• ehw
  • Dumper
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  • Registered: 2019-01-28
  • Posts: 35

Presenting the first GD-R submission (?) to Redump.

So a few things with this dump.

It's been suggested in the past that traditional methods of dumping GD-ROMs using DCDumper and the Audio trap disc swap trick didn't work for dumping GD-Rs. This isn't actually true, and we were able to dump an old prototype release of ours using these methods, but with a drive that wasn't known to be supported before - a Plextor PX-4012TA connected using a UGREEN adapter.

A couple things to note though - we dumped this prototype before using Dreamcast SD Rip on two separate authentic copies of the same prototype. The hashes matched, and were the basis of determining this dump as well. We performed the same dumping procedure as laid out by the wiki's dumping guide, however we used DiscImageCreator's ability to dump GD discs over DCDumper. Even though DCDumper worked, it's prone to issues during the dumping procedure because of the way it compares against the individual sections it creates. DCDumper also doesn't utilize EDC/ECC, C2 error correction, the ability to control the read speed, or per sector retrying. DIC, however, does and was able to function as intended. We were able to dump this disc in less than half an hour, where it might've taken longer with DCDumper.

We first attempted to dump the disc using a TSST TS-H353A flashed with Kreon firmware. While dumping GD-ROMs worked okay, the drive locked up when inserting a GD-R. However, even though it wasn't known to be supported before, we were able to get the drive to start reading the GD-R by using a Plextr PX-4012TA updated to the latest firmware. The drive was disassembled to remove the top so that the audio trap disc method would work.

We used the following procedures to make the dumps, as per sarami's instructions on his Github page:

Insert the audio trap disc to a supported drive.

Run below. (stop spinning disc)

DiscImageCreator.exe stop [DriveLetter]
Use a pin to press the escape eject button, so the tray will eject (or remove the drive cover).

Insert the gdrom and run below (or gently push the tray back or put the drive cover back on).

DiscImageCreator.exe close [DriveLetter]
Run below. (start dumping the GD-ROM)

DiscImageCreator.exe gd [DriveLetter] foo.bin [DriveSpeed(0-72)]

We appended a /c2 parameter with 1000 retries since we assumed that reading these discs would be a bit flimsier. To dump the LD, we dumped it to a separate folder than the HD. Then after the two dumps were completed, we took the dumps and compared them to our original DC SD rip dump and almost every track matched except track02.raw, which had more data in the DIC redump than the original dump we made.

Finally, we took the two individual CUE files for the LD and HD portions of the disc and combined them into one. The cue layout matched the final perfectly.

We only encountered one small issue dumping the disc - initially, possibly due to drive error, DIC underdumped the first sector by half and didn't analyze the GD-ROM contents/header. But upon running it again, it dumped everything correctly.

Then we dumped the disc with DCDumper and got the same results for Track 3 in comparison to DIC. I attached the results of both attempts.

This dump comes to you by Sazpaimon.
----------------------------------

DIC Logs: https://www.mediafire.com/file/4x0a60nr … gs.7z/file

Common Disc Info:
    Title: Sonic Adventure 2
    Foreign Title (Non-latin): ソニックアドベンチャー2
    System: Sega Dreamcast
    Media Type: GD-R
    Category: Games
    Region: Europe
    Languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish
    Disc Serial: 8B10B2

    EXE/Build Date: 2001-05-21
    Error Count: 0
    Comments: Orange GDR. "Sonic 2 REVIEW" written over all the fields.

[T:ISN] MK-5111750
[T:VOL] SONIC2 

Version and Editions:
    Version: V1.002
    Edition/Release: Review Prototype

Extras:
    Primary Volume Descriptor (PVD):

0320 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 32 30 30                200
0330 : 31 30 35 32 31 31 34 31  35 30 30 30 30 E4 32 30   1052114150000.20
0340 : 30 31 30 35 32 31 31 34  31 35 30 30 30 30 E4 30   01052114150000.0
0350 : 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30  30 30 30 30 30 30 30 00   000000000000000.
0360 : 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30  30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30   0000000000000000
0370 : 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................

