Caesar IV - Mini-Image HELP
 

i cant get it to work i have tried a lot of thing and still no luck. i tried deamon tools the new one, with SecuROM_Loader_v7.26. it just says insert original insted of back up. i tried on alcohol 120 and thats just says conflict with emulator.


thanks in advance

The MI was tested several times and always gave 100% flawless start of the game. However, configurations vary, so some people need to use CureROM, some Pr0t.St0p or EZ-Play, while some don't even need to use an anti-blacklister.
Try disabling completely alcohol's virtual cd/dvd drivers + make sure it's updated to the latest version. If still have you problems, make sure the DT drive's letter is BEFORE real drives and/or install BlindWrite 6 and enable EZ-Play.

nope still didnt work it loaded once when i used blinwrite 6 and then i tried to play the game and it said invalid save. after that it went back to the wrong disc inserted. and insert original disc?

What ought to be the benefit of those suggestion ?

DABhand reported this idea once and it has since been added to the forum FAQ, too. Dunno, it may or may not be voodoo magic...! :)

I figured out this way, but it's kinda tricky. (It doesn't always work at once, sometimes it does and after you have left the game and try to restart it, it doesn't work again in the same way as before. You have to alter some things - I explain that below.)


So, get Pr0t.St0p and the latest versions of Deamon Tools and SecuRom Loader.
Now it's about altering the order of the following steps:
- Start Pr0t.St0p and click "hide" (and "restore" when it didn't work).
- Mount the *.mds of the original image or of the mini image. (The *.mdf might be worth a try as well.)

Last steps:
- Start SecuROM Loader and select the C4EXEC.exe in the game directory.
- Hope that it works. ;) Don't give up and keep trying.

PS: My virtual drive is BEHIND all the other drives.

Ok, but it's very rare that a game only starts in first drive.
At least EZ-play has zero effect on a mounted image ;)

@lord_lobster
- Unmount any other image
- Try with a full image to start the game using the AutoPlay function in Explorer, not with a shortcut - without any AB tool
- Or -after a reboot- try with a mini image using renamed Pr0t.St0p

No guarantee ;)

nope still nothing i made a full image and that worked but sometime it still say insert originol insted of back up. actually most of the time it says that :confused:

so far i've had pretty good success with daemontools latest version and Securomv7.26Loader (also known as procyon.exe)

load the image (i have a full image, mini not tested will do later)
mine is in the 2de drive btw
copy procyon.exe to the caesar IV folder.
start it up
and here is the thing, select caesarIV.exe and not C4Exec.exe
selecting c4exec.exe will get you the message insert original disk, but caesarIV.exe will work.

first time loading takes a long time
and it might not start the first time but so far its started every time i tryed it the 2de time. give it a bit of time to do this thing thou, open the task manager and keep a eye on CPU usage, if it drop to 0% for a while then you can try again.

once started typing is really slow for some reason but besides a few slowdowns at the verrry start of a game the game plays fine.

hmm
 

It doesn´t work for me. The only thing helped was to start the game with prot for about 40-50!! times with the full image.. This is very annoying.. Does somebody know help ?
sorry for my bad English

Doesen't work for me neither.... I basically tried all you've all said, except for Dunno's suggestion. When I start ceasarIV.exe with procyon (secuROM loader) the message "Please insert the original disc instead of a backup. See http://www.securom.com/no_orig_found for more details." appears.

when I start C4exec.exe with procyon, the message "Please remove disc from current CD/DVD drive and insert the original "Caesar IV" disc
in drive E:." appears.

I mounted the mini image (mcz-c4mi.mds) with daemon tools, disabled alcohol drives, without much success. I'm desperate enough to try switching the drive letters. But I won't do it just yet.

bloody hell. what am I missing?

update: i tried the pr0t.st0p, still nothing. messages appearing tend to vary regardless of the .exe file I'm trying to run, though. wazzthatmean?
I just might go nuts with this game.:confused:

stupid game
 

tested ALL of the above, game worked 1 time, and never again, not even after reinstall,
programm generates nt*dlll.dll and variuos other dlls each time it does not run, deleting these files doesnt help either, what is wrong??

someone plz can write a proper crack??


thx

those dlls are from the anti blacklist software you're running... like procyon, asr etc.. NOT from the game..

same here i got it to work once but never again. i hope that someone works out a good way soon.

