Console CD protection

- Sega DreamCast GDROM

How it works?

GD-CD has 2 sessions which are seperated with a long space. Into that space there is a logo of Sega visible. You can easily copy the 1st but you cann't even see the 2nd and most important session which holds all data. The 2 sessions are separated with a large visible space. This is made in propose so the laser beam couldn't  even accidenlty reach the 2nd session and read it. I test also the PackeCD rumor and didn;t worked either. 2nd session is still unreadble. (Read more about DreamCast here).

- Sony PlayStation CDROM

How it works ?

Playstation CD have 2 types of lock. 5 first sectors of CD which have the code of area tha the CD can be runned to stop playing Japanese Titles into Europe market. The second one is about a series of areas which have be burned not correct (bad blocks). This can be done only with special CDRs which are aproved by Sony. Common CDRs cannot write bad blocks so Playstation can understand it and refuse to play the backup. Recently another protection came from Sony to prevent PSX Copies called: LibCrypt

- Libcrypt protection

LIBCRYPT sounds like a magical word for SONY ? or should I have said "sounded" :) since this protection is also bypassed thanks to CloneCD. As CloneCD author said: "..This is a nice "side effect" since CloneCD is originally designed for backing up PC CD.." This protection has been introduced in October 98 with the release of the game MediEvil , the protection uses a Digital ID which is stored in the SubChannel , it consists in a 16Bit key. Like SafeDisc protection, Libcrypt have have evolved in the time and there are currently 4 versions of LIBCRYPT called LC-1 , LC-2 , LC-3 ,LC-4: this one is in fact based on LC-3 scheme but includes extra routines and several ".exe" file , it makes the debugging work harder for the cracker, but for CloneCD: it is as easy as previous Libcrypt protections since this protection is always stored in the SubChannel Data and CloneCD copies everything it can find in the SubChannel Data :-)

How it works

As with any other type of protection, LibCrypt is composed of two separate routines: The first one performs a control check on the disk to discover if it is a copy, the second, based on the result of the first one, decrypts a block of data and crashes the PSX in the case of an incorrect result. Although based on the same code, the two routines have been altered a few times, to the point that in the last evolution (LC3) they have very little in common with the initial basic code.

How to recognize it

There's no official way , in fact you need to play the backup until you see the game crashes !

There is in fact a little alternative way: A nice tool has been made by Icarus/Paradox (with initial idea from AVH) in order to find the right key (used as a parameter for subroutines) faster, you need to put the LC-F CD (Libcrypt finder) in your Playstation, insert the original protected CD or cloned CD in the Playstation, then the 16Bit key appears on the screen in few seconds: all non protected game will always display this value : $1F0000045 ;therefore : every value different than the one mentioned will mean that the game is Libcrypt protected . Don't expect to find this tool over the net since it is only aimed to Paradox members, you can at least visit their website at www.paradogs.com :-)

Another useful info: Infogrames (video games editor) is known to be the firm who has officially bought Libcrypt License from Sony, therefore, since End of June 99 : 80% of games released by Infogrammes have been protected (e.g V-Rally 2 , Le Mans 24H , Eagle One Harrier Attack ...etc...Gekido)