Splinter Cell Chaos Theory WORKING BACKUP
 

I can confirm that if you wish to play this from a backup YOU CAN

Using Alcohol120 latest version an image can be made with a high DPM at 1X

This image will not work you have to burn it to a disk.
Also enable Alcohol's Burn with DPRM and DPRM Emulation.

Once you have created your backup disk it will work with your Disk Key.

And yes I don't have an IDE DVD drive only an external one.

But no need for Starfu*** ETC. :)

can you tell me more in details what to do please?

he told you everything... get DPM or dl it off GCW rip w/ alcohol settings for sf 1/2/3 use the DPM mds and full mdf burn and use in USB drive... the end.

It does work but only with the right key and external usb dvd drive.

right key?

it means he don't have it

:eek:

Will the next Starforce update block USB drive channels? If it does, and I supsect it will, then the jouney to the dark side will be complete. :(

right key means the same cd key as your backup disc :p

I still dont get what you mean.

Is each key unique to ech CD? I'm sucessfully playing backups of Silent Hunter 3 and Chaos Theory thanks to Karllmuller, and if I can do it, then anyone can. I must stress I've bought both games, and made my own MDS images. I've tried the USB drive trick on 3 different PC's, all with different hardware, and both games run perfectly on all of them (As far as I can tell). I must say that none of the PC's had any internal drives at this point, so I'm not sure if using STARF***ER to disable the IDE channels would work. I shall be trying this shortly and will report back with my findings. Using the Silent Hunter 3 NODVD fix bypasses the disc check completely, and also appears to have different gameplay from the untampered version, though with the open nature of the game it's tricky to tell. If (Big IF) a Chaos Theory fix becomes available, it will be a lot easier to tell if the gameplay is the same. I suspect this is why there isn't one available yet.

Using the USB drive trick allows you to keep the original safe, yet still update the game to the latest version, which in some respects is better than a nocd/dvd crack, though I'm pretty sure that the next Starforce update will fix this loophole, and that will be the end of RELIABLE game backups. I'm not throwing accusations, but maybe some people having problems with this method don't have the original DVD's, if you know what I mean ;)

Please do.

Yup we know what you mean

Can anyone confirm what happens when you try to play off of a virtual drive. I know it doesn't work, but what does it do when you use d-tools or alcohol w/ rpms on. On my system its crashing but I'm not sure if that has to due with starforce or not. If not I may have found a workaround.

@ SCVirus. I dont have this game as of yet (wont until/if ever theres a fix) but im sure what you asked has been discused already in another SCCT thread. (Im not 100% though). I guess search is your best option until someone posts back in here but when your in the middle of something you/I/we want answers straight away. (Expecialy when trying to crack a game etc).

I have been following the threads, I've seen people say that it claims key is wrong (when it is right), that is due to rmps emulation not being present (on the drive or mds), but no one has said what happens otherwise, only that it doesn't work.

In that case we need someone else to post in this thread what happens in precise detail. Anyway what are your finding thus far ? (or you going to keep that under your hat until you have the facts).

I will post here again in a second, as I believe it was simply an error on my computer that I think I have now fixed.... If this is so I may have a very dirty and complicated workaround (software only though) within a few minutes. But every little but helps... post here your virtual drive experiances.

Ok look forward to reading your findings. (im in the UK and its 01:06 so im off to bed now. Sleep deprevation is starting to kick in). I will be looking tomorrow to read your findings.

Arnt they all when it comes to SF :(

Without RMPS emulation, the disc check never completes. It scans the disc for 5 minutes or so, then tells you that it cannot be verified (Backup of course). With RMPS enabled, the game starts straight away, as with non-backup original. Also, Alcohol and Daemon tools RMPS emulation both work fine. Today I will find if you can disable any present IDE drives, and still run the game. Currently, none of the PC's I've tested had ANY IDE optical drives. Sorry if this taking a long time, but my 3 rigs are in pieces, as I swap hardware in and out to find my right setup.

