ISO image help needed

[dfrog]

A VERY newbie with ISO images, and so far failing to get my head around it
all.



Granddaughter plays EA Sims2 Pets on my computer (WINXP Home) and has to use
the DVD each time to run it.



So, thinking I would simplify & maybe speed things up a bit, (and learn
something about Virtual Drives / ISO images at the same time) I created a
Virtual CDRom using Daemon Tools, created what I thought was an ISO image
using Nero6, but it came out as a .nrg Nero Disc Image which did not work
having mounted it. So I then used MagicISO to convert this Nero .nrg to an
ISO image and mounted it in Daemon Tools. All seemed Ok at this stage, but
when I try to run the program I get >> "Cannot Locate CD-ROM - Please insert
the correct CD-ROM, select OK and restart application."



Having failed there, I installed Magic Disc and mounted the image there, but
get the same result.



I'm sure that I'm probably missing something quite simple, but I've read
till my head spins and still can't manage to get this to work.



I'd appreciate some guidance please



Dfrog

 

[AJR]

Appears you are working "backwards" - ISO images do not boot - ISO images
must be "converted" to bootable disks.

If the virtual drive "handles" DVDs - copy the DVD to the HD and load into
the virtual drive.

 

[John McGaw]

A VERY newbie with ISO images, and so far failing to get my head around it
all.



Granddaughter plays EA Sims2 Pets on my computer (WINXP Home) and has to use
the DVD each time to run it.



So, thinking I would simplify & maybe speed things up a bit, (and learn
something about Virtual Drives / ISO images at the same time) I created a
Virtual CDRom using Daemon Tools, created what I thought was an ISO image
using Nero6, but it came out as a .nrg Nero Disc Image which did not work
having mounted it. So I then used MagicISO to convert this Nero .nrg to an
ISO image and mounted it in Daemon Tools. All seemed Ok at this stage, but
when I try to run the program I get >> "Cannot Locate CD-ROM - Please insert
the correct CD-ROM, select OK and restart application."



Having failed there, I installed Magic Disc and mounted the image there, but
get the same result.



I'm sure that I'm probably missing something quite simple, but I've read
till my head spins and still can't manage to get this to work.



I'd appreciate some guidance please



Dfrog

I take it that you mean that the DVD must be in the drive to run the
game? That is the most common thing I've seen with games. Any publisher
who goes to the trouble to require the disc to start the game is likely
bright enough to realize that virtual drives exist and to test for them
and to reject any image mounted on one as a key to start their software
since not doing so would allow an infinite number of installs and
simultaneous users using a single physical disc. I've even seen a game
which would not run if virtual disc software was even installed on the
computer whether or not it was being used.

 

[David B.]

Most original game CD's have some sort of protection on them, neither a copy
of the CD nor an image of the CD caries over this protection, thus the game
won't run. The workaround I use for most of my games is to use a no cd
patch, which replaces the games executable with a patched version that does
not require the original CD.

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't assume there's anything wrong with your ISO image... yet.
Compiling them is pretty straightforward, assuming it's contiguous data,
indexed according to the standard.

I think you're having a source path problem. Somewhere in the program
settings, an .INI file, a .DAT file written at the time of installation or in
the Windows registry are "source path" statements. They're basically pointers
telling the program where to fetch different pieces of code or information.

When you mounted the virtual CD drive, it was assigned a letter (like E or
F) but the CD drive letter the program is looking for is "D." These are just
examples, your actual drive letters may vary. There are two things you can
try:

(1) Try to modify the setting. Go into the application's SETTINGS menu and
see if you can't manually tell it to look elsewhere. If that's not possible,
try to locate where the app gets it's information from. Is it an INI file or
?? If you don't see anything lingering in either the program's resident
installation directory or C:\Windows in the form of a flat text file, there's
always the registry --BUT ONLY IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! (And, even if
you do, it only takes two seconds to export the entire HKLM branch to another
location as a backup...DO IT!)

(2) Change your CD-ROM's drive letter to something else, then change the
letter assigned to the virtual drive over to the [old] drive letter used by
the CD-ROM.

- Right-click "My Computer"
- Select Manage
- Under 'Storage', click on Disk Management
- Click in the square box to the left of the long rectangular area
representing your
CD-ROM to select that device
- Now right-click the same square

The first option on the context menu should be 'CHANGE DRIVE LETTER AND PATHS'
Select that. The resulting dialog will have three buttons. Click 'Change.'
From the drop-down list, select something way towards the end of the
alphabet. [OK] and [X] your way back to the desktop.

The utility mounting the virtual CD-ROM should have a similar process for
drive letter assignment. Hook that process and assign the virtual CD-ROM the
(now-available) drive letter formerly assigned to the actual CD-ROM.

