Tenchu PSX PAL UK backup problems

[Anthonyuk]

I was wondering if anyone can help with a problem i am having backing up Tenchu Stealth Assassins for the PSX.

I have a DMS3 modded PS2 and i have bought (for the third time now :( ) Tenchu Stealth Assassins. It was one of my favourite games and both the two other times I owned it, they became damaged due to excessive use and poor handling by me.

But i wanted to back up this game now to make sure i never need to buy it a fourth time. It is the original black surface PSX game i have. UK PAL version.

I treid the very latest version of Slysoft CloneCD, using both the game backup profile and a custom libracrypt profile i found on the net. But on both backups the game would initially seemingly load fine except to the part when i actually went to start a playing the first level of the game as it would not load up past this. And a black loading screen would come up and not leave

I then tried the original and this played fine.

I then tried backing it up with the latest Alcohol120%, and the exact same thing happend (i used the Playstation copy format in Alcohol).

I have tried looking at it on ClonyXXX and it says my Tenchu disk is Libracrypt protected. But on googling i have found people say this game is not protected at all.

I have attempted to try the latest (4.0C) CDrwin, where i have ripped the disk to a bin file but both my burners are not supported with this application so i cant burn with it (i have a benq 1650 and NEC 3540) so i cant burn the image. But dont want to waste another CDR on doing this.

It is not just Tenchu i am having the problem with. The same loading problem is occuring with the PSX Metal Gear Solid 1 Game. And for Tony Hawk the music on the backup is constantly jumping and skipping. These where all also backed up with CloneCD.

However PSX Doom and Final Doom i have backed up with CloneCD works fine.

Any suggestions on how to get a working backup of these games.

Thanks
Anthony

[Warlock]

Problem is your media. Try using a different brand of cd-r.

[Anthonyuk]

Which media would you suggest,

The ones i have been using are the official Taiyo Yuiden Dyed Verbatem CD-R's. Apparently the best you can get. (and they cost me a fortune)

I also have tried to backup on some cheapo unbranded CDRs and the same thing occured with black screen.

So what brand do you recommend i use for this, or can you actually get black surfaced CDR and will these work better? And are they available in the UK?

Thanks
Anthony

[Warlock]

The best cd-r's are Verbatim data life PLUS. To my knowledge Taiyo Yuden makes great dvd-r but their cd-r's are crap. Some verbatim cd-r's are cheap as well. Be sure it says "Data Life Plus" on the box.
Experiment with different brands. Alot of people like memorex and maxell cd-r's.

[Anthonyuk]

Thanks for your help

Can i ask though, is there any benefit or advantages on buying black bottomed CD-R's. To do my PSX backups onto?

As do for example the PS2 lenses work better with reading from these coloured disks?

Also can i ask is there anything else i could do incase it is something other than just a media problem to get a good quality backup of my PSX games.

Which application is most reliable to use also, given the fact that, as like i say i am having major problems with CloneCD and Alcohol120%. And CDrwin doesnt work with my burner

Are there any better for the sole perpose of backing up PSX games. I dont mind paying for it if it keeps my games safe from destuction of the originals?.
i.e i dont mind going out to get retail software as opposed to something freeware.

Thanks
Anthony

[Sidney]

The 'black bottomed' cds are nothing more than a scam.
Probably the worst media anyone could use for PSX backups.
All the detection utilities will report Libcrypt whether it is there or not, a very poor assumption on the part of those that write these utilities.
You could try to burn the bin/cue images using fireburner to get around the problem with supported devices in CDRWin.
In my experience of backing up PSX games the best program has always been CDRWin for unprotected games.
It is the only program that was originally written to backup PSX and therefore you will find that all patches for the protected games have been made to be applied to bin/cue images.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Isn't color all the same for DVD's now, unlike with CD's before? It's rather the brand that counts...

By the way, I would've recommended TDK as my favorite but they stopped manufacturing CD's/DVD's a few months ago - moving to the BlueRay/HD-DVD business instead - so, when I'm out of my stock, I'll also start buying Verbatim DataLifePlus.