There seems to be a little mistake in test taken... Although ASUS is the fastest ripper for protected CD games - I simply cannot mount or burn any CD image made with Alcohol 120%(Build : 1.9.2.1705). This drive is the fastest ripper anyway... but...

it cannot read 96 byte subchannel data and... creates invalid image files (or to be more specific - it seems to produce invalid media descriptor files). No matter disc is copy protected or not - any created CD image is invalid (unable to mount and/or burn)

Reported error is : "Invalid ADR field detected"

This issue has been adressed here : http://forum.alcohol-soft.com/index.php?showtopic=16991&st=0�entry83161

but there is no reply from Alcohol Software nor from ASUStek Co.

So there a question arises : how the test was conducted ??

S.O.S - please use the force Luke!

cdrinfo has an image of reliable hardware review center - please - act as a group of pressure and stress this issue with Alcohol Software & ASUStek Co.

Best Regards,
Brick_G

_____________________
Added 16 Feb 2005, 00:18

Tested firmware revision were : 1.03 / 1.04 / 1.07 (each and every) - please read linked thread before answering. RPC 1 gives me nothing - read it once again please. OEM? This drive is sold BOX only, unless you mean rebadged drives of other manufacturers (ASUS is the OEM for Pioneer)

______________________
Added 16 Feb 2005, 00:31

Moreover, firmware in the drive(s) tested here - over CDRInfo DVD RoundUp vol.4 must have been 1.03, as it is clearly indicated here : http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=11566&PageId=0

______________________
Added 16 Feb 2005, 19:14

Answer to iggy

No matter what disc I try to backup - whether it is original (pressed) or not - image file is invalid. I tried to make an image of Syberia 1 : The Game, Syberia 2 : The Game (both SafeDisk 2.6 protected?), Wing Commander Prophecy, Windows 98 Second Edition - not protected, pressed originals and various custom recorded media (mp3', data, jpeg, original backups) - all produced files were invalid.

Used profile is Custom
with (for SafeDisk protected) Skip Reading Errors and Fast Skip Error Blocks

without (for not protected disks) Skip Reading Errors

both with and without subchannel data (for the test purpose)

I would like to stress that all created files were invalid.

Reported error is :



Tested over various machines configuration with few different units (the same type of course : ASUS DVD-E616P2 DVD-ROM) - results as mentioned above.

First things first...are you running the latest firmware on the drive?
The latest for the E616P2 (not E616P1 or E616) is v1.07. Here's where you can get the latest http://usa.asus.com/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=DVD-E616P2&Type=All

The Dangerous Bros (TDB) also have hacked RPC1 versions http://tdb.rpc1.org/#E616P2.

Also it seems that there is a slight difference between the retail and OEM/bulk ASUS E616P2 firmwares. You can use the TDB patched firmware to update from OEM to Retail and then you probably can just use the retail firmware updates.

(in reply to Brick_G)

What protection did you try?

(in reply to Brick_G)

Brick_G thanks for your feedback, even we try to test in depth the drive, there could be special cases, where something is not tested, i think minos should try to contact ASUS about this problem, have you tried with other software like CloneCD or Blindwrite to see if this problem exists?

(in reply to Iggy)

Sorry about the firmware question mate. I thought this was related to the problem people were having with DVDShrink and the E616P2.

As far as the OEM (really meant bulk and not the Pioneer DVD-122P), the E616P2 is available as both bulk and retail packaging. Some people have complained that the ASUS firmware updaters only worked on the retail ones. Since you didn't state your firmware version initially, I posted this since the TDB guys posted a workaround (link doesn't work though). Obviously it's reseller depenedent so just forget about it if it didn't apply to you.

Anyway...
1. Have you also slowed the reading speed down to 4x or even 1x? This is recommended when ripping the newer schemes like SafeDisc 3.x+ and SecuROM 4.8x+.
2. Also please answer Iggy's question regarding the copy protection scheme and what you're trying to backup. He's got an E616P2.

(in reply to Brick_G)

All the units tested were BOXed retail version, obtained from different retailers.

Please follow addendum made for the first post in this thread, dated : 16 Feb 2005, 19:14, as it is regading your questions.

(in reply to tqhoang)

I'll check it and tell you. I just go this reader. I have only ripped movies with DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink and I had no problem.

(in reply to Brick_G)

[Deleted by Admins]

(in reply to Iggy)

@ Brick_G

Sorry Mate, I don't have Alcohol or any game to test with. I apologize but the few originals games I had were gone in a mistery way.

