FAQ: How to copy (replicate) Sony PSX CDS using standard
IDE or SCSI recorders and various pc software   FAQ V2.0
by konsol@erols.com. Any additions/changes please email.

What's New:  Added Where to send your playstation/saturn for modification
at great low prices! Added Where to find software listed below.

Sony, the makers of playstation, have risen from obscurity in the video
game area to one of, if not the best arguable console on the market today.
Playstation CDS look similar to ordinary cds with a few differences, and
work like ordinary cds with a few differences.  This faq was made to explain
what the differences are between playstation and "normal" cds, and how it is
possible to make backup copies for legitimate uses (such as keeping an
original safe and scratch free etc).  It is NOT ok to duplicate a cd and
pass it on to someone who doesnt own the original, which is piracy and hurts
both the developers (game makers) and raises the prices for end users.

Before you try and copy a Playstation CD, you must be aware that you cannot
just copy-and-play such as standard computer cd roms. There are two
different copy protections within the psx hardware that checks to make sure
a compact disc is an original pressed by one of the sony leased cd recorders,
and to check the country the disc was manufactured for against the machines
code to allow playback of that disc in that country. If either one of these
checks tells the psx it is either not an original or from a different
country, the boot process will halt.

Therefore in the most basic sense, using a standard cd copier program such
as gear replicator or ez cd pro may allow you to copy the contents of the
cd, but will not be able to replicate the protection used to identify to the
hardware that the cd is original and will disallow booting of the cd.
If the cd is for a country other then the psx hardwares country type
(ie attempting to play an original japanese disc in a usa playstation),
again the booting process will halt. This basic protection scheme is
intended for letting most users attempt a copy with a program that simply
does the full copying for you such as ez cd or gear replicator, and when it
doesnt boot most users simply stop trying.

This document is intended to assist end users in order to distinguish
between an original and a copied cd, the methods used to copy the disc
properly, and how to play back a disc once copied. 

Section 1: Identifying a PSX CD

Authentic CDS for the PSX have black (actually dark blue) pigment as compared
to normal cds with silver (pressed) or gold (cdr or rw) bottoms. This is NOT
a copy protection except to identify that the disc is authentic. If you come
across someone who is selling you a PSX disc that is not black in color
underneath and you do not own that original disc, they are violating
copyright laws and performing illegal actions. These cd copies are referred
usually as CDR (CD Recordable) which will contain a gold bottom and are
copied using standard consumer cdrs, and silver (HKS) which have gotten that
name from mass produced copies on standard silver discs and distributed
from hong kong. These discs usually contain the original copied artwork
and have the graphics on the cd as an original. However if there is no
black pigment on the bottom it is NOT an original.

This pigment does not refract the laser light enough to warrant calling it
anything but a visual verification of an original as above.


Section 2:  Protection detail

Two methods of protection within the psx include identifying "BAD BLOCKS"
that are written purposely into the cd, and a country code lockout
protection to compare the first 5 sectors on a cd with the origination of 
the machine to make sure they match, to keep a user from importing versions
they are not intended to use. 

Black CDS are made with special recorders which are able to create bad blocks
(segments of data on the CD which have been marked as invalid). These blocks
normally are not wanted because any data which is located in a bad block is
lost. Because of this, nearly all consumer CD recorders are designed to
correct bad blocks when they read them before writing them to new CDS.
Unless you work with Sony's special development recorders,
(These recorders are only leased to companies that have a vested interest
in keeping the protection intact, and are NOT available to end users),
then using the below methods for copying WILL allow you to fully copy
all data successfully onto a blank cdr, but will require a modified boot
chip (MOD chip for short) to replace the boot chip in your psx to tell the
psx that all discs are original and for the country made. There is also
a swap trick method that works with the early playstation models, but
in most cases the swap trick will not work 100% and it is recommended to
get a mod chip to play copies.

