I'm sure applications and OS discs will eventually be added, just like non-arcade games were added to MAME (e.g. slot machines). Movies and audio discs will probably remain off-limits though, although I would like to see something a bit more in-depth compared to IMDb (where searching for a movie will generally return one result only - the original film, rather than a myriad of VHS, Beta, VCD, DVD and Blu-Ray releases for example). Discogs at least shows different pressings for each CD, provided someone has added them.

What am I doing wrong...

Tekken 2 (PAL, Europe, Platinum)

Game ID: SCES-00255
Barcode: 7 11719 67642 3
Rating: ELSPA 11+
SID Code: IFPI L555
Mastering Code: DADC AUSTRIA   A0100195538-0101   45
Toolstamp: A10
Mould SID Code: IFPI 94E0
EXE date: 1996-06-05

Should be the same as http://redump.org/disc/379/ but...

--------------------

SONY CD-RW CRX120E

Drive Offset: +1160 (according to AccurateRip DB)
Size before cutting: 718324320
Size with pregap removed: 717971520
Pregap size: 352800 bytes (2.00 seconds)
CRC32: ed088d76

Read errors (IsoBuster code in brackets):
305259 (03/11/05)

Data beyond read error:
4652 bytes / 4 = 1163 samples (sectors 305260 to 305261) [4656 bytes/1164 samples if counting the entire row]

Haven't even started with audio tracks (there's a reason why I have been avoiding these types of discs for years).

Gaps according to EAC:
Track 01: 02.00
Track 02: 01.59
Track 03: 02.01

Read/test checksums according to EAC:
Track 02: 18b4f796
Track 03: 7b657a28

Audio track sizes as .bin files:
Track 02: 26514096
Track 03: 6352752

/* To be done later

--------------------

[b]AOPEN COM5232/AAH[/b]

Drive Offset: +738
Size before cutting: 718324320
Size with pregap removed: 717971520
CRC32: ed088d76

Read errors (IsoBuster code in brackets):
305259 (03/11/06)
305260 (03/92/00)

--------------------

[b]E-IDE CD-ROM 40X/AKU[/b] (Aopen CD-940E/AKU PRO)

Drive Offset: +1268
Size before cutting: 718324320
Size with pregap removed: 717971520
CRC32: a417a2dc

Read errors:
None

--------------------

*/

Is it still worth having them in the database though? Redump is basically the video game version of Discogs - you generally don't find information like barcodes, disc matrix/ringcodes, disc features (e.g. games on a demo disc), or box/disc scans in an XML file - not that Redump has gone that far yet (it would be nice though).

1110xxxx (0xE?) seems to be common, although I still don't know what it's for. The last 9 in your 9789 example is possibly a check digit, the small barcode is in the same format as shown below:

Resident Evil 2 (Disc 1)
ID: SLES-00972
Mastering SID Code: IFPI L555
Manufacturer: DADC AUSTRIA
Ringcode: A0100241992-0102   25
Toolstamp: A4
Mould SID Code: IFPI 944P

Barcodes:
10101011000000000001000000000010010000011001100100101101011000000001000000101110100010000011100101001111

1110001010110000010001111111

1010        0A    [start]
10110000    B0    A
0000        00    0
0001        01    1
0000        00    0
0000        00    0
0010        02    2
0100        04    4
0001        01    1
1001        09    9
1001        09    9
0010        02    2
11010110    D6    -
0000        00    0
0001        01    1
0000        00    0
0010        02    2
11101000    E8
1000        08    8
0011        03    3
1001        09    9
0100        04    4 [check digit]
1111        0F    [end]

11100010    E2
10110000    B0    A
0100        04    4
0111        07    7 [check digit]
1111        0F    [end]

Also, NTSC discs have the same barcodes, it isn't just limited to PAL region discs.

Ah, so it's read backwards... the 1111 is on the end, not the start. I've got some decoding to do now. smile

Which format is the barcode around the ring? It looks like a Code 39 variant, in that there are only narrow (1 pixel) and wide (3 pixel) lines and spaces, except that they make no sense when put together (e.g. it's not A-Z/0-9 characters, merely binary data). Additionally, each wide bar is preceded by a narrow space; each narrow bar is preceded by a wide space. PS2 CD-ROMs also have a second barcode in the ringcode area which isn't present on PS2 DVDs.

Or are the spaces ignored entirely with narrow bars being 0 and wide being 1? With no spaces, CDs are 104 bits long, DVDs are 108 bits long. The second barcode (PS2 CDs only) is 28 bits long.

I can't find anything on Redump about the PSX BCA mark or whatever it is called. The same barcodes are also on PS2/PS3 and even audio CDs and DVD videos, anything on Sony-pressed discs.

--------------------

There are ringcodes on regular black-backed PlayStation CDs! To be able to read the ringcodes of non-Platinum discs (e.g. the majority of PlayStation games out there), you will need any device capable of "red" light output (or orange, yellow etc). For example, incandescent bulbs (lamps, flashlights etc.), infra-red light (e.g. remote controls) or even sunlight. Digital image capture devices can see infra-red light, thus pointing even a TV remote's infra-red LED at the disc should show up on your camera. It may take a while to find the data, but it should show up as black numbers on a solid red background - the inverse is true about the barcode.

Alternatively, if you have a powerful enough light source and a scanner, you can simply shine the light straight through the picture side of the disc while scanning, however the mould SID code may not show up in the scan due to the amount of light. It is advised to shine the flashlight from an angle, so the light doesn't overpower the scanner and whitewash everything (sitting the flashlight right on top of the disc made my scanner show a glitched area over parts of the ringcode, making the image useless).