NOTE: Windows is going to warn you --and so am I-- that changing drive
letters around has its risks. I don't know what other programs you run which
rely on the CD-ROM's static addressing, but they're all going to give you the
same message you're getting now: "UNABLE TO LOCATE DEVICE"

If this "fixes" the problem, what you really need to do is mount the virtual
drive with the CD image and re-install from there. That way, the installation
and data source paths are all copacetic with where you want to run it from
and you won't screw up any other [make that: EVERY OTHER] instance of
reference to your CD-ROM.

Hope this helps...

P.S. Remember to go back and un-do the re-assignments if you experiment with
suggestion #2 above. As an exercise, the above will either prove/disprove
that your ISO image is part of the problem.

 

[dfrog]

Thank you to you 4 for your responses.
AJR - I tried your idea, copied the DVD to HD but was unable to mount this
copy to the Virtual CD-ROM.
The Virtual Drive was looking for these
a.. b5t (BlindWrite images)
b.. b6t (BlindWrite images)
c.. bwt (BlindRead images)
d.. ccd (CloneCD images)
e.. cdi (DiscJuggler images)
f.. cue (Cue sheets)
g.. iso (Standard ISO images)
h.. mds (Media Descriptor Files)
i.. nrg (Nero images)
j.. pdi (Instant CD/DVD images)
k.. isz (Compressed ISO images)
and the copy of the DVD was none of them.

John McGraw - a good point that I can understand (although I am not trying
to do anything "unreasonable") maybe my understanding (?) of the concept of
using Virtual Drives is too immature.

David B - I've already taken a brief look at "no cd patch" (unknown to me)
and will research further.

WindowsXpert - All that is going to take me some 'coming to terms with' but
I intend to follow your guidance, it will take me some time tho'.
I am very grateful

dfrog

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't assume your ISO image is to blame... yet. They're pretty
straightforward and either get formed|burned correctly or they don't. There's
not a lot of mitigation available to you. In reading your description of the
problem, though, I'm tempted to say: the image probably is not the problem.
You may very well be giving the computer WHAT it's looking for, but not WHERE
IT'S LOOKING FOR IT.

When you mounted the virtual drive, it was probably assigned a letter like E
or F. But your actual CD-ROM's drive letter is probably D. Since the program
already knows the drive letter assigned to your CD-ROM device, it's not going
to bother looking anywhere else. Just because you've mounted a virtual drive
that's reporting itself as a CD-ROM doesn't mean the apps which have already
been installed from another location have any incentive to look any further
than exactly where they know the device was during the last session.

But this [stubborn] behavior can quite possibly be modified in one of the
following ways:

(OPTION 1) Telling the application, either directly or indirectly, the "new
location of your CD-ROM device."

DIRECTLY: This would be accomplished through something like a "program
settings" or "preferences" routine that's accessible from within the
application itself. (Like in Word or Excel where you can specify the default
location of your memos and spreadsheets.)

INDIRECTLY: This would involve your editing a (flat text) file created by
the application during installation. If such a thing exists, you're most
likely looking for a file with the .INI extension, created on the same date
and with the same approximate timestamp as the root folder of the
application. It could also be dated|timed as recently as the last time you
ran the application. Within the file, you'll see statements such as:

MediaClips=D:\Media\Cagcat10\Clips\

What you need to do is edit that statement so that it reads:

MediaClips=F:\Media\Cagcat10\Clips\

If there are numerous pointers to the CD-ROM drive, just do a Search/Replace
which takes every instance of "D:\" and changes it to "F:\"

In the absence of an .INI file to store program settings and user
preferences, your next option is the Windows Registry. Start at
HKLM/Software/<mfg>/<app>/-------. For example, most of the things you would
wish to change about Internet Explorer are found at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/InternetExplorer/Main

(That's as far as I'm going with registry editing instruction. You either
know what you're doing in there or you don't. Your mission is ostensibly the
same as above: to substitute the drive letter assigned to your virtual drive
(F:\) for the drive letter currently assigned to your CD-ROM (D:\)

(OPTION 2) If all that sounds like too much hassle, you can "bring the
mountain to Mohammed" as it were by re-assigning the drive letters
themselves.

- right-clilck MY COMPUTER
- select MANAGE
- go to the STORAGE section
- select DISK MANAGEMENT
- click in the small square space to the left of the long,
rectangular area representing your CD-ROM drive.
- now right-click the same area
- the first option on the context menu should be CHANGE
DRIVE LETTER AND PATHS; select it
- from the drop-down select a letter towards the end of the
alphabet (X,Y,Z)
- [OK] and [X] yourself back to the desktop
- run the application which mounts your virtual CD-ROM drive
- re-assign the "virtual" volume's drive letter to the (now
-available) letter formerly used by the actual CD-ROM
.device.

So now D:\ has become F:\ and F:\ has become D:\.

Re-boot. Run your application again. The error message you get *now* will
truly indicate whether it's the location or the image that is causing the
problem you're having.

IF EVERYTHING NOW WORKS FINE: I would suggest you mount the "virtual CD" and
re-install the application from the virtual drive. This way, all the mappings
will be copasetic with the way you wish to run the program and you won't have
to worry about EVERY OTHER ONE of your applications [which point to the CDR]
giving you the same message about DEVICE NOT FOUND.

