Working Backups of SafeDisc v2

When your burner is listed here as none or one sheep and Amplify Weak Sectors does not work.

If you cannot defeat SafeDisc:

• SafeDisc 1
• Any version of SafeDisc 2
• from v2.51.020 (Tiger Woods Golf and later)
• from v2.51.021 (Medal of Honor, Renegade and later)
• up to v2.7.x (Mafia and later)
• from v2.80.010 (The Sims Unleashed and later)

If you cannot burn a 1:1 SafeDisc v2 image (perhaps the Amplify Weak Sectors feature doesn't work with your burner) then the only real 'legal' alternative is to emulate; no changes are made to the game title's software code. DAEMON Tools' "fastdump" feature is used to speed up the image creation of SafeDisc 1 & 2 protected CDs and is also the first step to create a backup of a SafeDisc 2 protected CD.

This method involves emulation using DAEMON Tools by VeNoM386. There are no cracks or patches. The DAEMON Tools Manual is an easy read. It's a must read to make the most of it. DAEMON Tools is a small executable program that runs in the background with a System Tray Icon. Like all programs of it's type, it gets 'blacklisted' every now and then by the protection developers so you need to check for updates every few months.

DAEMON Tools is used to RUN GAMES, NOT TO BURN them. This means that emulation must be active while you play a game, not while burning the copy (except for you want to use DAEMON Tools' "fastdump" feature on a SafeDisc protected CD which is the point of this post!).

To use this feature:

• you will first have to make sure the DAEMON Manager is running with ENABLED SafeDisc emulation (that's very important!!)!
• Now install the CD you want to copy.
• Run the CD setup and select the desired install size and options.
• Afterwards start the application from the original CD, make sure the SafeDisc CD verification is over and then exit the application.
• Do NOT remove the original CD from the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive you installed from.
• Now run CloneCD and use the general settings for extracting a SafeDisc protected CD.
• Now start the image creation in your burning program.

You will notice that the errors at the beginning of the CD (usual for SafeDisc protection) are counted up in about 10 seconds and then the extraction continues like normal. The resulting image will work the same as if you extracted it without the help of DAEMON Tools' Fastdump feature. You can use this image to mount it with DAEMON Tools' virtual STEALTH DVDROM or burn it to a CD. Note, that if your writer is capable of burning SafeDisc 2 then your backup will be perfect, i.e. no emulation will be needed. But even if you have bad writer your copy will always work with SafeDisc emulation on any drive. This is main advantage of Fastdump. Simple copying to image and burning via CloneCD or other program does NOT guarantee that SafeDisc emulation will work - always use fastdump method to create image if you plan to use your backup with Safedisc emulation.

Please note that this feature ONLY WORKS WITH SAFEDISC PROTECTED CDs!!! Other CDs using "unreadable sectors" can't be extracted faster!!

Using the feature described above you can also produce a perfect copy (if you have recorder being able to do so, of course!!) from an "unperfect" 1:1 copy without the errors at the beginning of the CD (maybe an older copy you made before CloneCD)! It works exactly the same as above. Install the game from your copy, run the game, close it, start your burning program with enabled SafeDisc emulation and extract the CD using the correct settings.

Afterwards burn the image!

NOTES:

To extract you must have the CD in the SAME drive you started the game from! For older SafeDisc protected games the Fastdump feature may even work without installing the game. Just start the extraction with enabled SafeDisc emulation.

This process will also work with:

• FantomCD
• Simdisc
• Disc Juggler
• DiscDump (currently no homepage available)
• Blindwrite
• CDRWIN

Help on these programs is available within this site here.

Does this mean I should be using the fastdump feature when I rip any Safedisc 2 CD? Will this improve the quality of my copy?

BTW I use an ASUS 4012A for reading.

When you want to back-up a SafeDisc 2 protected title it isn’t necessary to use DAEMON Tools if you don't want to. DAEMON Tools can just help you with the process since it can check your created image and like FutureProof said; it can speed up the process when creating the SafeDisc 2 image. Some writers are terribly slow when reading the errors and then DAEMON Tools can be very handy. When you have a Plextor or Yamaha drive (don't know about ASUS) you can already read the errors in about 10 seconds or even faster using CloneCD and the custom Profiles.

VeNoM386's website is a little more clear about its use (I didn't want to rip all his material off him!).

It's main use is for readers that may take hours to read the SafeDisc errors in the first 10.000 or so sectors.

Secondly, it is the basis for emulating a CD-R rather than an image. What this means is that you can write a backup of any version of a SafeDisc protected title (including 2.80.x) to CD-R/W, switch on emu and play the game. You can't do this with SecuROM or LaserLock, just SafeDisc.

ASUS berners don't need the Fastdump feature but it helps if you're doing a truckload of backups at the time.