    Header:

0000 : 53 45 47 41 20 53 45 47  41 4B 41 54 41 4E 41 20   SEGA SEGAKATANA 
0010 : 53 45 47 41 20 45 4E 54  45 52 50 52 49 53 45 53   SEGA ENTERPRISES
0020 : 30 46 41 36 20 47 44 2D  52 4F 4D 31 2F 31 20 20   0FA6 GD-ROM1/1  
0030 : 20 20 45 20 20 20 20 20  30 37 39 39 41 31 30 20     E     0799A10 
0040 : 4D 4B 2D 35 31 31 31 37  35 30 56 31 2E 30 30 32   MK-5111750V1.002
0050 : 32 30 30 31 30 35 32 31  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20   20010521        
0060 : 31 53 54 5F 52 45 41 44  2E 42 49 4E 20 20 20 20   1ST_READ.BIN    
0070 : 53 45 47 41 20 45 4E 54  45 52 50 52 49 53 45 53   SEGA ENTERPRISES
0080 : 53 4F 4E 49 43 20 41 44  56 45 4E 54 55 52 45 20   SONIC ADVENTURE 
0090 : 32 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20   2               
00A0 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   
00B0 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   
00C0 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   
00D0 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   
00E0 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   
00F0 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   

Copy Protection:

Tracks and Write Offsets:
    DAT:

<rom name="SONIC2LD (Track 1).bin" size="12757248" crc="90896ed0" md5="0ec8d1537e2ec1c4fcef210a7bc7cbf6" sha1="aa3456848852c8bb85e62fb0b917185f8304c7e3" />
<rom name="SONIC2LD (Track 2).bin" size="14347200" crc="49e43706" md5="9cca4624e62f04dc398aed22b5370a34" sha1="a34bdc73ac1e360b13d0592b501a388e0225e994" />

    Cuesheet:

FILE "SONIC2LD (Track 1).bin" BINARY
  TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "SONIC2LD (Track 2).bin" BINARY
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 00:00:00
    INDEX 01 00:02:00

    Write Offset: 13
ice @20090609 / themabus@inbox.lv
---------------------------------
dense.bin
---------------------------------
Accessing                       : ok
Seeking 1st valid Mode1 sector  : ok
 LBA found                      : 44990
 @file offset                   : $000001BC
 Scrambled                      : TRUE
Seeking LBA 45000               : ok
 Combined offset (samples)      : 111
Parsing IP.BIN                  : ok
 Writting 'ip.txt'              : ok
Parsing TOC                     : ok
 TOC entries                    : 4
 Writting 'redump.cue'          : ok
---------------------------------
03  Mode1   45000  549149  504150 ok
---------------------------------
done
FILE "Track 01.bin" BINARY
  TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "Track 02.bin" BINARY
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 00:00:00
    INDEX 01 00:02:00

FILE "Track 03.bin" BINARY
  TRACK 03 MODE1/2352
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
Name: Track 03.bin
Size: 1185760800 bytes (1.10 GiB)
CRC32: 7093d97b
SHA256: 4de325584500b49cc2bf5282db98322f444109c8128b4cf1179d0f00d090af35
SHA1: 4eec2a4b8e6820de0f26a20b1d511e15ea1ab6ef
MD5: 30873d95d426ab4e7d0e379a080f33ea 
Application title:
SONIC ADVENTURE 2

Developer:
SEGA ENTERPRISES

Publisher:
SEGA ENTERPRISES

Disc number:
GD-ROM1/1

Supported regions:
E

Internal serial:
MK-5111750

Version number:
V1.002

Release date (YYYY-MM-DD):
2001-05-21

CRC16: TRUE
0FA6

Disc identifier: TRUE
SEGA SEGAKATANA

First read file name:
1ST_READ.BIN

UNKNOWN (reserved?):


