It recently came to my attention that several experienced dumpers feel EAC is an *obsolete* tool for dumping audio tracks, and that it should no longer be used as the primary tool for dumping audio tracks. Furthermore, they expressed that both DiscImageCreator and PerfectRip were a much more suitable tool for audio track dumping (vs. EAC) because they both delivered more accurate and consistent results. While EAC may still have some value as an alternate validation tool, what I am hearing is that EAC is no longer the correct tool to be using for dumping audio tracks and that more suitable tools are available. I also gathered that this has been the case for some time, and that the practice of using EAC is rather antiquated.

Now if what I just shared is even *partially* accurate...then it underscores a fact that redump's WIKI documentation is severely outdated and needs to be better maintained by its experienced users.

A technical community (like redump) depends upon great WIKI documentation, and great WIKI documentation is always at its best when it is properly maintained by its experienced users in the community. The upside to providing quality WIKI documentation is that it always leads to good things:

  • Fewer mistakes

  • Better questions

  • Improved processes

  • Reduced learning curve for new users

  • Less PMs asking for help

  • And...an increase in quality dumps!

In short: it's a win-win for a everyone. You don't have to be Shakespeare to write good documentation. Even if you're re English isn't very strong, there will always be someone who can and will attempt to improve it (that's the beauty of the WIKI). So if you can lend a hand and help update the WIKI...then it would be highly beneficial to everyone in the long-run. I would advise beginning by reviewing the main guides first (e.g. Getting Started and Main CD Dumping Guide) and then expanding from there.

One last thing. The forums are a great place for discussing new techniques and experimenting with alternative processes and solutions...but at the end of the day the WIKI is where the final documentation belongs. It should *NOT* reside exclusively on the forums. Links to forum discussions are completely acceptable as long as any decisions and/or process changes are mirrored on the WIKI. Don't rely on the forum's search feature for looking up documentation, since a new user will never think to do this when a WIKI exists. wink

CONCLUSION
We have a good start to the WIKI...it just needs to be better maintained. smile I will do my part to help improve the overall formatting and general infrastructure, but I need the experienced dumpers to make sure that the existing guides are current and up-to-date with the correct tools, links, step-by-step directions, pictures, forum links, and anything else that needs to be included. A well-written WIKI should be able to answer 80% of the questions without further modification. The remaining 20% should account for the "unique scenarios" which can be added as a footnote to help further close the gap to achieve 90-95% support resolution.

If redump's goal is indeed to dump every known game disc twice (verified)...then you'll want to take the time and get this step right. Otherwise, I don't think it would be to unreasonable to suggest that this project could take 20-30 years longer than it needs to... wink

Cheers!
-MrTikki-

P.S. My short-term motive for pointing this out is to reduce the amount of Q&A PMs that I've been sending to everyone about various dumping techniques (you know who you are--and I appreciate your help!). My long-term motive is to improve the documentation standards around here so that newcomers can jump right into dumping without having to hit every branch of the tree when they start to fall down the rabbit hole. big_smile

Excellent summary. Thanks, Nexy! smile

Cheers!
-MrTikki-

Personally, I have fond memories of playing some of the educational titles out there, and I consider many of them to be quality games. On the other hand...I would imagine that software like "Microsoft Encarta" would NOT qualify since they function more like an application than they do as a game. Then again...I recall that Compton's Encyclopedia was accepted for both the Philips CD-i and Sega CD. I suspect that the reason for this was because they were featured on a gaming console vs. a computer-based operating system, and their inclusion was more for system preservation than anything. But then I come across dumps like Wordworth 6 Office for the Amiga CD...I say "hmm".  hmm

So perhaps my original question is bigger than I realized: what is redump's objective? Is it to preserve game-related discs only? Or is it to function as a TOSEC-ISO replacement (i.e. dumps with proper pregaps and offset values)? If it's more like the latter, then I suggest we begin categorizing the dumps more along the lines of TOSEC (i.e. Application, Educational, Games, Coverdisc, Samplers). Placing dumps like Compton's Encyclopedia into the "Games" category is...well, simply not correct. smile

That being said, if redump's mission is only about preserving game-related discs then I would propose that the guidelines be something like the following:

  • For discs supported by a computer-based operating system (PC/Mac/Amiga/etc.)...only discs featuring some level of gameplay, focus on games, and/or game support should be approved for dumping. This would allow for any category to be dumped so long as the disc was ultimately game-related.