Also, mounting an image doesn't seem to work with this Starforce version. You need a disc backup, and that disc MUST be in the USB drive.

Im glad your taking some time to look into this. (i only have one pc @ present but when i get some in to work on i will also be trying a couple things as regards to SF3). If enough of us try/test various things out we will hopefully find a stable work-around.

Findings Part 1

The game won't run from the USB drive if any cd/dvd drives are connected. Game installer tells you to put the dvd into another drive. However when I use starforce nightmare to disable the Secondary Master channel (where my dvd drive is) the game runs fine, but does take a little longer to check the disc (15 seconds or so as opposed to 1-3 seconds with no IDE optical drives present). It's as though it's trying to check if any IDE devices have been disabled. Now I'm going to see if it still works if the IDE optical drive is on the Primary Slave channel. Will report back soon.

p.s. Although I bought my USB housing to test this Starforce backup method, it does seem more efficient than having the DVD drive on an IDE channel. I may run all my drives like this from now on.

Now let me get this straight. Are you saying that you did actually get it (as in an image of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory) to work with Daemon tools???

What is the Right CD-Key?
 

The Disc cheking seems to be ok but i need the Right CD-KEY to match with the disc....
and some played the Splinter Cell Chaos Theory from a backup disc?

The right key to match the disc is ON THE ORIGINAL DISC :) I'm talking about making a working backup from the original, not using Warez! Splinter Cell and Silent Hunter 3 both work fine using original image and DVD key, and with latest Alcohol and RMPS enabled. All those having problems MUST be trying to get WAREZZED versions working, which is not supported here.

If i will buy an ideusb2.0 converter it will play my game splinter cell 3??

why buy that thing, only for one game???

The starforce developers "fix" this problem in the next version of SF

the no cd will come sooner or later ;)

I am your opinion for play it would not be worthwhile myself a USB drive assembly to buy. At best being waiting.



________________________________________

Sorry for my bad English, i come from Turkey.

1.Is this sure? that it will exists no-dvd for every SF game after a while.
2.Usb2.0 drives are quicklier than IDE??

Tut tut tut..Do ppl never read the forum rules? As t.foster73 pointed out to you there is no help for ppl who own a WAREZ version of a game. (its what keeps these forums up and running).

can we have a good guide how to get the game to start?!!
write a good guide fore all who have problems!!

:confused: Thats just it there isnt a simple straight forward answere as of yet. Different hardware etc means different results. Do some reserch here @ GCW (search button) read the posts and you will see what i mean.

yes i have read many ways but i do not understand them all!
i am asking fore a guide that is simple that a amature can use!
a many guidse fore diffrent hardware!

What you need

1.USB Adaptor housing costing £20 to £50
2.Starforce Nightmare software (Links on this site)
3.Alcohol 120 software latest version (1.9.5.2802). A trial version can be found at http://www.alcohol-software.com/

Firstly, you need to make a backup of the original disc. To do this, start Alcohol 120 and select FILE/OPTIONS/EMULATION, and then check the RMPS box. Now select FILE/OPTIONS/READING, and check the DPM measuring precision to HIGH. Now go to IMAGE MAKING WIZARD, select the Starforce 1/2/3 profile, and ensure the read speed is 1*. Next you simply select the destination for the MDF and MDS Image files. Please note that if the file size exceeds 4gb, then your disks MUST be formatted with NTFS, as FAT32 has a single 4gb limit on files. Wait for the disc to be scanned and the files created, and then you are ready to burn your image. Note that with the latest Starforce, you can't mount this image, you must burn it to a DVD. Select the IMAGE BURNING WIZARD, and burn to disc, ensuring theat the RMPS box is checked.

