Viewing/running GC discs on PC

[TomT64]

Ok, first of all, I don't want to hear anyone tell me the disc spins backwards. It's not true. It spins clockwise in the gamecube, just like a regular CD or DVD does in a CD-ROM drive.

So what I want to know is, what news is there about actually running or viewing these (legit) discs on a PC? Didn't Dreamcast have a similar problem (but now you can read and copy DC discs)? Is it possible, even theoretically, to make a direct copy at some point in the future? Is there any information at all on any of this? I mean real information, don't spam me with ed2k links.

 

[Clements]

Nintendo set out with the intention of not making GC disks readable in DVD drives to stop piracy and they suceeded to a certain degree. I doubt very much that a disk could ever be read in a PC optical drive. I don't think XBox disks can be read either, but I think most of Sony's disks are extremely easy to copy if I'm right.

 

[kurni]

I don't think XBox disks can be read either

Actually i think it's possible with a modified firmware of a certain dvd drive.

 

[Knuckles]

xbox disks are cut in 2 parts, one part is fully readable with a standard DVD drive, the part with the video and some other small files.

 

[DOGG]

I suggest you visit the http://www.gcdev.com forums specifically the Hardware Development section. I post there. Mainly in regards to the barcode. Read the big fat long barcode thread titled 'GC Disk Barcode Research'

Also, there is a specification called 'mount fuji' for DVDs. Part of that specification is to read the barcode. So until DVD drives conform to that specification, the discs will simply confuse them and won't be readable. Unless you modify the firmware, in which case the data is readable but not the barcode. Ofcourse this is extremely hard.

 

[Enforcer]

As fas as I know, it's just like the way you can't burn those last bits on a cd with a regular burner (you only can with the industrial ones available to the public) As far as I know it's the same way with this... you need a GameCube-type drive to read em.

 

[Alchy]

From what I remember of my research into the barcode thing a while back:

The barcode acts as a decryption key. Scramble disc data gets read and decoded on-the-fly. Think of the barcode as a password to a zip file of game data. Wrong password/password not present = garbage data. Each game has its own barcode. If the barcode does act in this way, then current drives will never be able to read the data contained on GCN discs, as they can't read the barcode data (mt. Fuji standards) or whatever.

There's also something about there being 2 different barcodes, one of which contains a functional bios (with the Gamecube merely containing a bootloader). I don't remember too well, plus all of this may be outdated/wrong, so don't pay too much attention

 

[DOGG]

There are two barcodes. One is on the plastic part and irrelevant.

The REAL barcode is much smaller and is burnt into the aluminium with a YAG laser. This causes it to not reflect.

The reason that our DVD drives are confused is that it's in the lead in area where the drive first scans. Since it's not made to read the barcode, it tries to read it like normal data (there is none between the barcode lines) and thus sees it as a bad disc. If you modified your drive's firmware to start reading at a certain position i'm sure you could read the game data.

It's cheaper to make a drive which doesn't have the decoding circuits for reading the barcode. Because (as far as i know) only gamecube discs and DivX actually use the barcode, there's no demand for drives which can read them.

I doubt that the data is encrypted. This is possible. However would not prevent the disc being read in the drive. And if your drive could read the barcode (like i said, part of the mt fuji dvd standard), then you could use this data to decrypt it.

 

[Niggy G]

The reason that our DVD drives are confused is that it's in the lead in area where the drive first scans. Since it's not made to read the barcode, it tries to read it like normal data (there is none between the barcode lines) and thus sees it as a bad disc. If you modified your drive's firmware to start reading at a certain position i'm sure you could read the game data.

In theory could a software solution not be made? Something that tells the drive where to start looking?

I'm guessing proberly not as it would have been done by now.

 

[DOGG]

In theory could a software solution not be made? Something that tells the drive where to start looking?

I'm guessing proberly not as it would have been done by now.

Yeah it would have been done a long time ago if it were possible. The reason is in the drive's firmware. The PC will send basic commands and the drive will take care of the complicated stuff. It is pre programmed (in the firmware) to first read the lead in area, TOC, etc. You would have to reprogram this to get any results.

As for the gamecube's drive, when you first insert a disc, it slows to 24hz and attempts to read the barcode. If it's invalid/damaged/not there, it won't even attempt to read any game data.