It worked before.... but now after restart it says what the rest is saying "Please insert original instead of backup"

Change your CD/DVD drive letter
 

Worked for me, obviously with the mini image etc but it worked first time after changing my DVD to something like K..... :)

This discussion here only confirms that the issues are the effect of bad configuration and/or anti-blacklisting techniques used rather than the MI. To those that still have problems i've made a list of what to do to have the MI working at least in more cases (for me it's a flawless 100% runtime no matter if using a full or a mini image of CIV and other SecuROM 7 games).

1. Delete or reinstall Alcohol 120% - DON'T INSTALL IT'S DRIVER IN THE DEVICE MANAGER! Also make sure you're installing the LATEST version as this program is very sensitive to blacklsting.
2. Install LATEST (4.06 ATM) Daemon Tools, enable ALL options (DT will autoset anyways) & set it's letter PRIOR to the real drives (I've found this useful when having discs put in those)
3. Install LATEST BlindWrite (6.0.0.18 ATM) & enabled EZ-Play (this is an anti-blacklister which works permamently).
4. Open Pr0t.St0p & click Hide (it will mask registry entries of all SCSI devices including DT).
5. Launch PROCYON's Loader (also known as SecuROM v7.26 Loader) and select game's EXE
OR
Use the latest CureROM - it will create a special profile, which will fully automate mounting & launching process.

* Also, make sure you don't running any crap as Nero ImageDrive, CloneDrive and other unuseful & outdated apps.

** This is a full overkill method, if it doesn't work for you, verify your configuration and update your software - it's a very crucial point.

huh? dont install the driver in device manager, how the hell is it going to work then?
Odd, when the dt developers on their own forum say you dont need to enable all the options, infact they recommend to turn them off
actually ez-play is just blindwrites renamed autoplay driver.. it does not anti-blacklist as you state.. if you dont believe me right click on the driver and select properties .. see 'autoplay' mentioned?...
using multiple anti blacklisting tools is ...

Really a bad idea, they are all variations on a theme, and using multiple ones can only increase the chances of something bad (or unexpected) happening

Totally overkill method, and also ill advised...

Our forum FAQ also suggests ENabling all the emulation options. Do you think this should be changed now? Please, confirm. (Sorry, I don't have time to keep reading all the news around anymore... :() Thanks!

I've followed all your suggestions here to no avail. Like most people here - the game worked the very first time, but now will not start. I can use these blacklisting tools just fine on other titles....

Really, I have no time to argue with such posts written just "art-for-art".
So, one more time:
1. Alcohol at it's setup installs an SCSI driver which is nothing other than the virtual device driver. In many of mine cases deleting it helped getting SR7 games to work. It has nothing to do with the program itself - burning, reading, DPM work just fine.
2. That's just bloat talk - you can do either, as I mentioned DT will auto set itself anyways.
3. Write to VSO then if you don't believe me. If it's just an autoplay driver, why it would generate a random device name & even a device category? Please take a closer look. Extract from the guide about EZ-Play (it's a bit outdated but the main idea is the same): http://www.portmac.com/modules.php?name=BlindWrite6_Guide&file=EzPlay
4. All of those anti-blacklisters aren't harmful for the system so you can use them safely (Pr0t.St0p + SecuROM v7.26 Loader OR CureROM only).

Another point for CIV - if using SecuROM v7.26 Loader you must rather point CaesarIV.exe than civexec.exe (of course you can try both).

The game was released on CDs only which is another thing that complicates the whole process - SecuROM works way better with such editions and it can detect backup/mini images more often than in DVD editions cases.

Concluding, when it comes to SecuROM, you must work your own method. If you need future help, consult this thread at NFOrce:
http://nforce.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24012&postdays=0&postorder=asc&sta rt=90
Maybe some techniques posted there will work for you better?

I followed the basic steps earlier in the thread and nothing worked till I changed the drive letter then it gave in and ran!!!

It is always best to have the latest versions of everything but I did nothing more than what was explained earlier.