However I did some tests only with Nero and some movies and Audio. Those were just fine.

The Alcohol you have is it a trial version or full? Original or not? I don't know, if I were you I would try to unistall it, download it and install it again.

(in reply to Deleted User)

"How the test was conducted?"

I just wanted to get known how exactly test look like? Whether images created are afterwards mounted / burned or simply checked for playability (with/without emulation). This seems to be an important issue aside from the ripping speed. I didn't meant checking compatibility with various software, but since Alcohol 120% was used for the test purpose it could have been checked - this seemed to me a logical consequence (but since I'm often using boolean logic - please don't take it personally )

Recently I've been contacted by a support staff of Alcohol Software (after submitting this problem), as instructed I additionaly tried installing device support update located here :

http://forum.alcohol-soft.com/index.php?showtopic=16495

... I did so, although drive wasn't mentiond on the device list - reruned the test and got the same results. I've submitted full ripping process log and description of problem.

quote:


Hello,

I have passed this information on to our development team to see if they can throw any light onto the problem.
Thank you for your Question concerning our Software.

Best Regards
Paul
Alcohol Soft Support Team

What I also did I send a notice to ASUStek Co. regarding the same issue. Since 15th of February it hasn't been yet answerd.

I eagerly await a solution to come :D

Iggy

I tried both Retail and Trial versions. As far as for their origin - I'm certain - both were genuinely Alcohol Software's. Once more: all created CD images (NOT DVD) were invalid no matter disc was original (pressed)/recorded, protected or not - no matter what the content was - Images were not valid.

The only type I haven't tested with Alcohol 120% was Audio CD - since I'm using EAC to rip audio.

Best regards,
Brick_G

(in reply to Deleted User)

> Whether images created are afterwards mounted / burned or simply checked for playability (with/without emulation). This seems to be an important issue aside from the ripping speed.

Sorry we only measure the ripping image, not mount/burn, so far we didn't had any problems with this, as minos said, CloneCD works OK, so its just a problem with Alchol 120% that its developers should solve.

(in reply to Brick_G)

[Deleted by Admins]

(in reply to Brick_G)

Here is the answer from the support :

quote:

Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is Penny and I would be assisting you today.

For our Chinese new year holiday, I'm sorry to reply your letter so late. Sorry for any inconvenience that caused to you.
I'm sorry that Optical Storage DVD-E616P2 can't support CD+G. Sorry for any inconvenience that caused to you.

Welcome to refer following page for all ASUSTek" Products :

ASUSTeK Technical Support Page
http://www.asus.com/support

ASUSTeK Frequency Asked Questions
http://www.asus.com/support/faq/faq.aspx

ASUSTeK Software Download Page :
http://www.asus.com/support/download

ASUSTeK Technical Reference :
http://www.asus.com/support/english/techref/index.aspx

If you have any problems, please let me know. Let's discuss this issue together.
Thank you for using ASUS products and ! services!

Have a wonderful 2005!

Penny
ASUS Customer Service Center (Shanghai)
If you have any suggestions or complaints about our technical support service, please e-mail your valuable feedback to support@asus.com.cn. We will then arrange for a specialist to work on your issue. Your suggestions and feedback are most appreciated and allow us to serve you better.

Web: http://www.asus.com.tw
Download: http://download.asus.com.tw
FTP: ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw

+ there my report attached.

In the end I found a pool - "how do you rate the quality of this email"
(poor) 1-10 (outstanding)

my rank is : 1

This isn't an answer to my question

(in reply to Deleted User)

so that means this is a limitation of the drive or the software? how come the backup used with CloneCD works OK?

(in reply to Brick_G)

I've checked the drive with Clone CD (the newest) 5.1.0.0. Images are mountable & burnable, but drive doesn't read 96 byte subchannel data - it seems it doesn't read it at all and generated file is filled with empty bytes (only with position marks). I've opened .SUB(channel) data file in WinHEX Editor and it seems to be just filled for the sake of the matter.

Odd thing is that Nero Info Tool report this drive is cabaple of reading CD+G (useful while retriving subchannels in Lybcrypt for instance), while Clone CD reports - it isn't.




How can this drive produce working images of protected games if it doesn't read properly (or at all) subchannels? Correct me if I'm wrong.

(in reply to emperor)

if the drive cannot read 96bytes of subchannel data, then it simply cannot backup Libcrypt protections, but i don't know many titles that use them anyway

(in reply to Brick_G)