Prospect of Making Some OMG RAREZ! Game Boots

[ProfessorProfessorson]

This Duo had probably 2000 hours on it since I owned it for 15 years or so before it left my possesion and it worked perfectly when I sold it.

...and do you want to know something even crazier? When I had both a US Duo and a Duo R I noticed that the drive would skip easier in the Duo R so I SWITCHED DRIVES a year or so before I sold it.

[Bernie]

Zeta,  it could be you have just been lucky.  Seems some systems were built like tanks and others failed prematurely.   Roflmao has a cd rom system thats all original and plays whatever he throws at it.  No issues at all.  I dunno.   Maybe its the luck of the draw.

[SamIAm]

I play mostly CD-Rs in my Duo, which granted is an RX model and maybe a little better at it, but I've noticed that hiccups where the disc doesn't read properly happen at about the same rate with CD-Rs as with commercial copies.

I agree with what SignOfZeta said about the system's ability to consistently read a CD-R's CDDA tracks being evidence that it can deal with CD-Rs well enough. I've experienced playing CD-Rs on CD players that can't quite handle them, and the symptoms include not just stalling to read the TOC or start the tracks, but also producing crackling noises while playing the disc and occasionally stumbling so hard it can't continue. I've yet to experience that on my Duo whatsoever.

It might be that it takes a DUO slightly more time and effort to locate where certain data begins on a CD-R. Once it finds it, though, it seems to do just fine.

[vestcoat]

There's no reason to play burned games on a Duo anyway. It's 2012. Install an emulator, get a Mayflash SNES adapter, plug your HDMI or S-video into your TV, and play those worthless burned discs on a computer where they belong. It's easier than finding CD-R's that are compatible with a Duo and figuring out the perfect burn speed. Anyone hacking it with a stack of CD-R's doesn't need to play them on "original hardware."

[SignOfZeta]

There's no reason to play burned games on a Duo anyway. It's 2012. Install an emulator, get a Mayflash SNES adapter, plug your HDMI or S-video into your TV, and play those worthless burned discs on a computer where they belong. It's easier than finding CD-R's that are compatible with a Duo and figuring out the perfect burn speed. Anyone hacking it with a stack of CD-R's doesn't need to play them on "original hardware."

I just burn the discs onto whatever I have laying around using whatever the slowest burn speed is...on a Mac even, using only built in software. Once you burn the disc and put it in the system, do you know what the difference is between the boot and the real thing? Nothing.

Like I said, I'm not primarily a CD-R person. I like having the real game, I like the manuals, all that stuff is important to me. But when I want to play something like Kaze Kiri or Bazaru, I just play a burn...in the same system I play the real stuff in. I'm not interested in emulators.

[SamIAm]

It may be 2012, but they haven't made an emulator that looks, sounds, and plays 100% identically to real hardware.

Taking out a real game is a pleasure unto itself, but I play CD-Rs of real games that I have anyway just because I don't want to damage the discs. When I close the lid and power the system on, the functionality is identical as far as I can tell. Personally, that's all that's essential.

[8bitForLife]

i couldnt get my rx to read a new cdr of rayxanber III at all but the slowest speed i could burn at was 8x. Only thing i can think of is im burning the game wrong. but it works in magicengine just fine so i think its just my laser or pots need replaced or adjusting.

[SignOfZeta]

i couldnt get my rx to read a new cdr of rayxanber III at all but the slowest speed i could burn at was 8x. Only thing i can think of is im burning the game wrong. but it works in magicengine just fine so i think its just my laser or pots need replaced or adjusting.

I wouldn't assume that. First of all, keep in mind that your Duo was never designed to read CD-R. Consumer grade CD-R didn't even exist back then. If if reads them, cool, if not, I wouldn't go messing with a system that otherwise works, especially since you don't really know if the discs you are trying to play are any good.

Try making an audio CD with the same computer and media and see if it likes that. If it does, I suspect your formatting is wrong somehow.

[SamIAm]

I'm again only drawing from my own experience, but I think that your brand of CD-R and particularly your burner itself are much more important factors than your particular Duo. This is something I've observed over many years, many systems, and many burners. In fact, the burner itself seems to be the key.

Probably the most useful test would be to take a burned CD-R that is verified working great in one person's system and try that same copy in several others'. I'd be willing to bet that the systems themselves, at least across identical models, are much more consistent than they appear now. They all came off the same assembly line, after all. It's all the different CD-R brands, burners, and burning software that have a lot of room for variation.

I burned a ton of Saturn games years ago, with three burners and usually the same brand of CD-R. My two Saturns hated the CDs from two of the burners, to the extent that it was a miracle for either one to boot them. However, from the 3rd drive (a Lite-on) they had absolutely no trouble and no change in performance that I could detect. It only didn't work when I used bottom-of-the-barrel brand discs.

[KnightWarrior]

Magic Chase

[Black Tiger]

Magic Chase

No one is willing to reprogram the game for CD.

[Bernie]

i couldnt get my rx to read a new cdr of rayxanber III at all but the slowest speed i could burn at was 8x. Only thing i can think of is im burning the game wrong. but it works in magicengine just fine so i think its just my laser or pots need replaced or adjusting.

If Magic Engine sees it as the proper game, then you burned it correctly.  ME reads the TOC to check which game it has in the drive.  So, if ME shows Ray III or whatever you burned, in the drive slot, then it is burned correctly.  Your Duo most likely just doesnt like CDr.

[MottZilla]

Factory pressed CDs are better. They are more stable and better for reading compared to writable media. However I disagree with the hate for playing CD-Rs. Not everyone can afford to buy a ton of games but they still might want to play the games on the real console. If the system can read the CD-R fine and it is burned correctly there is no difference to you playing the game. It's certainly better than emulation. Emulation can have all sorts of issues such as accuracy and performance. Another thing to consider about stamping new "bootleg" CDs of games is that eventually the original discs will fail. If you can and do make new ones then you can keep on playing. The lifespan of CD-ROMs was once said to be like 100 years but in reality it is probably a lot less.

[Necromancer]

Great, another retard discussion about CDRs.  Here are the facts: CDs boast superior reflectivity and better long term viability, some Turbob systems will not play any type of CDR, and a bad CDR (poorly written, suffering from dye rot, or whatever) will cause more wear and tear.  There is no argument negating these facts, though it's true that you can always burn another disc if it fails, pop in another laser, and minimize wear by paying attention to reading problems and replacing the disc; good luck with the latter when you're playing a game where you're unfamiliar with its loading, or a game like LoX that uses almost no redbook tracks.


Back on topic:  for people like Zeta that don't care if a CD is more reliable or about having a nicely printed label, case, and manual (unless it's legit, then it's oddly extremely important) - this project isn't for you.  You've had your say, now please move the f*ck on.

[jperryss]

Great, another retard discussion about CDRs.  Here are the facts: CDs boast superior reflectivity and better long term viability, some Turbob systems will not play any type of CDR, and a bad CDR (poorly written, suffering from dye rot, or whatever) will cause more wear and tear.  There is no argument negating these facts, though it's true that you can always burn another disc if it fails, pop in another laser, and minimize wear by paying attention to reading problems and replacing the disc; good luck with the latter when you're playing a game where you're unfamiliar with its loading, or a game like LoX that uses almost no redbook tracks.


Back on topic:  for people like Zeta that don't care if a CD is more reliable or about having a nicely printed label, case, and manual (unless it's legit, then it's oddly extremely important) - this project isn't for you.  You've had your say, now please move the f*ck on.

Well put. Some of us just want something nice on the shelf. I focus on complete versions (no box) on hueys AND CD/SCDs for the same reason.