Keep tryin :)

Of course you're right, but to be fair to VSO: They did not only rename but it uses a whole new architecture.

@maciozo
Maybe you should write to VSO to ask what's the effect of EZ-Play on a mounted image/virtual drive.
And as TippeX stated: it does not anti-blacklist, but it's prepared not to be easily blacklisted ;)

yup.. some snippets from their forum

"And, by the way, emulation protections are useless when using an image. DT decides alone what it wanna emulate"

"You should NOT need to turn any emulation options on when only using a Virtual CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Drive. That's really only for inserted CD's that you've made burned backup copies onto."

(http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/show...urn+options%22)

from one of their beta team...

perhaps it only applies for dt 4.x or above, but yep the faq might need updating joe

alcohol installs as a scsi driver and a pnp extender...perhaps what you might be talking about is just letting sptd.sys install... ?
Hardly bloat when it comes from their own beta team
it is autoplay, albeit as mentioned its new, the driver renaming (and/or hiding) is just an attempt by them to avoid blacklisting of their components..
nah, remember antiblaxx? it was pretty damned harmful, using 2 or more anti blacklisters could counteract the other blacklisters effectiveness.. if one works on your system stick with it.. using more is for sure a recipe for disaster..
yep, pointing the anti blacklisting tool at the proper exe and not a launcher does increase the potential for it working...
agreed, each pc is different, so people must find their own solution, which is why i commented on your 'throw everything including the kitchen sink at the program to get it working' post.


and its not an 'art-for-art' reply... its active criticism

to be absolutely honest with you, i love cynism - especially when it's hardly perceptible. but this time it wasn't. i bet you can do better though.
anyways, trying to be on the track. my list of recommended steps described as 'throw everything including the kitchen sink at the program to get it working' was written to give people a big picture what they can do about SR7-protected games. i've spent many hours learning SecuROM behavior in certain circumstances & different program combinations. i didn't encounter a single problem with suggested anti-blacklisters (LOL, i knew you would dig out anti-blaxx, just for the art or arguing).

"yep, pointing the anti blacklisting tool at the proper exe and not a launcher does increase the potential for it working..." as on the mentioned nforce thread, not always.

agreed, each pc is different, so people must find their own solution, which is why i commented on your 'throw everything including the kitchen sink at the program to get it working' post.
i like that we can all discuss & benefit from it, but this time i really cannot figure out what was the whole point of this (the meaning of this sentence is also unclear to me, but maybe that's my lack of english).

greetz,
and yes, i'll write to VSO :)

@maciozo
Translates too:
"try anything and everything available to get the program working." ;)

i've managed to get the context, but thanks anyways :)

didnt really cite anti blaxx as a reason for argument (wasn't arguing either.. was just discussing).. i could have cited others, like the subinacl one, and i consider anti blacklisting programs that destroy registry keys (albeit the mounteddevices one should be rebuilt on bootup).

Some anti blacklist programs are better than others.. the vast majority in the beginning all revolved round deleting/setting privileges on registry keys.. some of the later ones (curerom, asr etc) do api hooking and dll injection.. they are ALL variations on the same theme, with slight differences.

Because of this there is a possiblity that running 2 together is detrimental to the game... even those using api hooks do NOT unhook once the oep of the executable is reached, but remain resident throughout the entire game running, which can cause problems (esp. when some of the hooks are pretty badly coded... curerom v1 for example)..

The 2 main contenders for anti blacklisting seem to be curerom and pr0t.st0p (which is antique).. and generally most people seem to find success using curerom..

My main 'gripe' is that using multiple programs (which essentially do the same thing) leads to confusion as/when/if you find the solution as you dont really know what helped to get the game running, which defeats the entire purpose of posting 'hints'..

It should also be mentioned that when finding solutions its best to reboot, and try your solution again, as some of the anti blacklisting programs do not unload in some cases.. so you technically have a 'corrupt' system..

"oh look, i kicked my pc, moved the mouse, looked out the window, drank some coke,prayed a little, crossed my fingers, put the original disk in, and the game loaded... now i wonder what caused it to work.." (i reckon it was the coke ;p) (see my point?)

Hi all

finally it worked perfectly!

