Burning Utopia Boot Disc Compatible Games

[Xzyx987X]

Ok, I'm trying to figure out how to burn backups that are compatible with the Utopia boot disc, so I can burn games with GigaRec which doesn't allow for multitrack self-booting discs. So what I've been trying up until now, is to take the GD-ROM dump, isofix it, extract the contents to a new folder, add the IP.BIN extracted by isofix to the folder, and then burn the contents of the folder to a CD-R in standard ISO9660 format.

When I try to boot the discs I burn this way with the Utopia boot disc however, it starts to load and displays the game logo, but then exits back to the Dreamcast BIOS. I know I'm missing a step in here somewhere, but I can't figure out what it is. Any advice?

Edit: In case you were wondering, results with non-GigaRec disks are identical.

You're missing one step there!

You need to BINHACK the boot binary files (usually 1ST_READ.BIN) to LBA=0, because you're using the utopia disc.

So, just use Echelon's binhack.exe and use the LBA value = 0.

btw, please post your results with the Dreamcast reading GigaRec burned discs. It could be really cool to be able to backup full discs without downsampling/ripping anything.

[Xzyx987X]

Yay, so far so good. Ok, before I can test this properly I'm going to need to buy some 90 minute CD-R's. My drive doesn't support GigaRec 1.4x, so to reach the maximum potential size of 1040MB, which should be big enough for any Dreamcast game, I'm going to need them. Unfourtunately, these are rather hard to come by currently. If anyone knows a place I can get some high quality 90 minute CD-R's that ships to the US, please let me know.

[Xzyx987X]

Ok, good news bad news time. First, the bad news, GigaRec 1.3x doesn't work. The Dreamcast makes squaking noises when trying to read disks burned at 1.3x, and then freezes. Even worse, the only 90 minute CD-R's I could find aren't working with my drive. I got a power calibration error every time I tried to burn one, regardless of the settings. The brand of the disks was Prodisc BTW, so if anyone is considering buying 90 minute Prodisc CD-R's for their Plextor drives, don't bother. I'm just glad I only bought ten.

However, the good new is 1.2x GigaRec does indeed work, providing for up to 851MB of storage on a 80 minute CD-R. In other words, using this method you get 140MB of extra space to work with for your rips, which isn't too shabby at all. Furthermore, if you could find 90 minute media which worked with a Plextor drive supporting GigaRec, you could fit 960MB on a disc. That's damn near close to enough space for a full rip. And, if you could find a 99 minute CD-R that worked, that would be what you'd need to get absolute assurance of being able to do full rips of any game you wanted.

So come on guys, let's find a place where we can get some 90-99 minute disks that work with Plextor drives. I'm sure the disks would have a much higher probability of working if they were from a name brand manufacturer, but the only name brand manufacturer of 90 minute disks I could find was Imation, and there was no place shipping to customers outside the U.K.. But still, I am so close to being able to finally back up full Dreamcast games it hurts. I'm not giving up until I find some way to get my hands on those disks...

[Xiaopang]

Originally Posted by bucanero

You're missing one step there!
It could be really cool to be able to backup full discs without downsampling/ripping anything.

yeah it would and actually it is quite possible. just use 99min cdr's. they fit 870mb of data and are readably by the dc. of course it's not as much as gigarec offers, but at least it's compatible to all other drives and not just those from plextor. i am just experimenting with oversized selfbooting images and it's really an alternative to those heartlessly stripped down rips

Originally Posted by Xzyx987X

My drive doesn't support GigaRec 1.4x, so to reach the maximum potential size of 1040MB, which should be big enough for any Dreamcast game

no, it's not. vanishing point is much bigger and afaik shenmue 2, too. but it's pretty close to fitting most games with all features

[Xzyx987X]

Originally Posted by Xiaopang

yeah it would and actually it is quite possible. just use 99min cdr's. they fit 870mb of data and are readably by the dc. of course it's not as much as gigarec offers, but at least it's compatible to all other drives and not just those from plextor.

I just ordered some from here: http://www.shoptronics.com/new8799min40.html They're more expensive, but hopefully they'll work with my drive. With these, even using GigaRec at 1.2x I'd be able to the to hit 1044MB.

Originally Posted by Xiaopang

no, it's not. vanishing point is much bigger and afaik shenmue 2, too. but it's pretty close to fitting most games with all features

Hmm... that's too bad. But to be honest, I'll be happy if I can just play unhacked copies of Skies of Arcadia and Grandia II again. My discs for those games have been too scratched up to work for a while. I'd also like to do a little experimenting with undubbing them, providing I can obtain copies of the japanese versions.

[Xiaopang]

Originally Posted by Xzyx987X

I just ordered some from here: http://www.shoptronics.com/new8799min40.html They're more expensive, but hopefully they'll work with my drive.

wow, they are really expensive. at my place i can get 25 for only $8,25 and thats only at my favourite shop which isn't even the cheapest. also, that are 100min discs which can hold up to 900mb.

Originally Posted by Xzyx987X

Hmm... that's too bad. But to be honest, I'll be happy if I can just play unhacked copies of Skies of Arcadia and Grandia II again. My discs for those games have been too scratched up to work for a while. I'd also like to do a little experimenting with undubbing them, providing I can obtain copies of the japanese versions.

sounds cool. getting copies of the japanese version shouldn't be too hard

[Xzyx987X]

Originally Posted by bucanero

You're missing one step there!

You need to BINHACK the boot binary files (usually 1ST_READ.BIN) to LBA=0, because you're using the utopia disc.

So, just use Echelon's binhack.exe and use the LBA value = 0.

Ok, I've been trying to get this to work with Skies of Arcadia, but I'm not having any luck. The games logo shows up in the Utopia boot screen's spinning disc, so I know it's not completely failing to read the disk. All I get following that though, is a black screen and lots of nasty noises coming out of the drive until I open it's door. I pretty sure it's not the 99 minute CD-R's doing it, since I had similar results trying to burn it on an 80 minute CD-R with some of the files ripped. What else do I need to do to make this work?

[Xzyx987X]

Ungh, this is really getting frustrating. Elemental Gimmick gear is working using this method, but that game fits on a standard 80 minute CD anyway. Space Channel 5 however, gives me similar results to Skies of Arcadia. Is binhack only effective with certain games or something?

Well, just for the record, Skies of Arcadia had many copy protections in their code... the ECH people cracked them and added the "on-the-fly-decompressor" to fit the whole discs.

So probably just a simple binhack'ing won't work for Skies of Arcadia, unless you also crack the protections.

[Xzyx987X]

Hmm... I ran into a rip by a guy called Hykan with a novel approach to defeating the protection. It seems he used the Data/Data boot method, and filled the first session with game files until he got it so the second session started at an LBA of 45000. He then linked those files to the second session, so they would be read by the game as if the were in it. The bottom line is, since the second session starts at an LBA of 45000, the game is fooled into running without being cracked. Unfourtunately, while this works great for a selfboot disc, it would be useless with GigaRec, as it's incapable of multisession. But, I figured this would still be useful info to other people trying to back up games with protection.