CleanRip "Unrecovered read error" when dumping MKDD

[MontyMole98]

So I'm trying to dump my copy of Mario Kart Double Dash, and CleanRip always gets to around halfway before throwing an unrecovered read error. Naturally I expected this to be damage to the disc, and my research backed that up. The disc also has some medium-heavy scratches on it. I (currently) don't have access to a GameCube controller, so I can't see if the game freezes up at a certain point. Any ideas?

 

[KleinesSinchen]

So I'm trying to dump my copy of Mario Kart Double Dash, and CleanRip always gets to around halfway before throwing an unrecovered read error. Naturally I expected this to be damage to the disc, and my research backed that up. The disc also has some medium-heavy scratches on it. I (currently) don't have access to a GameCube controller, so I can't see if the game freezes up at a certain point. Any ideas?

Try:

• Another Wii/GameCube console for dumping
• An old LG GDR-816x with RawDump or FriiDump

And then…

• Resurfacing the disc (dangerous, needs practice, can make things worse)

Depending on where the damage is the game might be completely okay as Nintendo discs are always filled with padding regardless of the actual size (Tetris for Wii is about 60MB – high chance of missing the game when randomly putting a scratch on).

 

[MontyMole98]

Try:

• Another Wii/GameCube console for dumping
• An old LG GDR-816x with RawDump or FriiDump

And then…

• Resurfacing the disc (dangerous, needs practice, can make things worse)

Depending on where the damage is the game might be completely okay as Nintendo discs are always filled with padding regardless of the actual size (Tetris for Wii is about 60MB – high chance of missing the game when randomly putting a scratch on).

You're asking for me to get one of those rare disc drives to dump it? I do have other Wiis, and an old PC, the PC's disc reader isn't compatible, and I can't find the other Wii with a working disc drive. Any other ideas? I might stumble upon the Wii, but in the Wii I have, it was working, and the Wii can read other discs. IDK if you were assuming that the disc reader wasn't working?

 

[KleinesSinchen]

IDK if you were assuming that the disc reader wasn't working?

Different drives can deal with different amount of errors. One might succeed where another one fails.

Console drives are often garbage; together with Nintendo Optical Discs being not standard DVDs, dumping them can be hard with damage. But I had success with PC drives where the Wii gave up.

Any other ideas?

Resurfacing. 3000 → 5000→ 7000 →10000 grain sand paper. No circular motion. Try replacing few bad scratches with millions (literally!) of tiny ones. Last step is car polish+wax

When sanding a disc with 3000 grain (or lower) the shiny surface becomes completely dull and will make you think "Oh my god, I've ruined it for good". The finer the grain gets, the better the disc will look again and wax can fill scratches made by 10000 grain pretty well.

I've revived a few hopeless looking CDs and DVDs this way. They are prone to more damage afterwards.

But practice it on garbage discs and don't try it right away on a Mario Kart game. The process is risky

 

[RetroGen]

Might be a good idea to put the disc up to a bright light and see if there are any holes in the data layer. If so, polishing probably won't help much. Also, the data layer is on the label side, so make sure that side doesn't get near anything abrasive.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Might be a good idea to put the disc up to a bright light and see if there are any holes in the data layer. If so, polishing probably won't help much. Also, the data layer is on the label side, so make sure that side doesn't get near anything abrasive.

From the psychical point of view (not the logical level) GC/Wii discs are DVDs. The data layer is right in the middle of the disc, not directly below the label like for CDs.

Spoiler: Image from Wikipedia

Very unlikely for a DVD to show these holes.