Resurfaced Gamecube discs won't dump using CleanRip or USB Loader GX

[WarMasterXX]

I ordered four Gamecube discs and three Wii discs a week ago. They've all arrived except for one. All the discs were heavily scratched, which normally isn't an issue because I can get them resurfaced at a local library, which is what I did today. All three Wii discs and one Gamecube disc were successfully dumped to ISO, but the other two Gamecube discs are being extremely stubborn. The bottom of both discs look crystal clear now, but when I try to dump them using CleanRip they fail. I tried using USB Loader GX to dump them but that didn't work either.

Any ideas on how to fix this predicament? Or am I gonna have to hunt down and order different copies in better condition? Which I don't wanna do because the two games weren't cheap...

 

[chipsnblip]

if you have another drive (or console), i'd try that first.

admittedly i don't have much experience dumping games, but used to rip a lot of audio cds and after every so many discs it would start throwing errors. what usually helped was running a cleaning cycle on the laser lens with a special cleaning disc. it's basically a standard audio cd with two small brushes on the data side that sweep over the lens when you change tracks. this worked every time, unless of course there were other issues such as deep scratches or disc rot. they are relatively inexpensive too, so it might be worth a try before taking more extreme measures like laser adjustment/replacement.

 

[morning_glory]

Hold your discs up to a light & look at it from both sides (media & printed).
What you're looking for is scratches, flaked of or peeled marks on the printed side.
If there are holes (as such), then the laser pick-up will most likely fail to read the data.

If that's the case, try to cover the holes/scratches with something on the lines of "nail polish", but be careful it won't interfere with the label print. Dab gently & avoid strokes. You may need to google what works the best.
I used plain red nail polish (don't remember the name, but I was desperate to fix a Wii disc). Just clear nail polish won't do it. I have 4 daughters & wife, & there was always lots of nail polish.
If at first it fails, try a 2nd & 3rd coat. Wait till each layer is fully dry.
Just don't do Mount Everest lumps

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Any ideas on how to fix this predicament?

Cleanrip should report an unrecoverable read error in such cases. You could roughly estimate from the percentage at which this happens on what position the defect is (for more targeted visual inspection)

Console drives are usually garbage compared to full-sized PC drives. Often a PC drive can read games normally while a console stutters or fails. Problem is that Nintendo optical discs aren't really DVDs and not compatible to PC drives. That said, I got through scratched GC discs using RawDump with a GDR-8164 where my Wii and GC consoles gave up.

Although still piracy according to copyright laws, I wouldn't feel bad for downloading the games from the internet when having an original.
=========

I have 4 daughters & wife, & there was always lots of nail polish.

You made my day!

 

[morning_glory]

You made my day!

If you think that's funny, .... I ended up wearing it more than they did.
Family/Love sanity sacrifice (30 years ago). Glad it didn't last too long

 

[WarMasterXX]

Console drives are usually garbage compared to full-sized PC drives. Often a PC drive can read games normally while a console stutters or fails. Problem is that Nintendo optical discs aren't really DVDs and not compatible to PC drives. That said, I got through scratched GC discs using RawDump with a GDR-8164 where my Wii and GC consoles gave up.

I'm gonna try that. I've got the money to buy one so I might as well...

 

[SylverReZ]

You might as well snag a cheap PC with IDE drives or an IDE caddy to USB, an LG GDR-8164, and use RawDump to backup your Wii/GC discs.

 

[WarMasterXX]

You might as well snag a cheap PC with IDE drives or an IDE caddy to USB, an LG GDR-8164, and use RawDump to backup your Wii/GC discs.

I already have an old potato PC, I'm getting refund money in a day or two, and once I get it I'm gonna buy that drive...

 

[SylverReZ]

I already have an old potato PC, I'm getting refund money in a day or two, and once I get it I'm gonna buy that drive...

I own two compatible drives with RawDump; GDR-8163 and GDR-8164B.

 

[morning_glory]

You might as well snag a cheap PC with IDE drives or an IDE caddy to USB, an LG GDR-8164, and use RawDump to backup your Wii/GC discs.

8161 with friidump worked perfectly for me.
8164 is a little faster, but failed more corrupt/scratched reads.

 

[FAST6191]

If you own the discs why not grab it from your chosen Jolly Roger flying location such that you don't share it onwards?

 

[WarMasterXX]

If you own the discs why not grab it from your chosen Jolly Roger flying location such that you don't share it onwards?

Because I don't like illegally downloading. I got caught for it twice and I don't wanna get in trouble again. Plus I don't know about you, but to me it feels SO much more comfortable being as clean of a gamer as I can be.

 

[FAST6191]

Is it illegal if you own the game? There are also many more methods than naked public torrents with files shared onwards.

 

[SylverReZ]

8161 with friidump worked perfectly for me.
8164 is a little faster, but failed more corrupt/scratched reads.

I tend to use different drives, not just the one.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Is it illegal if you own the game? There are also many more methods than naked public torrents with files shared onwards.

To my knowledge: Yes, this is still illegal. If taking torrents in account this is – if not preventing any upload – super illegal since sharing/uploading yourself.
As I said above: I personally wouldn't feel bad for doing it (and have done this before). Some parts of copyright laws make zero sense in my opinion (Who has any damage if I download – not share – stuff I paid?)

All in all everybody has to decide this themselves. Dumping your own stuff is also more fun than downloading complete no-intro and redump sets from archives.

 

[morning_glory]

I tend to use different drives, not just the one.

Been there, done that. But I chose the method that best works for me. And, not redoing the rips after a fail. I could feel my facial growth progressing
If it's a perfect condition disc, then go for the XX64. It's about 15-20min faster.

 

[WarMasterXX]

Well said KleinesSinchen.

 

[WarMasterXX]

I think I have a problem: I just realized that the GDR-8164B drive I ordered is coming from China. It has an Hewlett-Packard sticker on it in the pictures where it confirms that it's a compatible drive, but do you think I got ripped off? If I did, I have to contact the seller for a refund soon before he ships the drive...

 

[morning_glory]

The model/s originally titled HP-LG GDR XXXX.
So, you now know what HP stands for
HP is also as HP only. The LG is another alternative & a extra addition. There was a few other models.
You would have better results using the 8161 if your discs are badly scratched.
The 8164 is a little faster, but suffers more with scratched discs.
8161/62 are longer (in length) than the 8163/64.

Pity you didn't try the nail-polish repair method.

Post automatically merged: Aug 3, 2023

Oops, just saw what I wrote
It's actually HT & not HP.
HT = Hitachi. HT-LG GDRXXXX

HP just rebranded the HT-LG to HP.
If you remember, HP hardware was always more expensive, but they were best known for reliability.

 

[WarMasterXX]

My dumping drive that I ordered just arrived. I had to plug it into the computer using a IDE to USB converter because apparently my old computer only accepts SATA drives internally.

I got it turned on, put one of my GC discs in it, started RawDump, the drive was recognized as a supported drive, and I clicked start dump. But a few seconds later an error pops up saying "Arithmetic operation resulted in an overflow.". I then tried friidump which appeared to work at first, but failed to retrieve the disc seeds.

Can anyone help me with this? I'm at my wit's end. If I can't dump these discs then I'm selling my Wii and Gamecube and everything that goes with them. I'm not gonna keep buying more and more copies of one game just because it refuses to dump to ISO.