GD-R Dumping Guide

From Redump Wiki

GD-R discs are recordable GD-ROMs. This dumping guide is a work-in-progress with the ambition of creating a guide to dump GD-R discs with an optical disc drive. It contains highly experimental information that needs knowledgeable volunteers to research.

The discs contain two distinct areas, a Low Density Area ("LD Area") and a High Density Area ("HD Area"), physically separated by a ring. You'll need to dump both areas of the disc, each requiring different drive models and methods.

Contents 1 LD Area 1.1 Tools 1.2 Dumping 2 HD Area 2.1 Tools 2.2 Dumping 3 See Also

LD Area

Tools

• An optical drive listed in Optical Disc Drive Compatibility: CD
• A Windows, Linux, or macOS computer
• MPF application (includes Redumper)

Dumping

The LD Area is formatted like a standard CD-ROM, so should be dumped using the standard Disc Dumping Guide (MPF) with a CD-ROM compatible drive. The CD-ROM profile should be selected in MPF.

HD Area

Tools

• An optical drive with "GD-R" listed in the "Compatibility" column here. Note: Drives listed as compatible may or may not work depending on firmware or other unknown / untested variables (NEEDS MORE RESEARCH BY KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE!)
• DiscImageCreator app
• Audio Trap Disc

Dumping

Dumping the HD Area can take over an hour sometimes, during which your drive may make scary noises. Stopping your drive to allow it to cool down before continuing the dump later can help with ease of dumping. There are two ways to do the Swap Disc technique:

• Prepare a Drive for Top Removal as seen in this video tutorial. Afterwards, set the top back onto the drive with screws removed, which allows for easy top removal. Make sure your drive lid is replaced perfectly, as putting your drive lid on unevenly can lead to the dump failing partially into the dumping process.
• Pin Eject: Push the tray back into the drive quickly so the spindle will catch.

Process:

• Insert the audio trap disc into the drive.
• In command line, cd (change directory) to the folder containing "DiscImageCreator.exe".
• Run DiscImageCreator.exe stop [DriveLetter].
• Remove the top off the drive.
• Insert the GD disc and run: DiscImageCreator.exe close [DriveLetter].
• Then run the dumping command: DiscImageCreator.exe gd [DriveLetter] foo.bin [DriveSpeed(0-72)] /c2 (Note #1: " /c2" is only for use with compatible Plextors. Note #2: Adding the command "/be pack" may[1] be helpful when dumping GD-Rs.)
• Dump multiple times until you get an error-free dump (check the Command Prompt output after DiscImageCreator finishes dumping).

Notes:

• 1x, 4x, 8x read speeds can be helpful or even necessary when dumping GD-Rs. Try starting with 8x, and if that speed doesn't work, try another.
• If you have issues where the drive locks up partway through, disabling cache flushes helps: DiscImageCreator.exe gd [DriveLetter] foo.bin 8 /c2 /f 600000.
• GD-Rs do not read on the TSST drives that work so well with GD-ROMs.
• c2 error re-reading is very useful. Since DiscImageCreator can use /c2 error correction, dumping with a compatible Plextor model is preferred.

See Also

• GD-R SD Card Dumping Guide: A reliable method for dumping GD-R discs, requires a rare and expensive "System 2 Disc".