http://redump.org/guide/ps2dumping/
2. Determining disc type
•PlayStation 2 discs with green working surface are CDs.
•PlayStation 2 discs with pink working surface are DVDs.
green > blue
pink > silver
Don't all licensed CD discs have the "Compact Disc" logo and all licensed DVD discs have the "DVD ROM" logo? Maybe that could be added, too, to make it more beginner friendly.
Also, the guide should mention posting the layerbreak for dual-layer discs and also how to find it. Dual-layer discs can be identified by the dual ringcode.
There are also CDs with silver surface (at least for Europe).
Also the Compact Disc or DVD logo is not a foolproof method to determine the type of disc, since i already had at least 2 missprints, labeled as DVD, when it was a CD in fact. For PS2 Europe the easiest and safest method so far is the identification via ringcode:
Sony DADC A0100xxxxxx-0101 x8 -> 0101 is CD
Sony DADC A0100xxxxxx-A511 xx -> A511 is a Single Layer DVD
Sony DADC A0100xxxxxx-A911 xx -> A911 is a Dual Layer DVD, where the ringcode with A911 is Layer0 and the ringcode with B911 is the one for Layer1
I didn't know about mislabeled licensed discs. My unlicensed discs don't have the logos. Identifying by ringcodes is good, but most members don't know how to do that, which brings up another guide issue that I'll explain below.
It'd be nice if we had a ringcode guide on the site. There are a lot of new and old members that don't know they are supposed to provide the codes with their dumps. Having a guide would eliminate the confusion, since the current guides only cover dumping and they don't even mention ringcodes. There have been some helpful posts by members in the dumps forum recently. Maybe their posts could be the basis for a guide on ringcodes.
5 2012-07-12 03:45:26 (edited by jethro_napoleon 2012-07-12 03:47:36)
True. I had a harsh time figuring things out. I started from 0 and my most difficulty was to gather all the technical info and jargon, which is scattered throughout the guide and forum threads. It just needs to be recompiled in one place. I know there used to be a wiki at times but IMO a friendly, even superficial but detailed enough for a kickstart, will suffice.
I've been thinking about that lately, but my english & technical skills aren't good enough.
Still, I'm willing to contribute by giving some sugestions, by newbie proof-reading and by translating to Portuguese. Maybe Spanish and French (if the latest isn't too much rusty). And korean, but I don't think there's much interest in it (plus I hardly know the basis 
)
Btw, nice tips, usurper. I started to notice a pattern for cds and dvds but didn't knew what they meant. Good to learn something new! 