Anyway i've tried only on my computer

I have:

1) installed daemon tools 406-x86
2) installed curerom 2033
3) selected curerom profile pointing on caesariv.exe
4) uninstalled alcohol 120 %
5) changed drive letter (assigned D: to daemon tool virtual drive)
6) started prot.stop and selected HIDE
7) mounted the full image of my cd 1 on DT
8) now if you click on the caesariv icon created by curerom it will be an error message, so i started my game with autoplay (clicked on the D: drive) then in the screen i selected "Play Caesar IV"...(the game started)
9) have noted that sometime it is necessary to click "Play Caesar IV" for two times

i hope this will help someone... now for me it's working

Thanks everyone !

ok i forgot

at the last...at the second or the third time i tried to start the game, first i've clicked on "Curerom Reg Key Removal" then i started the game with autoplay (as i said in the previous topic)

anyway i'm not an expert...this procedure is absolutely empyric

bye all

i think the mini is broken i have the full image at it works usng that all the time, thanks to all your advice.

The Hard Way
 

Hi I have had a lot of problems getting this image to worke. But I finaly found a way, its not pretty nifty or some super leet way. its just pure presistens. I had read a lot of post about this problem all over the net. And I finaly came to the conclusion that I did every thing right and there was literaly nothing left for me to try. So here come my advice "If at first you don't succede, try try again" I know you might think it wont work and im not sure it will for every one, but for me and on this computer it did, if I just keep on trying like 20 or 30 times in a row, it let me in.
Btw her is my setup:
1. Install the game.
2. Use the Latest Version of Daemon Tool's
3. Mount the Image you Installed the game with for me it's "D:\Spil\Caesar IV\CD1\ccd-cr4a.mds" but i guss you can use the mini Image as well.
4. run using Procyon.exe(SecuROM_Loader_v7.26). I use the shortcut on the desktop with a modifide strin so it looks like this ""E:\Games\Sierra\Caesar IV\had.exe" -r CaesarIV.exe". it just makes it easier if you have to try it like 30 times!!!
5. Just keep on hitting that button boy.
I was borred and there was Hollowman in the tv that was why I tried this approch ;)
I hope this can help some one. but I guss you have to be pretty desperate to try this...

The Hard Way
 

Ohh and btw this leet methode works with version 1.1 as well ;)

scary how desperate some people can get..

time required to put in original disk vs. launching executable 30+ (sometimes going into the hundreds) times....

crazy... of course the 'im worried about wear and tear on the cddrive' is a reasonable excuse but then what about the wear and tear on the harddisk :)

'leet' method .. /me giggles and thinks of kitchen sinks again....

I swear I read somewhere that reloaded has a no-cd for this. I'm sure if you wait a bit, you will see it on Gamecopyworld in a short time. Then you wont have to fxxx with all the curerom and antiblaxx and pulling out your cd drives and uninstalling windows and whatnot.. but i could be wrong.

Now, i'm not calling anybody stupid here for doing all that work and using the mini-image, but I'm just really lazy. If I have to do all that suff just so i don't have to use the cd, then maybe the cd is better (for me).

I still think it's funny how companies will put copy protection all over their software to force us to use the discs, which, in turn, forces all the gamers to keep cluttered shelves of games instead of a neat computer space where we can just run games from the hard drive. Yeah, they have to protect their stuff, but annoying their customers isn't the best way to do business. I have the utmost respect for the groups who make no-cd cracks and other ways around that garbage.

this is taken from ??????????????

What I did was to burn CD1 (ccd-cr4a.mds) using Alcohol 120% with the settings to:
Securom *NEW (in the drop down box)
and TICK the "Burn "RMPS" to recordable Media option

then I burnt it at the slowest speed that Alcohol said (4x)

After which, I inserted the CD into my drive, when the game menu came up I just hit "play"

It works, I have reloaded the game twice, and it loaded and ran both times with no problems at all..

I'm happy, if I stuff the CD I can just burn another, and CD's are cheap to buy..

Hope this helps someone else..

PS: This works with both the 1.0 version AND the Update

Does it work? Yes, it works perfectly. Guaranteed 100%.

Since ?????????? is a warez site the link does not belong here.

@Dab
Agree ;)

@ShinuMirai
Do not post links to warez sites!