Hope this helps.

Sam French

 

[Guest]

SORRY FOR THE DOUBLE-POSTING. I THOUGHT I LOST THE ORIGINAL AND ACTUALLY
RE-WROTE MY REPLY...

ONLY TO REALIZE IT'S A *GAME* YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, NOT AN APPLICATION (such
as an encyclopedia, Bookoshelf, Encarta or some other data-intense program
that likes a CD in the drive as you use it.)

So ignore both of them. Even a sector-for-sector copy of the disc to an .ISO
image probably won't work because I believe part of the security is related
to physical addressing on the disc. Your ISO image will NEVER end up with
addressing (while sitting on your hard drive) that's even close to that of a
CD\DVD.

 

[dfrog]

SORRY FOR THE DOUBLE-POSTING. I THOUGHT I LOST THE ORIGINAL AND ACTUALLY
RE-WROTE MY REPLY...

ONLY TO REALIZE IT'S A *GAME* YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, NOT AN APPLICATION
(such
as an encyclopedia, Bookoshelf, Encarta or some other data-intense program
that likes a CD in the drive as you use it.)

So ignore both of them. Even a sector-for-sector copy of the disc to an
.ISO
image probably won't work because I believe part of the security is
related
to physical addressing on the disc. Your ISO image will NEVER end up with
addressing (while sitting on your hard drive) that's even close to that of
a
CD\DVD.

Sam,

I'm really grateful for the time you've taken out to help. Although I'm not
going to achieve what I set out to, I have learned from you.
Thank you very much

dfrog

 

[David Webb]

If you still want to pursue this task, I found a solution to the problem posted
on the Daemon Tools forum. The solution involves creating an image (1:1 copy)
directly from the original CD, mounting the image using Daemon Tools version
4.0.6 or greater and then running a utility called YASU before starting the
game.

Here's a link to the forum:
http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/showthread.php?t=17464&highlight=sims2+pets

YASU, which is an acronym for Yet Another SecuROM Utility, disables
blacklistings made by SecuROM and SafeDisc.

You could use CloneCD (shareware) or ISO Recorder (freeware) to create the
image.

Here are some links:

http://www.slysoft.com/en/clonecd.html

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php

http://yasu.copybase.org/

 

[dfrog]

David,

You've bounced me back up again - maybe I can do it

Thank you for your help

dfrog

 

[David Webb]

You're welcome! I hope it works out for you.

Good luck!

 

[ThoraD]

When you said all seemed ok, did that mean your were able to open the
mounted ISO image ?
Daemon have a list of games and their copy protection, plus a tutorial in
making a image for Daemon
take a look.
If your game have copy protection you will need 1:1 burning program, Daemon
have a list of recommendations
I use Alcohol52, a lightweight Alcohol120 thatl only makes images. It has
worked well up to and including Oblivion but not Knights of the Nine.
Have Fun
ThoraD

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

Everybody so far has given good advice.

The problem on your end is creating that ISO image file while carrying over
the copy protection that the game code is gonna be looking for.

An alternative to trying to create that file yourself is to use a mini-disc
image. Essentially, it's a mostly-empty .ISO file that actually contains
the bare minimum number of files that the game will be looking for when
trying to determine whether your disc is valid or not. It could very well
be roughly the same size as the original disc (eg, 500+MB), but actually
compresses down to practically nothing (as it's mostly hot air, so to
speak--the disc structure is there, but not the content, except for a few
key files).

In the case of Sims 2 Pets, the mini-disc image I have is ~550MB, but using
NTFS compression, it actually takes less than 120KB on my hard drive. You
can then mount that .ISO file with Daemon Tools and the like. NTFS
compression is transparent to applications, so Daemon Tools doesn't get
confused by the fact that the file is compressed (as it would, say, if you
were trying to mount a .zip file).

Beyond that--this is sort of a gray area (all the while some copy protection
proponents would argue that no, it's not), so I won't point you to the
actual file...but suffice it to say it's out there. Personally, my view on
this is that copy protection only serves to annoy legitimate users, and the
pirates already *are* using those files, so it's not like I'm helping *them*
by mentioning any of this...

 

[dfrog]

I have spent hours trying (without success because of the protection issue I
think) to mount an image of Sims2 Pets into a Virtual CD-Rom, BUT, because
of the help I've had here I have found a program "Game Jackal" (don't ask me
how I got there 'cos I can't recall other than it was these replies that
spurred me on) I have downloaded a Trial version which has worked for me,
and worked very easily. We can now hide Granddaughter's very scratched DVD
and work off the HD. At $29 (just £14 to us in the UK), I'm going to buy the
licence.
For anyone at a similar stage, it's well worth a look at.
Thank you all again for your help.

dfrog

 

[dfrog]

Thanks 'Homer'
I should add to my last post that as a part of my learning curve I'll follow
up on all the helpful advice and tuck it under my belt along with whatever
is already there.
cheers

dfrog