HOW TO: Make Disc Images

[Ultima]

This thread is a list of guides on making images of your PlayStation game discs using various utilities.

Note, the use of the images of the user should be for private use only, and should not be used in illegal activities. Staff, Moderators, and the Author not responsible for the personal actions of users.

Table of Contents

• redump.org Dumping guide NOTE: Multi-track images are not supported by pSX
  
  Windows
  
• Alcohol 52%
  
• IsoBuster
  
• Nero Burning ROM
  
  Linux
  
• Shell Script (using cdrdao and cuetools)
  

If you'd like to contribute a guide to be included here, post it in the discussion thread, and an administrator will take care of adding it to this thread.

[Ultima]

Program: Alcohol 52%
Guide Author: Gamesoul Master

Program Page: www.free-downloads.net/downloads/Alcohol_52__Free_Edition/

Alright! I've decided to create a tutorial on how to make CCD/IMG/SUB/CUE and MDF/MDS images, since they are so popular here as a disc format. And of course, it includes the subcode data which is required to run some copy-protected games.

To start, put your PlayStation disc in the drive (the newer/better drive if you have more than one), and start up Alcohol 52%. You will start with this screen:



At this screen, simply click "Image Making Wizard", which will bring you to the next screen:



You may have to wait a few seconds for it to read the disc, but once it does, there are a few options you'll have to set. "CD/DVD Device:" should of course be set to whatever drive holds your disc.

Next is "Datatype:". Click that drop-down menu, and find "Play Station" as shown. This will set a few necessary options for reading the disc.

And last... select "Read Speed:", and choose a value no higher than 16x. While many drives are fully capable of reading Playstation discs at a higher speed with no problems, you really shouldn't. I'd actually recommend no higher than 8x, but 16x is fine if you really don't wanna wait that long. Lower = better.

Now once you've set those, click Next.



Here, you are given a choice of the format of the output image. The CloneCD and MDF formats both work on the latest version of pSX, so either choice should be fine. Don't forget to give the image a good name. It doesn't matter what you call it, and as you can see, I always prefer to give them good, descriptive names. Last, make sure you set the image location, so you actually know where the image went. Of course, choosing the folder that pSX reads the images out of is a good choice. Once you've done all that, hit Start, and it'll create the image for you. When it's done, it'll eject the disc and give you a message and sound effect.

[Ultima]

Program: IsoBuster
Guide Author: Truth Unknown

Program Page: www.isobuster.com/

This is free to download and free to make disc images, but other features are locked out (features we are not going to use). Note that IsoBuster is incapable of copying disc subcode, which might be needed for some games with copy protection schemes on them. To rip those types of games, use Alcohol 52% instead.

Here's the Window of IsoBuster.


Now lets get started, First you need to select the drive (from the top-left drop-down menu) with the PSX game in it.


Next you need to Right Click the "CD" icon to bring up a menu.


Now open the "Extract CD <image>" menu item, and select "RAW (*.bin, *.iso)".


Now a window will open up asking you where you want to save the image file (.bin). Name it, and make sure it has a ".bin" at the end.

Then it will create the image, after that done it will ask to where to save the cue sheet (.cue). Save it in the same Folder as the image (.bin). This is need for the image to work properly, especially for PSX game that use CD audio.

[Ultima]

Program: Nero Burning ROM (version 7)
Guide Author: Heihachi_73

Program Page: www.nero.com

The simple way to make images using Nero 7. I used Tekken 2 (PAL) for this test.

Start Nero up (duh!)

Part 1 - Menu

1) Go to Recorder -> Choose Recorder (or simply hit Ctrl+R), select Image Recorder and hit OK. It's also what the drop-down box on the menu is used for. You don't want to use your burner this time



2) Hit the Copy button in the menu. It will open up the New Compilation / CD Copy dialog (below).

Part 2 - New Compilation dialog

Copy Options tab: I find it best to leave "on-the-fly" mode on, as you don't really need to copy the CD twice! Select your drive where your PSX game is. I normally leave the read speed at maximum for making images.



Read Options tab:



1) Turn off "Ignore read errors" on both Data and Audio tracks. If a read error comes up, it's most likely a scratch on the CD, and a read error should normally be replaced with zeroes. I personally haven't had a read error come up in Nero yet, but I have with IsoBuster, no idea!

2) Always have "Read sectors in raw mode" enabled, you might want to enable "Read subchannel data" under it for games which might use it.

3) For audio tracks, uncheck the "Read all subchannel data" box. I don't think PSX games use it in audio tracks.

4) Advanced options - Disable both of these.

Burn tab:



1) "Write" should be enabled of course, or else you won't end up with anything

2) Number of copies should be set to 1.

3) "Use multiple recorders" checkbox should be disabled.

4) Now hit the Copy button at the bottom.