Now we need to play from this backup. The latest Starforce checks for any IDE drives, and INSISTS that the DVD must be in this drive. We must therefore ensure it can't see any IDE channels, either by unplugging them, or by using the much easier STARFORCE NIGHTMARE, which allows you to disable the IDE channel that the optical drive is using. Simply start the program and disable the channel the optical drive is using. Next, ensure that the USB drive is installed with appropriate drivers if required (XP usually self-configures USB devices). Now in Alcohol or Daemon tools (doesn't matter which), select 'ENABLE RMPS EMULATION', and insert your backup into the USB drive and run the game.

If the game doesn't run, then it's most likely that you MDS file has not been created correctly, so you must use one somebody else has made (available here and on other sites).

may i ask a thing!
why buy this usb thing just to crack a game!
the game cost 30-50 and the usb thing cost 30-50

crack fore me means that it should be free!
i have the hole game and have installed it but i cant start it
pay 30-50 just to get it to start feels ....

That was very Kind mr t.foster73 and also NoOb proof. As mentioned in another post this thread should be stickied for a while to stop the same Qs being asked repetadly.

Serial ATA adapter
 

So a USB DVD drive will allow you to play your backed up game, but does anyone know if an IDE DVD drive with a Serial ATA adapter work?

And there you have it. Also when you think the ST3 dev's will more than likely disable this method in an update it bears the question. Do you want to be able to play all current SF3 games on your backed up disk ? Do you have an original shop bought version of SCCT to do what t.foster73 suggested ?. You can not do the above with a coppied game/Downloaded version/warez etc etc. You have to have an original bona fida shop retail version. Do you have one of them?.

Works great on SATA drives, I backup my games then mount the image (after changing device names in Daemon) set RPMS on, close daemon from taskbar keeping emulation on. The image was on the SATA anyways, used Starforce Nightmare to disable 2nd channel (IDE DVD-rw/Rom), disabled node and disabled ATA.

Ran the game without a problem from the image :)

I'm pretty sure the next Starforce update will block SATA/RAID and USB tricks. I don't advise anyone to buy a USB housing just to play a handful of games. In my case, I managed to get one for £15 from my local computer shop, but these things normally retail for a lot more. This Starforce proliferation could seriously finish me off with PC games for good. I can understand (And to a certain degree, agree with) the publishers making backups very hard to create, but if I can't make a backup, using whatever workaround, then I don't buy the game, it's as simple as that. Starforce has really made my hobby of Gaming into a miserable pastime the last few months. It's just becoming ridiculous the steps you have to go to to keep you original in the CD cabinet, and frankly, I've nearly had enough of it. Perhaps with Memory becoming so cheap we may see games being produced on cartridges, but that's probably just wishful thinking.

I can't even say that Piracy is to blame, because without Pirates we wouldn't have NOCD fixes. Piracy and game sales have always been uncomfortable bedfellows, with kids pooling their money to buy a game because they can share it etc. Far from saving the PC gaming industry, I seriously think Starforce could finish it off for good. Console games are a little different because they tend to run much better, being made for cloned hardware. A friend of mine who owns a local games shop tells me that sales of Starforce protected games are down, when it is the opposite you would expect (or is it the developers that expect?). I'm not giving up just yet, but I suspect the end is near for my love of PC gaming.

I don't this is the end of being able to backup software.
Not every publisher can effort to buy starforce protection cuz it's the most expencive one and after a while every protection gets cracked. So lets this happens as fast as possible :D

USB-IDE-Adapter...
 

I bought this kinda adapter for just 10 € at ebay.
And its very functional. Back-Up a crashed Windows/Data Hardisk?
No more unplugging your own hds or open your system to add the crashed device to your system. (Okay, you may use PE-Software instead, but...)
Just if you need to add one more harddisk to your system for your own, you don´t need a raid-controller, a.s.o.

There are more reasons to buy such thingy than only for warez-users.
As I pointet out in another thread, I just confirmed Karlmuellers solution - using my own game to create the image of the dvd. (So please don´t blame me - I am no warez-kiddie for sure ;-D)

@SCVirus - I smell a little taste of warez-using in your posts...

Signed
Hagar