Advanced:


Details on the actual Bad Blocks: (Written by Icepick)

Sectors 12 through 15 contain a zeroised EDC/ECC checksum (impossible) so
if the PSX reads and doesn't see an invalid EDC/ECC then it knows that the
CD in the drive is a copy.  (The EDC is simply a CRC type hash that is used
as a checksum to determine if the sector was read correctly.  The ECC is used
to recreate the sectors data).

The entire range of sectors are written in a RAW format (2352 bytes) and are
completely zeroed, even the XA sub-header and EDC/ECC are zeroed.  When it is
copied on a CDR, these sectors are exact, except for the EDC/ECC code which is
(correctly) written as 0x3F13B0BC.

Icepick also mentions that modifying the bios of the cdr to allow you to
write in either disc-at-once or track-at-once mode and not automatically 
'correct' what it thinks to be corrupt sectors with invalid EDC/ECC codes,
and using a copy method of writing the first track in RAW mode
(2352 byte sectors, CD-DA) and then force the table of contents to report
the track as a CD-XA track. (NOTE: copy instructions below include methods
to do this), it is possible to play a cdr copy on an original psx without
a mod chip.

NOTE: I have copied numerous cds with Gear 4.2 for example using the above
method without a modified bios of the cd writer, and this DOES NOT allow
using the disc without a mod chip. So unless you have knowledge of modifying
the firmware/bios of the cdr, then you will need a mod chip simply to play
the cds. Many people have asked if software can do it without a cdwriter
modification, and the answer is NO, the software methods are below and will
tell you how to back up the cd properly, but again will require a boot chip
or swap trick to play back.

Section 3:

Identifying your hardware and software possibilities to replicate a psx
disc.

Software falls into two catagories, simple auto copy programs such as
Gear Replicator 1.2 and CD Copier (EZ CD PRO/CREATOR) that can automatically
copy most discs without much user input, and
Software that allows copying manually track by track to a new disc. These
programs that will work successfully are: Gear 4.2 (Best choice for IDE
drives), DAO(Dos)/CDRWIN (windows) (Best choice for SCSI drives - IDE
version may be on the way in early 1998).
All copies made will require the use of the mod chip or swap trick anyway,
so really any programs will work for your needs once you realize this.

Gear Replicator:  Home page: www.elektroson.com

Gear Replicator 1.2 is the easiest copy program to use 
for this purpose. This program simply copies from your cdr
to the hard drive (using about 650 mb of space to make a virtual
image) and from the hard drive then to a blank disc. Test modes
usually prevent it from making an error in the copy.

Recommendation: Scandisk and Defragment hard drive first.
Do NOT run anything else while copying.

Typical results: Very good. Programs that copy have been fully
usable, so try the program - most likely it will not even get to
the write portion if the disc doesnt read or test doesnt work in the
test write phase.

Problems: Problems may occur during read phase (bad block area), cdr
may switch to lower speed and will try again -  as long as it reads the
whole disc, its fine. If it doesnt read the whole disc and stops, some
users find that either hd was not defragmented/scandisked, other programs
were running etc. Discs that may not copy include discs with multiple
data tracks(most have 1 only) or audio tracks under 4 seconds (like the
new star wars fighting game). 

CD Copier (EZ CD PRO/Creator) - Similar to above but allows copying
CD to CD, CD to HD etc.. It has more steps then Replicator but is more
widely available then replicator. 

Results: Varies widely. Depends on speed of CDR and hard drive. Many discs
would not complete reading process.

Recommendations: Copy to hard drive first (not cd to cd), then hard drive
to cdr. Scandisk and Defrag hard drive before use. Do not run any programs
in the background while copying/reading.

Gear 4.2 (works with most all SCSI and IDE drives) will copy nearly all cds
as well. Home page: www.elektroson.com

Unlike the automatic processes above, it is more of a quick manual
copy. The fastest of the manual copy programs in my usage. Program also 
allows specifying read/write speeds to allow adjustment in read/write 
problems.

Results: Most users report near 100% success with this program on any disc.

Recommendations: Scandisk and Defrag hard drive before use. Do not run
any programs other then gear while reading/writing. If copying the 1st
data tracks errors and stops, lower the read speed (some users it works on
say a 6x read, some 4x some must go to 1x, but always works from my
emails at some speed.

