Caesar IV - Mini-Image HELP

[TippeX]

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

[lord_lobster]

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

[Havoclivekiller]

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

[monkeymajik]

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

[maciozo]

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* Also, make sure you don't running any crap as Nero ImageDrive, CloneDrive and other unuseful & outdated apps.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

[TippeX]

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.

huh? dont install the driver in device manager, how the hell is it going to work then?

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)

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

3. Install LATEST BlindWrite (6.0.0.18 ATM) & enabled EZ-Play (this is an anti-blacklister which works permamently).

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?...

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.

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...

[Joe Forster/STA]

Originally Posted by TippeX

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

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!

[Velusion]

Originally Posted by maciozo

This discussion here only confirms that the issues are the effect of bad.

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....

[maciozo]

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?

[Endymion]

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...

[Endymion]

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

[TippeX]

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....

[jeebstheman]

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.