  • For discs supported by a predominantly game-based console system (Sega CD/Xbox/GameCube)...anything & everything may be dumped since it lends to the overall preservation of the system.

  • For discs supported by a mixed-media console system (Philips CD-i/Commodore CDTV)...only discs featuring some level of gameplay, focus on games, and/or game support should be approved for dumping. This would allow for any category to be dumped so long as the disc was ultimately game-related.

However...if redump is looking to expand the preservation beyond just games...then we primarily need to be more adamant about properly categorizing the dumps in the database.

My goal here is merely to establish a decision on the matter so as not to waste anyone's time dumping out-of-scope software. It's always good to review one's mission statement every once in a while to make sure things are operating as they should...  smile

Cheers!
-MrTikki-

Hi all! I've got a few educational games in my collection that I was wondering if they would be accepted if submitted? They're definitely what one might consider games (Mayaquest: The Mystery Trail; Explore Yellowstone; Math Workshop), but I didn't see any educational games on the database (with the exception of Oregon Trail), so I thought I'd check first before dumping them. wink

Just let me know if you want me to dump em.

Cheers!
-MrTikki-

P.S. What about cover discs from magazines, like PC Gamer?

Just updating this thread with my findings. Things started working once I:

  • Installed my IDE PCI-E adapter (which allowed me to hookup my Plextor drives)

  • Installed FrogASPI to enable ASPI compatibility on Windows 7 64-bit

  • Updated my drive's firmware to the latest version

My SATA drive shows up on CDRWin now, though I haven't tried using it to rip based on iR0B0t's comments (above). I suspect the older versions of CDRWin are better suited for IDE drives only...which is good to know, I suppose. wink

Cheers!
-MrTikki-

31

(4 replies, posted in General discussion)

Self reply:

After a quick Google search, it appears that the author of ProtectionID (CDKiller) is MIA and presumably passed away or been temporarily detained...either of which is unfortunate.

Regarding the Windows 7 bug...they are known and "supposedly" fixed in the next BETA. Unfortunately, this release was never made public, and TippeX (the last man standing on the team) has been talking about releasing an update for nearly 2-years, but to no avail. While there's a chance we might still see an update, the reality is that development of PID is indefinitely suspended and incompatible with some versions of Windows 7.

BurnOut, on the other hand, seems to be working just fine...though I would really prefer to have a second opinion during analysis. It did say that a few of my PC games (SimCity 2000) were protected by PSX LibCrypt...which I thought was interesting. Anyone heard of that before? smile

-MrTikki-

32

(4 replies, posted in General discussion)

Any preferences?
Suggested alternatives?
And does anyone else have problems running ProtectionID? It keeps crashing on me...  neutral

Cheers!
-MrTikki-

P.S. Specifically in verifying security on PC games. wink

That's a bit of a bummer about the SATA adapters, but I did just buy a PCI-E card that will provide a dedicated IDE adapater. Sounds like it's similar to that SiI-680, so perhaps that will "trick" it (???). I'll post my results if it works.  smile

Also, I got the suggestion to use CDRWIN for some DC dumping from tossEAC (or rather from a guide he sent me). I have pablogm123's suggestions as well, so I was simply going to run both and see which one worked best. However, I ran into the same issue with CDRWIN not seeing my drive, so I wondered if there was something related to the SATA drivers.

Sounds like the myth is certainly "Plausible"...  big_smile

So I've run into this issue with CDRWIN and PerfectRip now, and so I thought I'd go ahead and ask the question: does PerfectRip (and CDRWIN for that matter) only scan for IDE drives? My current drive is a SATA drive, and neither program can detect it.

Figured I'd answer this question for future reference once and for all. smile

Cheers!
-MrTikki-

35

(3 replies, posted in General discussion)

The Xbox NTSC-U Missing list is completed. I'd say it's about 90-92% complete & accurate. Also, it does not account for any variants (and I'm not about to start on that task). big_smile

Cheers!
-MrTikki-

36

(3 replies, posted in General discussion)

Good point. I wasn't trying to capture variants, and now that you mention it the TOSEC set is supposedly 99.9% complete. I'll look through the list and update it further once I complete the Xbox update. In the meantime, it's a start towards getting a complete USA set. smile

37

(3 replies, posted in General discussion)

Finished updating the Dreamcast NTSC-U list, and have started working on the Xbox NTSC-U list. Made it up to "I" this evening. Will tackle it again tomorrow. Will have it completed by end-of-week.

Cheers!
-MrTikki-