Having just come back from a couple of weeks away, I notice that there is a new release of CloneCD around. The changeLog says that it now emulates the SD2.9 weak sectors. I'm not that happy about using emulation techniques, preferring as I do to get a copy that authenticaes with out emulation. I know my burner [LTR-40125S] will write the SD2.9 patterns correctly as a burn with FireBurner from a CloneCD 4.2.0.2 image authenticates fine.

Does the new version mean that I can use CloneCD now to write a SD2.9 image correctly without the need for FireBurner?

I've been using CloneCD for many years and expect that my key will be outside the free upgrade time period, so I'm not looking to upgrade unless there is a good reason. Is there anything else new that would make me want to part with my hard earned cash?

i'm in the same dilemma as you. I cannot make a working backup with my liteon 165h reading and my 40125s writing.

I too own the old version (elby) and am in the process of chosing a new program... so far blindwrite works great and i backed up sim's makin magic with it. clonecd failed...

i'll just have to wait until the softwares develop and then chose.

Three points and questions:

1)
I personally believe DJ is best against SD and have asked twice already with no reply, perhaps nobody knows "if the new CCD writes the pregap correctly"?

2)
Also I too do not completely understand what is meant by emulates SD2.9 weak sectors. What if written with emulation mode off, is that to say a backed up CD won't work?

CCD + Fireburner worked on all my SD versions so far, so has DJ.

3)
Also, does anyone know if CCD+twinpeaks is superior to BW against newest versions of Securom?

Hello xtacydima ....I've just purchased DJ what setting do you use
for SD.
Thanks,

Ivanhoe...

To be honsest, there was a thread on Settings, and once I set up my DJ based on that I haven't touched it. But that thread is gone and after my format and reinstall of everything, I too now need it. It had settings for like every program and how to best use it against different protections. I think Philamber made the guide. Anyone here know where that thread is, I also need it again.

Do you mean this one?

::: Basic Guide to DiscJuggler: Setup for Backups

Damn, you just beat me to it, Ijust found that also using the SEARCH.

NO, thats not the one actually, the one i was referring to used to be a sticky and had no diagrams (also had other programs aside DJ), but the one we just both found by FP is also great.

OK, I'm embarrassed to say this, but I actually copied that post to a word document for future reference. It's called BACKING UP SAFEDISC 2 PROTECTED CDS WITH VARIOUS BURNING PROGRAMS and it was originally posted by Philamber. Here's the part pertaining to DJ and safedisc 2:

DISCJUGGLER



First make sure that in Tools-> Options-> Verify that "Check CD data blocks with software generated EDC/ECC when reading in RAW mode" is unchecked.



Once you've done that, correct settings are:



READ

Check Scan gaps and indices, Ignore read errors and Raw read.

Read Speed - Any.

Leave other settings unchecked.



WRITE

Check Raw write.

Write Speed - Any

Leave other settings unchecked.

@gregski24

Not to be embarrased about, I too did the exact same thing. But I forgot to backup many things before my format. However, whats the name of that sticky??? - Anyone remember? Had no luck finding it with Search.

Also, anyone know about my earlier questions?

Found it.

Here

LOL. "Here" as in the Guides & Tutes section.

>READ

>Check Scan gaps and indices

Ya only need this for Audio and it will slow down on an error based prot

Isn't that for reading pre-gap RAW as only DJ can do?

/MLS

I believe it helps locate music transitions on audio Cds that sound as if they are one long song as opposed to separate tracks. Like Pink Floyd. I didn't know it slowed down the read process. I'll give it a try and see.

This is from the Manual. My backups work without it enabled and work with it enabled.

Scan gaps/indexes:

Indexes are a way to subdivide a music track in "sections" and to have variable sized gaps between tracks. Indexes are most often used in classical music CDs to mark a transition, such as between acts of an opera. Indexes are not commonly used because the CD's table of contents does not contain a list of index points. Therefore, the only way to retrieve index transition points and reconstruct the entire CD's index structure is to scan the entire CD; even in fast forward mode, this operation can take several minutes.

DiscJuggler implements a sophisticated algorithm to optimize index point scanning. With a reasonably fast CD-ROM drive, DiscJuggler will take less than 1 minute to retrieve the entire CD's index structure. Many CD-ROM drives and consumer CD players do not support index points and, in this case, each music track will appear as a single segment.

By default, the Scan gaps and indexes box is not checked. If you know that the CD you are duplicating contains index points or has variable gaps between tracks, check this box to replicate the same index structure in the copies.

If the selected device does not support indexes, the option is grayed out.

The bold is my emphasis

Sorry folks, as interesting as this DJ discussion is, does anyone know the answers to the CCD questions I asked originally......

Nope, sorry. Nor can I answer Xtacydima's questions.
I'll shut up now.
I'd like to know myself though.
FP?

Reason would maybe be:

you can now burn sd2.9 also without emulation if your burner is good enough for it - of course.

Look here: this was the CDFreaks-Preview of 4.3.1.5 beta version:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/8294

Of course there is also the question of how well the pre gap is read and written. Lets say for arguments sake DJ doesn't do a perfect job. What if its close enough just to fool the guard module? How would we ever truley know? Same I guess applies for CCD. Perhaps it does a close enough job where its accepted. AFAIK there is no software that can check the pre-gap for authenticity to see if it was written correctly.

In another thread somewhere, I will try finding, there is mention of searching through the binary code with a hex editor, to see if it is present, however, that verifies if its written.

Nowhere is it found if its written absolutely correctly. if future games exploit a thourough check and implement a scheme based on it, then perhaps a suspicion would surface as to whats wrong, and fingers may point to the pre gap.

DJ reads and writes the pregap without modification depending on H/W (the "does or doesn't" fact).

The pregap is handled differently by the popular burning apps and is not the cause of backup failures.

So does the new CCD write it correctly, or well enough that hide cdr doesnt need to be ticked off?

How does one judge then which softwar eapp writes it better than another if each handles it differently? I guess I am trying to put this on a comparative analysis. Is this a wrong approach?

The developers keep this stuff close as you might expect. This is all we know:

Not long ago, we were reliably informed that DJ was the only app that read and wrote the pregap correctly - it always had done so; since the pregap wasn't an issue, for some time, the popular apps didn't bother with it. When it was obvious that the pregap had been included in the protection check it was quickly 'overcome'.

To answer your question on if you should upgrade..Yes!

it copys sd2.9 no problem which the older has issues with..yes you need the cdtray but your going to need that anyways to hide cdr on cdrws.

But if I burn a CCD image with FireBurner I do NOT need the CDTray, so that will be no different to my current capability.......

sorry let me clarify:

All im using the cdtray for is to hide cdr media which you always will need for cdrw drives..im not using it for emulation.

sorry about that.

try it trial is free..

let me put it this way i had two drives that would never play backups of sd2.9 disks without emulation..even using dj or fireburner..they play ccd backups no problem