Additional flags: 0799A10
-------------------------
Minimal set of buttons required by application:
 Start, A, B, Direction buttons: TRUE
 C button: FALSE
 D button: FALSE
 X button: TRUE
 Y button: TRUE
 Z button: FALSE
 Expanded direction buttons: FALSE
 Analog R Trigger: TRUE
 Analog L Trigger: TRUE
 Standard analog X: TRUE
 Standard analog Y: TRUE
 Expanded analog X: FALSE
 Expanded analog Y: FALSE

Supported peripherals:
 Mouse: FALSE
 Gun controller: FALSE
 Keyboard: FALSE

Supported expanded peripherals:
 Memory card: TRUE
 Sound input peripheral (SIP): FALSE
 Vibrator: TRUE
 Other devices: FALSE

VGA Box supported: TRUE
Use WindowsCE: FALSE
Post's attachments

sadv 2 proto dcdumper logs.7z 3.26 kb, 2 downloads since 2022-08-20 

Sonic_2_Review_-_Back.jpg 446.04 kb, file has never been downloaded. 

Sonic_2_Review_-_Front.jpg 627.08 kb, file has never been downloaded. 

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2 Reply by user7 (edited by user7 2022-08-21 03:27:44)

  • user7
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This is fantastic!

I've added this info into the wiki. If you guys get the chance to test other Plextors with GD-Rs, please do and I'll add them to the wiki compatibility list as well.

Any luck getting the Plextor PX-4012TA working with a proper GD-Rom? Would love to talk you into testing if you didn't try.

What version of DIC did you guys use for this?

All my posts and submission data are released into Public Domain / CC0.
  • From: North East UK
  • Registered: 2016-06-15
  • Posts: 1,057

user7 wrote:

What version of DIC did you guys use for this?

Looks like 2022-07-07 from the logs.

  • ehw
  • Dumper
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  • Registered: 2019-01-28
  • Posts: 35

The Plextor PX-708a also works well for GD-Rs. It actually can read GD-ROMs too. This is possibly because this particular model has GigaRec support, which was introduced starting in 2003 for Plextor drives.:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/lr7x4sh1 … ic.7z/file

Current list of supported drives for GD-Rs:
Plextor PX-708A (GD-Rs and GD-ROMs)
Plextor PX-4012TA (GD-Rs only)

Current list of partially supported drives for GD-Rs. These read, but can possibly fail past a certain point near the end. Might just need a laser alignment (forcing the drive to read at a certain sector, with something like CDRwin).
Plextor PX-760A (GD-Rs only)

Current list of unsupported drives:
Plextor PX-4824TA (doesn't read anything despite reports, could be just our drive)

We have a ASUS BW-16D1HT and a Plextor PlexWriter PX-W5224TA on the way for more testing. Will keep you informed (this might go in another topic once this submission is cleared).

5 Reply by user7 (edited by user7 2022-08-22 01:51:22)

  • user7
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I added the results here - including with a couple Plextors I tested last night (neither positive): http://wiki.redump.org/index.php?title= … ity#GD-Rom

I snapped up a cheap TS-H192C on ebay last night to get that drive off the "Untested, but rumored to work" list.

ehw this topic deserves it's own thread in the General subforum http://forum.redump.org/forum/7/general-discussion/
I'm giving you dibs on starting the thread since you are spearheading the investigation. I'll keep the wiki updated with new results.

Very cool to hear the 708A is working smooth for both GD-Rs and GD-ROMs.

---

Edit: I tried dumping a GD-Rom with my ASUS BW-16D1HT, no dice. Would be curious if it happens to work with GD-Rs though.

All my posts and submission data are released into Public Domain / CC0.

6 Reply by ehw (edited by ehw 2022-08-24 08:22:51)

  • ehw
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  • Posts: 35

Will do once this gets submitted, still waiting on some drives and samples before compiling a research thread too.

Plextor PX-760a can work as well thanks to @sarami.. The drives we were using sometimes encountered drive cache flushing issues, so experimenting with the /f parameter and setting a value for when to flush the cache seems to get PX-760a over the bar with no issues as well. The PX-760a can even read our test GD-ROM (Sega Bass Fishing) with the /f parameter, something that either it didn't do before because of the cache or we just forgot to test it, lol. But we couldn't get the 760a to work with other GD-ROMs that might read fine in other drives, so we're not sure if it''ll work for every GD-ROM.