Light which uses the blue spectrum (e.g. "white" LEDs and flourescent lights including CFLs) will not work.

--------------------

PAL version discs have the same style of ringcodes as per PS2 and later games, but with one of three varying logos. Games made up to 1998 (including Tekken 3) have a DADC AUSTRIA logo, games from 1998-1999 have DADC without the Austria part, and games from 2000 onwards have Sony DADC, the same as PS2 games.

Note that the Sony DADC number is not PlayStation-specific and is used for all discs made at that factory (at least on the machines which use this numbering format), including audio CDs, DVDs, UMDs and Blu-Ray discs, and also cannot be used to determine the age or release era of a disc, for example movie DVDs from the early 2000s seemingly start at zero yet PSX launch titles from way back in 1995 start at roughly 170000 (e.g. Tekken 1 is A0000173745-0101). The same pressings will always use the same DADC serial number, although the SID code and the two trailing digits (e.g. IFPI L555 and the "15") can change on rare occasions. An updated/bug-fixed release of the same game will always have a different DADC number even if the SCES/SLES number is exactly the same on the label.

The standard Sony DADC format used on PS1 games is decoded as such:
A01xxxxxxxx-yyzz. X is the unique disc pressing number, Y is the disc number in the series and Z is how many discs are in the series. Games which span multiple discs use the same serial number, for example the two discs of Resident Evil 2 (the standard English language version) are numbered A0100241992-0102 and A0100241992-0202 respectively (and the ringcodes are not listed in the database at all, sigh).

The earliest discs (note the above Tekken 1 example) start with A00 instead of A01, I do not know what the 0 or 1 means (some DVDs also start with A00; the DVD5 top layer blank used for making single-layer discs on dual-layer equipment starts with A09 and is invariably A0900555555-B511, while the UMD blank layer is A0600666666-B511).

Speaking of DVDs, the four-digit suffix format is different due to taking into account dual-layer discs. A511 means A-side (layer 0/media side), DVD5 (single-layer), disc 1 of 1. B923 on the other hand means B-side (layer 1/label side), DVD9 (dual-layer), disc 2 of 3. This format, including the 5/9 for the single/dual layer disc types is also used on UMD and Blu-Ray discs, even though they are not called 'DVD5' or 'DVD9' in their own formats (e.g. Blu-Ray is BD25 or BD50).

Note: Some PAL version discs (usually the generic demo disc releases with PBPX serials) are manufactured in Japan and have a Japanese style ringcode where the ringcode reflects the serial number, and will invariably have a SID code of IFPI L27x (instead of L55x) and a mould SID code of IFPI 45xx in place of 94xx (Europe) or 65xx (Australia).

NTSC U/C discs have no manufacturer logo, but use a serial number similar to PSRM-nnnnn followed by a two-digit number. Unlike PAL discs, the last digit of this number does not correspond to the SID code's last digit. The same serial number is also in the small print on the CD itself. Not all games may use the letters PSRM. Most NTSC discs have a series of symbols after the ringcode such as ☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼. It is unknown what these represent.

Japanese discs are similar to NTSC U/C except that they simply use the SLPS number (or similar letter code) in place of the PSRM number (note that this number may not always correspond to the disc ID e.g. PlayStation The Best re-releases are in the 90000 range yet the ringcode will still be a standard low number such as SLPS-00040 if it's the same old pressing as the original); the hyphen after SLPS etc. is always in the ringcode even if it is not on the disc label.

Updated 2018-05-26.

32

(2 replies, posted in General discussion)

This post is mainly PlayStation-centric, I don't think it really applies to other systems (although they do tend to have the game ID in the ringcode, e.g. Xbox, GameCube/Wii).

Would it be possible to check a game by adding the ringcode into the search bar? So far, my quickest way to check/verify newly acquired games is by putting the game ID into the search box, but even that can lead to multiple results.

For example, "54321" yields two results, one for NBA Live 2004 for Xbox (it is part of a hash value listed in the comments section) as well as Need For Speed: Carbon (which is SLES-54321). Searching for a ringcode (e.g. A0100749653-A511, or partial code like 749653) yields nothing in the current design, but would differentiate between alternate releases of the same game if it was implemented (which generally use the same ID, give or take a # symbol or /P for Platinum etc., for example Gran Turismo 2 or Tekken Tag Tournament).

If it could show the ringcode in the results list, that would be a nice touch, however on the down side this would mean some results would have more than one ringcode listed in the field which may clutter up the display unless only the first is used (e.g. identical discs which otherwise mach but have a 26 on the end instead of a 17, and dual layer discs with the B911 ringcode for the second layer).

Additionally, I think the mastering logo (e.g. DADC AUSTRIA, DADC, Sony DADC found on PAL games) should be in a separate field rather than mixed with the ringcode itself - some discs don't have a logo at all (notably PS3, and the blank top half of some PS2 discs, A0900555555-B511; sometimes it has a logo, other times not).

Bump. I was just able to read a few PSX ring codes by simply holding the disc under the room light (a normal 15W CFL) and holding a cheap $2 6-LED flashlight and shining it at an angle so the beam reflects; the numbers showing up in the blue reflection (refraction?) rather than directly under the light. Not easy, but possible (some games are nearly impossible to read this way, mostly due to marks, scratches etc.).