IBM PC: SecuROM / StarForce protection
From Redump Wiki
This guide will help you understand, identify and properly dump SecuROM and StarForce protected games.
Work In Progress
Contents |
Known Information
SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management product developed by Sony DADC. SecuROM aims to resist home media duplication devices, professional duplicators, and attempts at reverse engineering software. It is most often used for commercial computer games running under the Microsoft Windows platform.
StarForce is a software copy protection mechanism developed by Protection Technology.
Features
Measurements: SecuROM and StarForce are called Physical Protections because they perform measurements, like calculating sector distances, in CDs and DVDs. Both install a rootkit upon installation of the game and can only be removed by using official uninstallers.
Twin Sectors: In SecuROM discs The 4th sector from the end is a twin sector which means it exists twice in the CD. It is usually skiped (corrected by drive) by common software and cannot be burned as it breaks the standard. CDMage will detect the twin sector, as arrorenous, if the CD is dumped correctly.
Detection
For this you need BurnOut or ProtectionID.
Dumping
The data track of physical protection discs is dumped normally with Isobuster, follow the main CD dumping guide for details. If any errors appear in the process you must abort, clean the disc and try again.
To properly save the measurements you will need to use Alcohol 52% or 120%. Dump the disc with Alcohol and select Data Position Measurement, when asked choose High precision and Low speed. The .MDS file that will be created is important for your personal backup. Unfortunately the database does not support adding those files.
For SecuROM discs you will need to double check. Open the .BIN file with CDmage and scan for errors. If no errors showed during dumping yet your image has 1 error, then it is correct.
Examples
- Games in the database:
- Unreal Tournament 2003 (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It) (Disc 1) (SecuROM)
- Cold War - On Your Own Behind the Iron Curtain (USA) (Disc 1) (StarForce)
- Still Life (USA) (Disc 2) (StarForce)