The method shown below is how to copy a playstation game using Gear 4.2
to replicate the entire cd.

Choose the pull down menu option Select Tools then Disc Information.

A view of the entire contents of the disc will show up in a few seconds.
Most discs have 1 data track and the remainder are audio tracks. A few
discs report 2 data tracks, or no data tracks. A select few discs report
audio tracks under 4 seconds.

Highlight track 1 - the data track. Select copy track
Name it anything you want - this name will not do anything but identifying
the track you copied, when it writes the track this name will not be used
in any way. When copying the data track, it will go to the directory
you specified in options menu in the main view when you run the program.

If the read fails, dont panic, lower the
read speed of the drive in options - recorder. Some
discs require a lower read speed even down from 6x to
4x, 2x or even 1x to read it properly.

If there is a 2nd data track - do it again with track 2 data track.

Once the data tracks are copied, the rest is all downhill (easy) from
here.

Go back to main view.

On the left pull down selection, Select CD Track List under
CD Type & Settings.

Pull down menu choose PROJECT, highlight create/edit, then cd track list.

Using the drive explorer, go to the directory you saved track 1 at (using
the name you saved it with) and left click on the file (hold it) and drag
it to the bottom my cd track list window.
Do the same if there is a 2nd data track.

In the bottom window you will see the track listed with whatever name
you gave it.

Double click on the track (in the bottom my cd track list window)
 and change from Audio (MODE 0, 2352)
TO CDROM XA Mode 2 2336 sector size.
click add pause (size = 2) if not already then ok.
Do the same if there is a 2nd data track.

Menu select VIEW - VIEW CDR DRIVE. A list of the cdr tracks will
come up.

Highlight all other tracks other then the 1st(or 1st+2nd) data
track you already copied and drag them to bottom
window. It will take a few minutes to copy these to
hard drive first. 

file save and close

If for some reason it doesnt copy these to the hard drive, in the main
view of the program, in options for cd recorder, select use physical image.

On the right side, you can now write the cd, click write, or test if you
wish to do a test write first.


Remember you will need a mod chip to play these copies, because they dont
contain the original bad blocks of the original, and since many games are
imports, the chip will also bypass that as explained.

Copying a disc with Dao/CDRWIN  http://www.goldenhawk.com/

Dao(dos) and CDR WIN (WINDOWS) are also excellent programs for copying psx
discs, the only drawback is they currently only work on SCSI based CDROMS. 
If you havent bought a cdr yet, a SCSI version is the choice with this
software. Otherwise if an IDE drive is a must have, get GEAR 4.2 and 
GEAR REPLICATOR 1.2.

Results: Nearly any disc is fully copyable. Very few problems.

Recommendation: Great program other then Gear 4.2 for copying manually
all discs. Benefits over others include methods people have used to
copy special discs with 4 second or less audio tracks, multiple data tracks
etc, virtually ensuring all discs will copy.

Problems: Usually just learning how to do it correctly (below). Works only
with SCSI drives currently (until 1998)

Command Line Arguments: 
  
The command lines are: 

Command Line Arguments:

The comand line you should use to make a backup for version 2.3 is:

SNAPSHOT CD.RAW CD.WAV CD.CUE /ID=0:2:0 /SUBCODE=AUTO

The command line for version 2.4a and 2.4b is:

SNAPSHOT CD.RAW CD.CUE /ID=0:2:0 /SUBCODE=AUTO

The command line for version 2.4c is:

SNAPSHOT CD.CUE CD.RAW /ID=0:2:0 /SUBCODE=AUTO

The main difference is that the 2.4 series merges that data and audio in to
a single file, while 2.3 has two separate files. This was done, from what I
understand, for preparation of a WINDOWS 95 graphic version of this DOS only
program. The program works with WINDOWS 95 now, just from a DOS window.

