Silly problem

[LemurMadness]

Ok, so my brother just told me my CTP2 cd's dead, seems like corrosion depleted the surface. He told me that he made a backup, in a CD Image format, because it was already scratched and I feared it might stop working. So I burned it, and when I tried to get in the game, it tells me that there's no CD. Can someone help me please?

Sorry if this thread offends anyone but I don't seem to find a solution to my problem...

[Tellius]

Sorry, see next post

[Tellius]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your cdrom problem. First option is to buy on ebay - ctp2 is very inexpensive.

If that's not an option

Try installing Daemon Tools (it's free, do a google search).

You might want to copy the cd image to a partition or a usb stick.

Mount the image through Daemon control panel. It now acts as if it is in a cdrom

Select "Safedisc 2" emulation. It now acts as a safedisc 2 protected cdrom. Install the game from here and play. If you don't install from here, the game will keep asking to insert the cdrom.

When you made a backup, your cd or dvd recorder device probably wasn't able to correctly burn the 1:1 copy with copyprotection and all, so Daemon tools will emulate this protection.

I have two official copies of CtP2, but hated having to bring along one of those on the train to be able to play the game on my laptop while in transit. So I made an image, put it on an usb stick and I can mount/unmount this in Daemon tools. I did NOT burn the image to cd, so the copy protection is still in the file, so I do NOT need to emulate safedisc, but you do.

Remember though, that you are supposed to own one official copy of a game in order to legally be able to make an image. I suppose having one defective copy counts too, that's the whole point of having a backup.

Tellius

[Ekmek]

is the image extension an iso? thats required for Daemon tools. Thats how I run mine

[LemurMadness]

Well, problem's that I already had SafeDisc (2) emulation on Daemon Tools activated, and it seems that it doesn't wants to recognize the CD. Seems like I'll have to get my cd from eBay again, but the shipping and handling's going to cost a bunch... happened to me last time, was about 30+ USD -- you have to count custom's tax, the people in the US that's going to do the favor for me [if they don't get away with my money], western union money transfer... and certainly i'll have to wait over 3 months...

[Ekmek]

i never did the safedisc stuff and mine work

[LemurMadness]

Originally posted by E
i never did the safedisc stuff and mine work

doesn't works with or without it...

[Ekmek]

I think stan might have some copies still at http://www.theagesofman.net/

if there was a way i could send my iso online i would...

[Tellius]

Hi,

E, my Daemon Tools supports several image extensions. I made my image with Alcohol 120% - which does not give an ISO extension - and yet Daemon Tools mounts it. It also mounts some other formats.

Do NOT pay with Western Union. There is a reason why people don't use PayPal to receive money: it protects the buyer. There are of course exceptions, but my experience has been that sellers who do not accept paypal have had customer problems. Paypal then returns the money to the customer, and sometimes kicks the seller out of their system.

Indeed, go to http://www.theagesofman.net and buy from Stan. If I remember correctly, you get CtP2 for free if you buy AOMIV - and then you have the best possible CtP2 experience out there today!

Tellius

[LemurMadness]

Originally posted by Tellius
Do NOT pay with Western Union. There is a reason why people don't use PayPal to receive money: it protects the buyer. There are of course exceptions, but my experience has been that sellers who do not accept paypal have had customer problems. Paypal then returns the money to the customer, and sometimes kicks the seller out of their system.

Indeed, go to http://www.theagesofman.net and buy from Stan. If I remember correctly, you get CtP2 for free if you buy AOMIV - and then you have the best possible CtP2 experience out there today!

Tellius

There's a problem with Paypal, https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/websc...ntries-outside

[Ekmek]

i forsee this becoming a problem more and more as time goes on. maybe apolyton can work a deal with activision to host the game or download from its site

[LemurMadness]

Seems like ill be waiting over a month to grab another copy of CTP2 from Mailboxes, Inc...

Thanks for the help folks

[Ekmek]

sorry i wish there was something we could do *legally* to help

on the brighter side there will be more improvements to the AE by then

[Tellius]

Hi,

Have been doing some searching on the web to see if maybe we got the copy portection thing wrong.

I found no less than three copy protections. One site tells me it's Safedisc 1, another Safedisc 2 and yet another tells me it's Securom.

Can anyone give a definite answer as to what copy protection actually is on CtP2 discs?

Lemur, you might want to try and load with other copy protection emulations...

Tellius

[LemurMadness]

Originally posted by Tellius
Hi,

Have been doing some searching on the web to see if maybe we got the copy portection thing wrong.

I found no less than three copy protections. One site tells me it's Safedisc 1, another Safedisc 2 and yet another tells me it's Securom.

Can anyone give a definite answer as to what copy protection actually is on CtP2 discs?

Lemur, you might want to try and load with other copy protection emulations...

Tellius

Well I searched too, I found that Securom has 7(!) different versions, but no tool could help me play Call To Power 2... Incluiding YASU, BetaBlocker, etc... and i've tried most copy protections... looks like when the ISO file was made it wasn't a 1:1 copy, or maybe some bad tracks from the CD made it not fit the appropiate size?


PS: If anyone wants to help me, I've found a tool that creates a mini-image of an ISO, (exact copy) it's called Mini-Image Ripper (shrinked mine to 22mb) -- althought it contains no files at all, just the directory of the files. http://gf.wiretarget.com/pt/MiR.zip contains no viruses, and it's legal (I guess? since you're not copying any original files from the call to power 2 cd, just it's structure). Can it copy the Securom protection? no idea. Here's another method on how to make a mini-cd: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=131341 (Alcohol 52/120% with SecuRom profile [2?] and 1X DPM speed and cancel) . If anyone could help me with this I'd really, really appreciate it.