Following all the rules, still big problems
 

Ok, I have read all the posts about how you should use good media and write images and burn at 2x. I own FF7 FF8 and Tony hawk pro skater 2.(along with some others). I have been trying to backup Tony hawk pro skater 2 for a long time now; I have gone through over 30 cd-R's and I have read all I can about fixing this problem. My movies and sound(xa files) skip really bad at regular intervals. I have one of those plug in mod chip and when I try to play a video or sound file off the CD-R back-up, they all skip really bad. And it takes forever for the game to start if it ever starts at all. It is not the lens because it plays original psx games perfectly and the CD-R backups still skip when I do the upside down psx lens fix trick. I am using NERO 5.0 (NOT the hacked version). I have also tried some other programs. Is there ANYBODY out there that can help me. I have a 12x 10x 32x CD-RW drive with Burn-proof(whatever that is).

go to www.megagames.com/psx
There is something about extracing audio files.
Read it. It also works for the videos.
I have the PAL version copied. it was easy. Or see if U can get a patch for iit if extracting is too hard

Have yo try using CDR-Win. Because i've coppied ff8, ff7 using this program. it's very useful program for copying psx

I have copied tony hawks with np using clone cd. Although I have a stealth 4 chip, maybe the mod chip is the difference in comparisons to a plug in? Will be interested in finding out!!

I have used ALL the copying programs out there. Plus, the skipping occurs on FF7 and 8 as well, and Parasite eve 1 and 2. I can't seem to find a way around it. It is very frustrating because everyone tells me that it is really easy.

I still need to find out where it is going wrong. during the copying to the HD or during the burning process. Can anyone seed me a image of tony hawk pro skater 2? that way if I burn it and it still does it, then I know something is wrong with the burning process. I just have tried everything and I really want to know what is wrong.

Firstly a word of advice. Don't request games, even if your request is genuine. I don't think the moderators will like it, and will probably delete it. If you own a copy and can't back it up, and you are starting to think that the problem is with your original then hire a copy of it and try it on that. Alternatively do you know someone with a different burner than you have. Try it on theirs. Sorry if this doesn't help, but do be careful what you say as they will remove people from the forum.

try copying the copy this "sometimes" gets rid of any skipping for me, i don't know why.

i see you said you using a plug in mod chip my mate had the same prob with a plug in have try it on psx with a fitted mod chip the plug in ones are bit crap

Ok, Sorry about requesting. But I did have a LG cd burner, and I had the same problem, so I tried to upgrade the firmware, well, that fried my CDR drive so I had to go buy a new one. It still skips at fixed intervals about 1/2 seconds apart and the game will not start. I will try to make a copy of a copy like the dude said, I will also look into getting a better (internal) mod chip. BTW does anyone know the internal circuity in the mod chip? I am majoring in electronics and I was wondering howm hard it would be to just build my own.

just one more thing, My CDRW drive is IDE, does that make a difference?

The fact your burner is IDE has no effect.
I think the guy who said about your plug in mod may be on the right track. There is a site www.modchip.com I think.
There was a post on this forum about the site a couple of weeks back, you may want to look that discussion up.

Ok, I will buy a new mod chip

Recently tried to make a backup of my original burn of FF8. Got a bunch of coasters. When I tested my original burn, it skipped and locked up.
Looked like scratches was the problem. I tried to create an image to my HD using my hp7100 burner using CDRwin but it didn't work. Then tried creating an image with my acer cdrom, (still using CDRwin) and it worked. I then burned the image, again with CDRwin at 2x and finally got a backup that didn't skip. Don't know what you've tried but I would suggest trying the same thing with CDRwin. Make sure you've got a good version of CDRwin as some older versions had bad cracks.

Good luck.

I have tried anything you can think of when it comes to ripping and burning. I have tried over 4 different programs. This problem is really messing with my head. Plus, when you say they skip, what do you mean exactly? do you mean they skip every now and then? Because my copies won't even start. I have a plug-in mod chip and it has a cd-rom reader option the allows me to view STR and XA files. whenever I play a movie or sound file, The laser is having a hell of a time running all over the disk and the skips are exactly a half second apart over the entire file

yep i got the same problem with ff8 cinematics. i the used cdrwin and it skipped real bad. then i used a program called blindread which made the game work perfectly without a single glitch. i even burnt at 4x. use this program im sure it will fix your problem.

good luck

Hey, Mortise.

I am not trying to be sarcastic in any way, but, My games don't skip, they just dont' play at all. But my plugin mod chip has a opening screen that allows me to play the sound and movie files. I use it first test the sound and movie files on the disk and they always skip at regular intervals of about .3 seconds and the skips are just silent and last for like .5 seconds. I will try that blindread and blindwrite programs though, hell, I have tried everything else so far.

did it work???

