I. INTRO

Q. How do I make a 1:1 copy?

A. You don't. You want 1:1, buy another original. With this protection you can't even get close to 1:1. The best you can do is a twinsector copy that'll work on most systems and from most roms without other background soft running or a copy that works on nearly every system but needs emulation.

Q. What burner do I need?

A. Any burner that can read and write sub-codes. Even though sub-codes aren't used in this protection, all cloning soft that can be used to copy it assumes that your burner can write subs.

Q. Will a twinsector (non-emu) copy work on any system and from any rom?

A. No, but it will work on most systems and from most roms and if you've got a copy that works on your system from any of your roms, what do you care?

Q. I've heard that twinsector (non-emu) copies are useless because the protection could be upgraded by a game update patch so as to detect twinsectors and make the copy useless if the patch is installed. Is this so?

A. Typical bs put about by those associated with cloning soft that doesn't offer the twinsector method. Most people hate emu copies and only use them as a last resort. Many even prefer to use an illegal crack rather than have to use emulation, so a copy that doesn't need emu is always the better choice. Of course, a game patch can always update the protection so that copies, whether twinsector or emu, become useless if the patch is installed. That's so for any copy protection, not just securom 4.8x, and it hasn't happened yet anyway. What has happened with game patches using this protection is that virtual drive programs like alcohol and daemon tools have been blacklisted. Twinsector copies still work. In any case, if you've got a good twinsector copy, the game may never be updated in a way that stops your copy from working and no-one's going to force you to install an update patch anyway.

II. MAKING A TWINSECTOR (NON-EMU) COPY

Q. What soft should I use?

A. Tricky question. If it works, using blindwrite is the easy way as it can do it by itself. Trouble is that blindwrite often doesn't work. Probably why they release a new version every few days. If blindwrite doesn't work, then you'll need blindwrite's bwa builder, blackcheck's twinpeak tool and either clonecd or alcohol.

Q. Since blindwrite gets updated every few days, if I want to try it, which version should I use?

A. Another tricky question. Any version from 4.2.1 up to current latest of 4.2.9 might work. If you find one that does work, stick with it. Popular view is that 4.2.5 gives best results with securom 4.8x.

Q. Well, what do I have to do first?

A. If the game has more than one cd, work out which cd has to be in the drive to play the game. That's the only one that needs special treatment. You can copy any other cd/s with any soft with a copy function. Then you have to download or make a good .bwa file for the play cd.

Q. How do I make a good .bwa file?

A. There are two ways you can do it:

a) Insert the cd to be copied in your chosen reader and start the Physical CD characteristic dumper from the Start menu. Select your reader and speed. Generally, slower is better but you should experiment and see what gives you best results. Then click on Start measure. Click on Yes when asked if you want it to automatically set the last sector. Alternatively set the Max sector yourself - 50,000 is usually enough - and say No. The dumper will then start. Hopefully when finished, the graph will show a fairly smooth curve with no spikes. One or two spikes will be ok but if there's a lot of spikes,it's useless, so try again at a different speed or with a different reader. If you get one that looks ok, click on File and then Save BWA to save the file.

b) If you can't get a good .bwa file just using the bwa builder, then you can probably do so by converting an .mds file created by alcohol. To make an mds file, start alcohol and make an image of the cd using securom 4.x settings in mds/mdf format. When asked to select the measuring speed for DPM function, remember again that slower is usually better. When it's finished making the image files, start the blindwrite Physical CD characteristic dumper and load the mds file by clicking on File and then Load BWA/MDS. If the graph looks ok then create a .bwa file by clicking on File and then Convert MDS -> BWA. This will create a .bwa file in the same folder as your .mds file. You can then either delete the mds/mdf files or you can keep them in case all attempts to make a twinsector (non-emu) copy fail and you want to use thse files to make an emu copy.

Q. Ok, I've got a .bwa file that looks ok. How do I copy the play cd with blindwrite?

A. As follows:

a) First start blindread and make an image of the cd in .bwt/.bwi/bws format. Try to extract sub-codes if your reader allows it but it doesn't matter much if it doesn't. Use nibble as the extraction method and set say 16x as the max speed but experiment if you want. Once blindread has finished making the image files, close the program.

b) Then move or copy your .bwa file to the same folder where you saved the image files and re-name the .bwa file so that it has the same name before the extension as the image files.

c) Then start blindwrite and first go to the blindwrite configuration screen and disable autoplay support by unchecking the box. If autoplay support isn't disabled, blindwrite will only make an emu copy. Then start the CD writing wizard. Select your burner and click on Next. Then load the image from the .bwt file and click Next. Ignore the CD Image verification screen and click Next. At the writing screen, select DAO Pw as the writing mode and a writing speed that doesn't exceed the rated speed for your blank cdr/w. If there's a box for Use BWA file if available - it will be there if you're using 4.2.5 but not if you're using later releases - make sure it's checked. Check also Eject when finished, insert a blank cdr/w and once it's detected click on Go! to start the burn.

Q. Blindwrite didn't work. What about the other way?

A. Try this method:

a) First make an image of the play cd using clonecd or alcohol. If using alcohol, make sure you save in ccd format. If using ccd, use a profile that includes subs reading, the standard Game Cd profile is ok. If using alcohol, use securom new (not securom 4.x) settings.

b) Then start Twinpeak. In the Options select the twin sector step. The default of 15 is usually ok but 6 and 50 also often work. In this case, higher is better if it works as the copy will verify faster with higher values so long as it works at all. Select the .ccd file and the .bwa file - no need to rename the .bwa with this method - and click Start. Twinpeak will then tell you where it will insert twinsectors and when you click ok it will then set about patching the image files.

c) Once twinpeak has patched the image files burn the patched image - load patched.ccd not the original image files - with either clonecd or alcohol. If using clonecd use a profile that uses Raw DAO, the standard Game CD profile will do. If using alcohol use securom new (not securom 4.x) settings. When you do so, you'll be told that the image size doesn't match the lead-out specified in the toc and you'll be given 3 options. Select the first option - Keep TOC as on source cd, write until end of image file. Then click OK to commence burning.

Q. My twinsector copy works if I install from the original but I can't install the game using my copy. What's wrong?

A. Nothing. A twinsector copy is not a standard cd and many roms can't read them. Install from the original or, if you must have a copy that you can use to install, make an extra copy of the play cd without using twinsectors. Just make a copy with your standard copying soft and use that to install and the twinsector copy to play.

Q. I've tried every thing I can think of and I still can't get a twinsector copy to work. What's wrong?

A. Either-

a) you're trying to play the copy from a burner without either ccd's hide cdr media or alcohol's ignore media type running; run the copy from an cd rom or dvd rom not a burner, if possible; if you've only got a burner, you must enable either hide cdr media or ignore media type to use the copy; or

b) nothing, you're just out of luck. A twinsector copy just isn't going to work on your system. You'll just have to make do with an emu copy instead.

III. MAKING AN EMU COPY

Q. What soft do I use?

A. Alcohol, it works. Blindwrite can also make an emu copy by using autoplay support but, like most things blindwrite does, it only works sometimes. Don't bother with it.

Q. How do I make an emu copy with alcohol?

A. Just click on the Copy Wizard and use securom 4.x settings to both read and write.

Q. What do I need to do to play using the emu copy?

A. You must have alcohol on your system and RMPS emulation must be enabled. Once RMPS has been enabled, there is no need for alcohol itself to be running, the emu copy will work anyway.