Part 3 - Copying

After hitting the Copy button, a "Save As" dialog should come up - choose your filename (preferably what the game is!).



My filenames are normally done as "SxxS-00000 - Game Name (NTSC J/NTSC U-C/PAL)". All games which have their own ID, usually found on the front cover or spine. Or you could leave it as Image.nrg and rename it later!

At the end, you should end up with this:

Success!

Part 4 - Playing Games!

Running Tekken 2 in pSX:
Using DAEMON Tools (supports Nero images) to get this beast up and running! Note that Tekken 2 doesn't work in pSX after 1.7.

[Ultima]

Program: Shell Script (using cdrdao and cuetools)
Guide Author: reztho

Program Page: cdrdao, cuetools

Well, since pSX now works in Linux I thought this guide would be needed.

In Linux it seems there is no way to make disc images of a CD-ROM in BIN/CUE format directly, but it's possible to make them using various tools. You must search for the tools in the package management system of your Linux distribution. The softwares needed are cdrdao and cuetools.

As an example, in Ubuntu (after activating the Ubuntu universe repository), all you need to do is run the following command in terminal:
sudo aptitude install cdrdao cuetools

Now we have the tools, you need my script, here it is:

#!/bin/sh
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# ripbincue.sh - Shell script for ripping a CD-ROM to BIN/CUE format
# Copyright (C) 2007 reztho
#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
# modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
# as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
# of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Here is an online copy of the license:
# http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Some instructions:
# You need these software packages before doing anything:
# cdrdao and cuetools
# So for example in Ubuntu you can install them this way:
# (activating the Ubuntu Universe repositories before)
# sudo aptitude install cdrdao cuetools
#
# The CDROM_DEVICE variable can be:
# a normal device like /dev/cdrom
# or
# for example, ATA:1,0,0
# (for knowing this: as root, cdrdao scanbus)
#
CDROM_DEVICE=/dev/cdrom

# You can change the following variables with the current
# paths for the tools needed in your system if you don't
# want those tools in your PATH environment variable
CDRDAO_PATH=`which cdrdao`
CUECONVERT_PATH=`which cueconvert`

if [ -z "$CDRDAO_PATH" ]
then
printf "\nError: cdrdao was not found.\n\n"
exit 10
fi

if [ -z "$CUECONVERT_PATH" ]
then
printf "\nError: cueconvert was not found.\n\n"
exit 20
fi

if [ -z "$*" ]
then
printf "\nShell script for ripping a CD-ROM to BIN/CUE format\n\n"
printf "Usage:\n"
printf "ripbincue.sh disc_image_filename\n"
printf "where disc_image_filename is the filename you want for\n"
printf "the BIN/CUE image without any extension.\n\n"
printf "You need cdrdao and cueconvert (from cuetools) tools in your PATH\n"
printf "environment variable and you MUST edit the script to tell\n"
printf "it where your CD-ROM device is.\n\n"
printf "DON'T USE FILENAMES WITH SPACES AND/OR QUOTING.\n\n"
exit 30
fi

if [ "$#" -gt "1" ]
then
printf "\nOnly an argument is needed.\n"
printf "Don't use filenames with spaces and/or quoting.\n\n"
exit 40
fi

if [ -f "$1.bin" -o -f "$1.toc" -o -f "$1.cue" ]
then
printf "\nThere are files in your system with the same filename you used as argument\n"
printf "and this script can overwrite them:\n"
ls -1 $1*
printf "\n"
exit 50
fi

printf "\nRipping the CD-ROM to your hard disk with the filenames:\n"
printf "$1.bin\n$1.toc\n\n"
$CDRDAO_PATH read-cd --read-raw --datafile $1.bin --device $CDROM_DEVICE --driver generic-mmc-raw $1.toc

if [ -f "$1.bin" -a -f "$1.toc" ]
then
printf "\nGetting rid of cdrdao comments from $1.toc file...\n"
sed -i "s@//.*@@g" $1.toc

printf "\nConverting $1.toc file to $1.cue file..\n"
$CUECONVERT_PATH $1.toc $1.cue

printf "\nRemoving $1.toc file...\n"
rm $1.toc

printf "\nDone.\n\n"
exit 0
else
printf "\nError: something happened with cdrdao.\n\n"
exit 60
fi


Just copy & paste the text in a file called ripbincue.sh. Before doing anything, edit the script and check the CDROM_DEVICE variable is correct for your system.

Now, after saving the file, and give it the execution permission by running the following command through terminal:
chmod +x ripbincue.sh

Well, the script tells you how to use it but for example if you do now with a CD to rip inside:
./ripbincue.sh disc_image_filename
You will get two files: disc_image_filename.bin and disc_image_filename.cue

I think there is no need to explain the thing more

And realize this script can be used for any kind of CD-ROMs.