Files with the extension RAW is raw data in version 2.3, WAV is Audio and
CUE is the cuesheet that arranges the tracks in the order they will be
written. in 2.4, the RAW files contains both data and audio.

You may need to change the /ID=0:2:0 to fit your drive.

The SUBCODE option is required on some CDs, also please Note: that not all
CD-Recorders support subcodes!, and those that don't require it will still
work with the option set. It basically puts a 2 second "gap" of silence
between the audio tracks. Those CDs that do require will lock up if its not
used. Now this is mentioned in the text file that comes with the program,
but myself and many people overlooked it and wasted a few blanks.

Now that the image file is created, we need to write it to a blank CD.
The command line for this is as follows:

DAO CD.CUE /ID=0:2:0

Example of batch file to automate the process:

Sample Batch File:

Here is a little batch file to automate the entire process for version 2.3.
You may have to change it for different versions and you may want to add
/SPEED=1 if you are having problems. Select the text below and save it as a 
BAT file(ie. CDCOPY.BAT) in the same directory that the program is in:

echo off
cls
echo Put the origianl disc in the CD writer now.
pause
SNAPSHOT CD.CUE CD.RAW /ID=0:2:0 /SUBCODE=AUTO /NOCONFIRM
cls
echo Take out the original and put in a blank CD now.
pause
DAO CD.CUE /ID=0:2:0 /NOCONFIRM /BEEP
cls
echo Press Control and C to abort file erase
pause
erase cd.cue
erase cd.raw
cls
echo Copy completed.
echo Image files have been erased.

The NOCONFIRM option makes the program turn off any user input. This way all
you have to do is type in the name of the batch file, follow the onscreen 
prompts and nothing else but two strokes of a key after inserting the discs
in to the drive and your backup is made and the image files are erased!


CD Have 2 Data Tracks?:

Many people claim to have troubles with a CD that has two(or more) data
tracks. There is an easy way around this little problem and its very similar
to the 4 second problem.

The first thing you have to do is manually convert each track in to its own 
file. How do we do this? First we must look at the number and type of tracks
. Jeff gives us a program called Table Of Contents or TOC, run it with
PlayStation disc in the drive and it will list each track and will tell you
 if its a data or audio track. example:

TOC /ID=0:2:0

Once you know how many tracks there are and what they are use the program
 CDCLIP to make an image file of each track. Lets say we have a disc with 5
 tracks, the first two are data and the last three are audio. For this disc
 we would do the following:

CDCLIP track1.raw /DATA /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=1
CDCLIP track2.raw /DATA /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=2
CDCLIP track3.WAV /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=3
CDCLIP track4.wav /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=4
CDCLIP track5.wav /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=5

Well have to make a CUE file by hand now! This is one for the above example:


FILE TRACK1.RAW MODE2 2352
TRACK 01
INDEX 01 00:00:00

FILE TRACK2.RAW MODE2 2352
TRACK 02
INDEX 01 00:00:00

FILE TRACK3.WAV AUDIO 2352
TRACK 03
INDEX 00 00:00:00
INDEX 01 00:02:00

FILE TRACK4.WAV AUDIO 2352
TRACK 04
INDEX 00 00:00:00
INDEX 01 00:02:00

FILE TRACK5.WAV AUDIO 2352
TRACK 05
INDEX 00 00:00:00
INDEX 01 00:02:00

You'll want to use a text editor to make your cue file. 
Then you can run DAO like normal and make your backup! The above example
of a cue file does put the SUBCODE 2 second gap for each audio file. For 
those that do have this problem, this solution is all you'll ever need.
If the disc has more than two data tracks, just make any adjustments as
needed.

4 Seconds

4 seconds is the minimal length of a track per CDR standards, that is 
standard your CD Writer uses to make CDs. Now that's not the standard for CD
manufacturers! You'll get and error when trying to convert the image file to
a blank CD when this situation arises. So how do you backup a CD with an
audio track that is less than 4 seconds in length?