We're thinking it might depend on when the GD-ROM was manufactured. I'm not sure if this was ever looked at. But when the Dreamcast launched, some games had issues in the early days I think due to printing issues with the GD-ROMs. This might be why?

  • user7
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>experimenting with the /f parameter and setting a value for when to flush the cache seems to get PX-760a over the bar
If you have recommended a /f value i can add this to the wiki.

All my posts and submission data are released into Public Domain / CC0.
  • Registered: 2021-02-11
  • Posts: 227

user7 wrote:

I added the results here - including with a couple Plextors I tested last night (neither positive): http://wiki.redump.org/index.php?title= … ity#GD-Rom

I snapped up a cheap TS-H192C on ebay last night to get that drive off the "Untested, but rumored to work" list.

ehw this topic deserves it's own thread in the General subforum http://forum.redump.org/forum/7/general-discussion/
I'm giving you dibs on starting the thread since you are spearheading the investigation. I'll keep the wiki updated with new results.

Very cool to hear the 708A is working smooth for both GD-Rs and GD-ROMs.

---

Edit: I tried dumping a GD-Rom with my ASUS BW-16D1HT, no dice. Would be curious if it happens to work with GD-Rs though.

I've updated the wiki to make the language less authoritative - this is really exciting and promising news but we should avoid making absolute, declarative statements about drive compatibility and recommending that dumpers purchase these drives until more testing has been done.

My drives: ASUS BW-16D1HT, Lite-On SOHD-167T, Plextor PX-W4824TA, Plextor PX-W5224TA, Plextor PX-716AL (x3), Samsung TS-H352
  • From: the Internet
  • Registered: 2020-05-23
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Pinning this thread for now, to separate it from other pending entries.

PX-W4012TA ☆ PX-716A ☆ GGC-H20L ☆ XB360 HDDVD
Wii ☆ Wii U ☆ PSP ☆ SOHD-167T ☆ 209DBK ☆ TS-H352C
  • user7
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I got a TSST TS-H192, the model which appears physically very similar to the Kreons. In fact, I believe this model is just a CD-Rom only (no DVD support) version of the Kreons.

I did a test dump of the same DC GD-Rom back to back with the TS-H192 and one of the Kreon models and they performed similarly. I wouldn't expect this model to work with a GD-R though since Kreons dont.

All my posts and submission data are released into Public Domain / CC0.

11 Reply by ehw (edited by ehw 2022-09-22 23:54:57)

  • ehw
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Status update. We're still working on this actively. We have tested about 80 drives so far with GD-ROM and GD-R dumping with DIC/DCDumper. We have a few GD-Rs to try and about 40 on their way for further testing (yes, these will be submitted). We have a list of drives that seem to be key to dumping them, with more drives on the way. Plextor is looking mighty good for GD-Rs. Some support GD-ROMs as well.

There are currently some bugs with DIC that should be addressed first however. We posted about them here:

DiscImageCreator doesn't retry C2 errors properly when dumping GD-ROMS with /c2 (var1) 0 or /c2 (var1) 1 using a compatible drive:
https://github.com/saramibreak/DiscImag … issues/146

Feature Request - New var2 setting for /c2 that corrects c2 errors as the scm is being created, not after (/c2 var1 2)
https://github.com/saramibreak/DiscImag … issues/147

GD-ROM dumping does not support some directory record sizes (fixed? needs testing)
https://github.com/saramibreak/DiscImag … issues/149

Feature Request - Create a Redump GD-ROM .cue when GD mode is used.
https://github.com/saramibreak/DiscImag … issues/150

Feature Request - Discard .img(/.sub) files when using GD mode.
https://github.com/saramibreak/DiscImag … issues/151

Ideally DIC needs a solution for retrying/rereading sectors, kinda similar to what DCDumper does with fake reads but maybe there's a better solution. Doing any kind of seeking back and forth seems to cause a few issues.