Dumping GD-ROMS using an ordinary CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive!!!

GD-ROMS on PC? Yeap, it's true! You can do it on your own without even a Dreamcast or a hacked firmware or whatever.
The info is out there for quite some time but there weren't any known attemps that worked up until now...
Now the bad news:

1. The particular method works with specific drives (actually the only known drive that works almost completely is the Lite-on LTD-165H DVD-ROM) and there are some problems even with it.
2. The procedure is quite (actually very) complicated for the average user.
3. The CD/DVD-ROM drive needs to be "modified" in a cruel way in order to work (and it is a bit dangerous if you don't know what you're doing).
4. Some audio tracks seem to be badly ripped.

Source of the info:
http://boob.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard3...T; f=1;t=2742
http://www.cdrom-guide.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=275601

/me goes to get a Lite-on LTD-165H DVD-ROM and "test" some games on Chankast

PS: It seems that zedeckseightyone (someone from the boob forums who managed to test some drives and rip some games) was about to post this (or something about it) but he had a problem with his registration so I did it

good to hear it but the authors say it might work on diffrent drives i am gona enjoy this gd rom hack umm yea thanks to you to psyman

Hey everyone. Nice to see my (yes, this is my more oft-used online nick =P) topic is making some impact elsewhere.

One clarifications though:

Originally Posted by PsyMan

GD-ROMS on PC? Yeap, it's true! You can do it on your own without even a Dreamcast or a hacked firmware or whatever.
The info is out there for quite some time but there weren't any known attemps that worked up until now...
Now the bad news:

1. The CD/DVD-ROM drive needs to be "modified" in a cruel way in order to work (and it is a bit dangerous if you don't know what you're doing).
2. Some audio tracks seem to be badly ripped.

Modified in a "cruel" way only if you consider bending a couple of drive shell hooking clips outwards slighty (to make for easy removal) to be "cruel" =P

Unless of course you read the part in my GD-ROM rip results doc that talks about soldering chips off of / onto a couple of LG drives... that's not related to ripping with the Lite-ON drive at all. Sorry if you thought it was, but it's purely hypothetical (read: actually stupid) and I have made it a bit clearer. It is not something I am going to pursue in future, either.

Originally Posted by PsyMan

PS: It seems that zedeckseightyone (someone from the boob forums who managed to test some drives and rip some games) was about to post this (or something about it) but he had a problem with his registration so I did it

Thanks for posting this here in my place . As you can tell the activation mail came through today so that's sorted now.

Wow, these are really good news!
Please keep us informed.

wicked!
i'd better read up on how it was done since it always seemed so impossible

Originally Posted by STC-Fan

One clarifications though:


Modified in a "cruel" way only if you consider bending a couple of drive shell hooking clips outwards slighty (to make for easy removal) to be "cruel"

By saying "cruel way" I meant that you remove parts of the drive that shouldn't normaly be removed (you cannot even place the drive in the case in order to be able to change disks). Maybe the word I used wasn't very proper so it's good that you're here to make it more clear

PS: The link in your post is not valid.

Fixed the link for you Good stuff btw.

Originally Posted by PsyMan

By saying "cruel way" I meant that you remove parts of the drive that shouldn't normaly be removed (you cannot even place the drive in the case in order to be able to change disks). Maybe the word I used wasn't very proper so it's good that you're here to make it more clear

Heh, OK then. I do sympathize with your concerns - it is quite silly, really, having to have the PC opened up all the time. When I first started testing drives out with this rip process, I had hoped that I could hook up drives for testing via a neat USB2 -> IDE converter - meaning that there would be no need to have my PC's lid removed, and would also mean I could have the default drive in the PC plugged in at the same time.

As for removing the parts of the test drive that you shouldn't remove, the annoyance of having to do this varies from drive to drive: best I've dealt with so far have been the LGs (disc fastener is held with plastic clips; drive PCB has cables arranged on one side so that one can flip it over and examine the opposite side with ease), while the worst brand was probably the Samsung, with a disc fastener held in with a hideous system with two clips per side that is easy to remove, but very hard to get back in because it has to be tilted at an odd angle & slid into place. As a result, I was just a *little* bit angry when it couldn't even rip a table of contents (TOC) file from a GD-ROM disc

However, CDRWIN does not support this kind of adapter, and I don't know if it ever will. I have meant to ask Golden Hawk if they would consider adding it but I haven't yet, as it would not only mean I wouldn't need the PC open, but would also allow me to change between drives while still in Windows - changing between drives at the moment requires the PC to be shut down as the IDE interface does not support hot-swapping.

One more thing, in case you were wondering - those adapters aren't too expensive. You can probably get one from a local computer fair for about £20 now. Another good thing about them is that if you have old IDE HDDs kicking around, with such an adapter you can put them to use as backup devices, like with an external HDD.

I see...
As a side note, have you ever tried to rip using Isobuster's sector ripping function. It actually acts like CDRWIN's ripping method so it may work.

To anyone trying to get to my topic on BOOB: It's been deleted by one of the staff members for allegedly promoting warez. So until an administrator there gives the thumbs-up (or potentially thumbs-down) for it to be re-posted, check the links in my sig for: the ripping guide by StateS, my ripping results document, and my "unofficial" (since StateS is going to put up his own one soon) ripping toolkit (which does NOT contain any programs bundled with cracks or keygens, dammit).

P.S. Should I consider this thread also under threat from admins / mods here because it may promote warez? At least let me make a backup of it or give me some kind of warning, first :|

P.P.S - is my signature visible to anyone below my posts? It isn't over here O_o