The first thing you have to do is manually convert each track in to its own
 file. How do we do this? First we must look at the number and type of
 tracks. Jeff gives us a program called Table Of Contents or TOC, run it
 with PlayStation disc in the drive and it will list each track and will 
tell you if its a data or audio track. example:

TOC /ID=0:2:0

Once you know how many tracks there are and what they are use the program 
CDCLIP to make an image file of each track. Lets say we have a disc with 5
 tracks, the first a data and the last four are audio. For this disc we 
would do the following:

CDCLIP track1.raw /DATA /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=1
CDCLIP track2.wav /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=2
CDCLIP track3.wav /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=3
CDCLIP track4.wav /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=4
CDCLIP track5.wav /ID=0:2:0 /TRACK=5

You can see from TOC which files are less than 4 seconds with a little match
 or you could make a note when getting the errors. For our purpose, lets say
 that track 5 is problem maker. Well need to load it in to a WAV editor.
 I use the Sound Recorder that comes with WINDOWS 95. It may say the length
 of the file is 5.5 seconds while DAO says it less than 4 seconds, I could 
never figure this out. What I've done is the following:

With the Sound Recorder loaded, press the record button with no mike plugged
 in to the sound card. Make a recording of about a second. Save this file as
 BLANK.WAV

Now load TRACK5.WAV (our example of a file less than 4 seconds) and play it.
 You'll be at the end of the file now. Select EDIT from the menu and then 
INSERT FILE. Insert the BLANK.WAV and repeat it until the length is at least
 7 seconds. The reason for 7 seconds? Nothing in particular, its just large
 enough that well won't have to do this again. Now save the file!

Well have to make a CUE file by hand now! This is one for the above example:


FILE TRACK1.RAW MODE2 2352
TRACK 01
INDEX 01 00:00:00

FILE TRACK2.WAV AUDIO 2352
TRACK 02
INDEX 00 00:00:00
INDEX 01 00:02:00

FILE TRACK3.WAV AUDIO 2352
TRACK 03
INDEX 00 00:00:00
INDEX 01 00:02:00

FILE TRACK4.WAV AUDIO 2352
TRACK 04
INDEX 00 00:00:00
INDEX 01 00:02:00

FILE TRACK5.WAV AUDIO 2352
TRACK 05
INDEX 00 00:00:00
INDEX 01 00:02:00

You'll want to use a text editor to make your cue file. Then you can run DAO
 like normal and make your backup! DAO will make any corrections necessary
 to the file size to make it fit perfectly in the allotted sectors. The 
 above example of a cue file does put the SUBCODE 2 second gap for each
 audio file.
 This can be a pain.


Copying with EZ CD Pro:   http://www.adaptec.com/

Step 1

Insert the Playstation original CD into your CD-R drive. Open up Easy CD Pro
MM v3.0, and click on CD Recorder, Read. This will show you the table of
contents on the CD. The 1st track is in Mode 2 CD-XA. The other tracks are
DA (Digital Audio). Highlight the first track, and then choose Copy. Give it
a filename with the extension .ISO . 99% into the copy you should receive an 
positioning error; however, this does no harm to the final disk. 

Note: Snapshot on the other hand (formerly PSXCOPY) doesn't give an error at
all, and is fully automated. Only problem with it is that it's a slightly
harder to use. I've been using Easy CD Pro MM v3.0, which works fine, but 
Snapshot has replaced it.

Step 2

Once that is done, choose the second track, and give it a name
(usually a number of the track to avoid confusion) with the extension .WAV.
 Do this for all of the above mentioned DA tracks. Note: some games do not
 have any CD-DA tracks, I.E. Resident Evil, Kings Field, W.F. Wrestling. 
So this step would be unnecessary. 

Step 3 

Once you have all of the CD onto your hard drive, Select Edit, Cue Sheet.
Now select CD-XA. Next drag from file manager the 1st data track (extension .
ISO) over to the cue sheet window. Then do the same for the CD-DA (extension
.WAV) files in the order in which you copied them, i.e. 2,3,4,5, etc. Now
 save the cue sheet (extension .CUE), and exit the Cue Sheet Editor.

