PlayStation 2 dumping guide

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Note: This is an old, deprecated guide. Please use this guide instead: DVD Dumping Guide (Disc Image Creator).


1. Installing and setting up soft

  • Download and install the latest version of IsoBuster. Launch the program, select Options -> File system settings menu item, in Display time stamp options group select Local time stamp option.
  • Download and install the latest version of HashCalc.

2. Determining disc type

  • PlayStation 2 discs with blue working surface are CDs.
  • PlayStation 2 discs with silver or slightly gold working surface are DVDs.

3. Dumping disc

Insert the disc into the drive and launch IsoBuster. If you have multiple drives with discs inserted, make sure you have select the right one from the list.

  • Dumping CD:
If CD has more than one track, use Disc Image Creator dumping guide. Otherwise right click on Track 01, select Extract Track 01 -> Extract RAW Data (2352 bytes/block) (*.bin, *.iso) menu item, then choose folder for extraction and press OK.
  • Dumping DVD:
Right click on Track 01, select Extract Track 01 -> Extract User Data (*.tao, *.iso, *.wav) menu item, then choose folder for extraction and press OK.

The copying process may take several minutes. If you get "Unreadable sector" errors during it, press Retry button. If the error appears again, your disc is unsuitable for preservation.

After the disc has been copied, launch HashCalc, check MD5, SHA1 and CRC32 rows, uncheck others. Select File option from the Data format list, then press button next to the Data field, select dumped image and press Calculate. The calculation process may take up to several minutes. These checksums should be posted along with other info.

Dump your disc again and compare old dump checksums with the new ones. If checksums are the same, your disc has been dumped properly.

4. Gathering other info

  • Game title: most obvious, is located everywhere. Please include subtitle.
  • Disc ID: it is located on top of the disc surface and commonly is in the form of "XXXX-YYYYY" (where X is a letter and Y is a number), also it may have some additional characters appended. Examples: SLUS-21359, SCES-51578#2. Warning: if the actual serial doesn't contain a hyphen (like the Japanese discs), submit the serial as is, without hyphen.
  • Disc title: some games stored on multiple discs may have discs with titles. Examples: Armored Core: Nexus (Disc 1) (Evolution) and (Disc 2) (Revolution).
  • EXE date: EXE is usually named like disc ID in the form of "XXXX_YYY.YY" (where X is a letter and Y is a number). If you are not sure, check EXE name in the file SYSTEM.CNF. EXE date should be looked at in IsoBuster in Modified column. Make sure you selected the local time stamp option in isobuster or this will in some cases show the wrong date.
  • Game languages: Some games either show a language selection screen at startup or in the game options. Many games will boot with different languages depending on the active language selected in the ps2 bios. Booting the game with each language selected in the bios is necessary to identify the supported languages for these games. Note that it is possible to submit a game without checking the languages, but this then needs to be stated in your submission.
  • Disc version: Go to the root directory of the disc and open SYSTEM.CNF file in the text editor. Disc version is located in the row which starts with "VER", for example, "VER = 1.00".
  • Image size: look for it in any file manager (but not in IsoBuster).
  • Edition: some games were rereleased in different packages, for example, Platinum/Greatest Hits/PlayStation 2 the Best series. If game was released in original package, post edition as "Original".
  • Barcode: The number displayed beneath the vertical lines, see Barcode.
  • Ring codes: The string of characters displayed on the inner rings of the working surface of the cd/dvd. Check older submissions to make sure that you report everything that is needed. Make sure you have good lighting conditions and/or a magnifying glass if you have problems reading the text.

5. Posting info

Note: you must have dumper rights to be able to post info using forms. Otherwise use the forum.

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