• Registered: 2018-10-16
  • Posts: 190

Apologies for the noob question, but I can't find an answer in the wiki or the DiscImageCreator docs.

I have a number of prototypes for the Xbox and Xbox 360. I have dumped prototypes for other platforms, but not this one.

For the prototypes which are signed for use on a retail system, the standard method (DiscImageCreator xbox [drive] [filename] [speed]) works without issues using a drive with the Kreon firmware.

For the prototypes which require use of a dev/debug kit, DiscImageCreator immediately fails with the following type of error:

LBA[-16581121, 0xff02fdff]: [F:ExtractSecuritySector][L:1131]
     Opcode: 0xad
     ScsiStatus: 0x02 CHECK_CONDITION
     SenseData Key-Asc-Ascq: 05-30-02 = ILLEGAL_REQUEST - CANNOT READ MEDIUM - INCOMPATIBLE FORMAT

This occurs on every dev/debug disc I have, regardless of source or if it is a pressed disc or DVD-R. Attempting to dump via Xbox Backup Creator also fails, although its image browser is able to extract the contents of the discs' filesystems. I assume this is because the dev/debug prototypes are not secured in the same way as discs for retail systems.

For Redump-grade dumps of these prototypes, what process should I use? DiscImageCreator in DVD mode instead of Xbox? This seems to work if I also use the Kreon drive, but fails if I use a Plextor DVD drive. I have not had time to burn the DVD-mode dumps back to disc to see if they work.

When submitting dumps of prototypes on publisher-issued DVD-Rs (i.e. sent to game reviewers) is the ring code information still important?

  • iR0b0t
  • iR0b0t
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dev/debug prototypes are standard dvd discs without protection, you have to use the default dvd reading method

Cut Into Fourteen Pieces wrote:

is the ring code information still important?

yes

PX-760A (+30), PX-W4824TA (+98), GSA-H42L (+667), GDR-8164B (+102), SH-D162D (+6), SOHD-167T (+12)
  • user7
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You can dump as IBM PC > DVD-Rom in the DICUI settings.

Also, I believe SOME protos are formatted in the regular Xbox manner, but MOST are standard DVD-Roms as iRobot said.

All my posts and submission data are released into Public Domain / CC0.
  • Registered: 2018-10-16
  • Posts: 190

OK, thank you.

At least some of these seem to not be using a standard DVD-ROM format. I will do a more comprehensive examination over the weekend, but the one I'm dumping right now behaves this way:

- GDR-8163B
  - Shows it as an empty disc in Windows Explorer
  - Can dump an image of it in DVD mode using DiscImageCreator
  - Can extract files from it using the image browser in Xbox Backup Creator
- PX-716SA
  - Shows it as an empty disc in Windows Explorer
  - Fails immediately with an error about being unable to recover the table of contents when attempting to dump via DiscImageCreator
  - Haven't tried via image browser
- SH-D163B w/Kreon firmware
  - Haven't tried via Windows Explorer
  - Can dump an image of it in DVD mode using DiscImageCreator
  - Can extract files from it using the image browser in Xbox Backup Creator

I know at least one of the others behaved the same way. I have a couple of other drives I can try too. I'll dump them in DVD mode using several drives and see if the hashes match between any of them. I'll also try burning the dumps back to disc and make sure they're playable on the dev/debug kits.

  • Registered: 2018-10-16
  • Posts: 190

OK, so returning to this topic, some of you have been doing this way longer than I have, but I think maybe this type of disc is not handled 100% correctly by current tools.

I've successfully dumped quite a few Xbox and 360 discs that were signed for retail consoles, including two prototype/preview builds which are on pressed (not burned) DVDs. One of those prototypes is for the OG Xbox, and the other is for the 360, so I have at least basic coverage of a couple of use cases. With all of those, I can dump an image using DIC and the image is readable by the Image Browser in Xbox Backup Creator.

However, I have five DVD-R prototypes (four 360, one OG Xbox) and one pressed DVD 360 prototype (all six signed for use on XDK instead of retail) which are all behaving like this:

- They play correctly on XDKs.
- I can extract the contents of the filesystem if I use the Image Browser in XBox Backup Creator, having it read the physical disc while it's in an SH-D163B drive with the Kreon firmware.
- They show up as an empty disc in Windows Explorer.
- Dumping using Xbox Backup Creator fails.
- Dumping using DIC in xbox mode fails.
- Dumping using DIC in dvd mode succeeds on most drives with no errors, but the image is unusable - Xbox Backup Creator's Image Browser doesn't recognize it (either loaded directly or when mounted using VirtualCloneDrive), and neither does ISOBuster. ISOBuster specifically gives me the error "Iso9660 Error 4: Do you want to risk it and proceed?"

I'm burning two of the unusable (in XBC/ISOBuster) ISOs back to disc right now to see if they can be read by XBC while physically in the Kreon drive - the image of the one OG Xbox DVD-R prototype I currently have, and one of the 360 prototypes which is small enough to fit on a single-layer DVD-R - but I figure if this were going to work, then XBC would read the ISOs.

The prototypes in question were produced by 4 different publishers (Sega, Microsoft, Tecmo, and EA), and I obtained them from at least three different people in completely different countries from each other, so I don't think this is especially uncommon.

Have any of you successfully dumped and then made use of a prototype like these? The "made use of" part is key, IMO, because it proves that the dump is uncorrupted.

6 Reply by user7 (edited by user7 2019-01-04 19:21:22)

  • user7
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ooof interesting, you might need to dump with an 0800

I dumped a X360 beta DVD-R with Kreon/DIC a while about and it worked fine. I may have used IBM PC Compatible > DVD-Rom settings

All my posts and submission data are released into Public Domain / CC0.
  • Registered: 2018-10-16
  • Posts: 190

It turns out that I was at least partially mistaken. There might be a missing link in the tool chain, but it's not where I thought it was.

If I burn the images back to DVD-R, they work in my XDK, and Xbox Backup Creator can read the filesystem, at least if they're in the Kreon drive. So, as far as I can tell, DiscImageCreator is working as expected, and is creating a very accurate representation of the disc. However, VirtualCloneDrive, XBox Backup Creator, and ISOBuster are unable to handle the image correctly, so the *only* way I see right now to extract the contents from the resulting image is to burn it back to disc first.

I'm out of time for today, but I'll do some comparison of the files that XBC extracted from the originals and the reburned versions to make sure nothing is getting corrupted. I have several DVD drives now that can read these discs without errors, so I will compare hashes and make sure the images are identical as well.