Step 4

Insert your blank 74min CDR Disc into your CDR drive. Next click on the REC 
icon in Easy CD Pro. Pick Cue Sheet, then select the Cue Sheet you have just
created, then select Write, and OK. 

If all goes well, in about a half an hour (for 2x recorders) you should have
 a duplicate Playstation Disk. 


----------------------------------

Section 4:

Where to have your playstation/saturn sent for modification reliably!

I have made a special deal with Gameworld USA in Maryland.

You can send your playstation (any model) to them and have the chip put
in your machine and sent back. A 90 day warranty (on the chip issues of
course) is added free of charge!

Playstation 34.99 installed   $9.50 priority shipping back (48 hr max
turnaround)  Tell them you want the MOD SPECIAL in a note attached
to your system. A Do it yourself kit is available for $19 - ask for
the do it yourself kit special from the FAQ. Send to below address:  

Saturn 39.00 $9.50 priority shipping back (48 hr max turnaround)... This
is the board that lets you play cdrs/copies. You will still need a converter
cart or a switch added to play imports which is different then the copies
mod. Tell them you want the MOD SPECIAL.

Gameworld USA
3402 Crosswood Drive
Aberdeen MD 21001

any more info see: web site http://www.netgsi.com/~gwusa/index.html


Additional Info:

Some users requested how to use the swap trick method. The swap trick
method used to work well on early playstations until sony caught on
and modified the bios further so that the swapping no longer works.
The easiest way (and only way for newer Playstations) is to purchase a
replacement chip for the PSX, known as the mod chip. The mod chip replaces 
the chip inside the PSX that checks for the country code and bad blocks. 
It automatically tells the PSX that the country code passed and that the CD
is authentic.

Icepick wrote a bit of text on problems using the swap method (And I concur
to buy a mod chip anyway, but for those still using the swap method, here
is some useful info:

Firstly, the 'swap-method' is not perfect.  The way it works is that the PSX
takes a legitimate licensed disc and reads its TOC (Table Of Contents) into
its RAM.  Then the (ab)user swaps the CD, without the PSX knowing (by either
holding down the drive sense or shorting it) and then exiting the CD-DA player
screen which in turn inititates the bootstrap sequence.

The problem lies in the fact that the original CDs TOC is held in RAM whilst
the copies TOC will most certainly be different.  This is most noticable on
games where your original only has a few (or none) CD-DA tracks and you try
to play a game that DOES.  You will either get 'choppy' sound (or none)
as the PSX will utilise the starts and limits of the original discs TOC.

This also applies to the length of the CD-XA (Data/ROM) track!  So if you
boot with a small game (Ridge Racer is circa 3 megabytes) and then swap it
for a game like MK3, it will fail, as the TOC will report that there is no
data at that point, even if there is.

The problem with MK3 is in the audio tracks.  MK3 uses 64 CD-DA tracks, and if
it can not access some of these tracks (especially those between 8-15) it will
lock-up as it thinks it has a read failure.  The main problem is that MK3 is
the FIRST game to use 64 tracks (the other 'record holders' were previously
Ace Combat (Air Combat in the US) and some bowling game, both were 48 tracks
of CD-DA.

The second problem with MK3 is shoddy code.  It is full of dodgy code that does
weird shit with internal timers.  My guess is that it is supposed to do strange
things whilst in-game (pop up funny faces?) but this leads to problems as it
doesn't disable these timers when in the 'Insert Coin' mode.  This is probably
the worst case of a rushed game I have seen to date.






----------------------------------------------------------

It is ok to distribute this file as is. Please do not change this file and 
upload the changed file elsewhere, the reason is simply to prevent
further corruption of incorrect info being distributed through the
internet channels.  Instead please email any comments, changes that might
help or suggestions to konsol@erols.com. This way the file will stay current
and intact without adding more errors/problems. Please also email any
former faq or info regarding copying psx or saturn discs NOT found in this
file, so other data may be useful for this or other faqs and users.

Enjoy!

Konsol Gaming Computer Mastermind since 1983