Nope, Blindread and Blindwrite didn't work. When I tryied to access the CD, it acted like it was an one-track music CD. I have used other CD copy programs that have done the same thing. If I use the "finalize CD" option on NERO, it does the same thing. One more thing, it is not drive fragmentation causing it.

your doing something wrong mate, i have burnt with blindwrite plenty of times. maybe your burner isnt compatible. is it IDE? cause they are no good when burning psx. i myself had an IDE and it never worked so i got a SCSI and never had a problem since. why dont you get a friend to backup a game of yours. if it doesnt work, then your playstation is obviously the problem!!

Sorry mortise but your comment on IDE burners is aload of rubbish. I myself have a Ide burner and have never had problem so far and neither have my mates.

Neo have you tried clone cd its abrilliant prog and you don't need to patch them either.

just thought i'd ask.

Yes, I have tried every burning program out there. Clone CD, Nero, blind, perfect copy, you name it. About the only thing that I havent tried yet is getting a internal mod chip. I can't really do that right now because I don't have the money. I have a program on my computer called "XA-play", it will play the XA file off of the Tony Hawk 2 game, and when I play the XA (or movie) file on my computer, it works fine. It just does that skipping thing when I try to play the XA file on the playstation.

There is nothing wrong with IDE burners!! Do yourself a favor Neo, save your money and buy a internal mod chip.almost all of the people i know with plugmods complain about skipping

I can see this one is gonna go on for ages.

Firstly most IDE burners are fine for PSX, but steer clear of Phillips based machines (Freecom, Iomega etc.) as these can cause more trouble than their worth, although some people have worked out a way of burning copies with these machines, but it seems a bit of a palava.

You mentioned that you had an LG burner which you fried when trying to upgrade the firmware, well what did you replace it with?

If it was another LG machine then i suggest that you get some TDK media, some burners are fussy about the media you use when burning PSX games (I learnt this through bitter experience first hand).

What model of PSX do you have?, just because it plays originals perfectly does'nt mean it will play backups perfectly, your PSX laser may need tweaking.

Personnaly i recommend using CDRWin, set your read speeds low about 4x and your write speed to 2x, this itself should help reduce FMV skipping and audio problems.

Also take some time to set up your system, dissable any virus software, schedualed tasks, etc. the best way to do this is to go down to your tast bar and click START, then RUN, in the box type "msconfig" without any drive letters, this will bring up a menu, on the top right there is a "start" selection. Here you can remove all the rubbish that runs in the background on your system, for an example i only have "ScanRegistry", "System Tray" and the two "LoadPowerProfiles" #####ed in mine. After doing this you will need to reboot for the settings to take effect. When the system reboots you will have a selective start up warning, just click ok.
You will also loose most of the icons on the right of you task bar but dont worry the programms arnt deleted.

A couple of other quick notes.

Never record "on the fly" always create an image even if you dont have a patch to apply.

I strongly recommend you have an internal mod chip installed as some of these plugmods can cause trouble!

Hope you get it sorted and let me know how you get on!

Thanks Warlock, I will do that. I will be sure to let you know if it worked or not

DOH! i spent ages typing all that crap.....

and Warlock gets the thanks.....

Thats what i call rough justice!

Just kidding lads.

LOL Spooky, rough justice indeed!!

Oops, Sorry spooky, I somehow missed that big long reply you sent. To answer you questions, I updated my old LG with a firmware for a different model LG than mine. I got a new one at Fry's electronics. The new one doesn't really have a name brand. I bought 10 TDK CD-Rs and it ate all of them too. I only image and record at 2x or 4x. About the laser; I tried using the upside-down playstation trick and it still didn't work. My friend has to turn his upside-down to fix the laser problem, but I know you are just going to tell me that it doesn't always work. My Playstaton model is 5501. And I have tried the shutting down all the background program tricks. Sure, any of these could be problems but I have had 3 people now tell me to get an internal mod chip, so I am going to do that first.

Thanks to everyone who posted truly helpful advise (spooky, warlock, mortise, skewesy, backitup, and becken) And to all those brain-dead-AOLers, I say "Learn how to use forums damnit! they aren't chat rooms!"

I will be sure to tell you guys if it worked or not.

What I do to eliminate skipping video using my memorex CD writer (IDE), external mod chip and CDR Win is to record an image and then burn. If you do them both at 1x it takes ages but the video plays perfect. Secondly you have to use a good quality CD is not you may get two problems firstly the skipping video and audio and secondly the problem you get with FF7 it not loading at all. If the psx cant find the correct data due to the poor quality CD then it will presume that it is an Audio CD.

I hope this helps so you don't have to pay out for a new mod chip!