first post of this thread), unfortunately, nothing works. Even worse: on one of my PCs the system totally freezes after trying to start the game (which had been installed by means of the original CD).

#8

copy will npt play get error 15
there are no video problems
iso is exact

#9

Google finds some threads about that “error 15” - but without further info or solution.

Do you get the same error using the original disc ?
How have you created your image and how do you try to use it ?
What’s your OS and graphics card ?