Safedisc prevented me from running BF2

imported_BikeDude

Senior member
May 12, 2004
357
1
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I'm quite angry and upset at this point. Angry at EA, and upset with myself for not running Regmon earlier (the thought had crossed my mind several times...).

The issue? BF2 complained about "CD/DVD emulation software". I uninstalled Daemon Tools (only thing I could think of) and still no go. I contacted EA, and they simply told me that Windows 2003 was not supported. They were quite pleased when I told them that the noCD crack helped.

Unfortunately nobody bothered with a noCD crack for 1.01. EA pulling the patch wasn't much of an incentive to put one out I guess.

In any case, when I finally looked at Regmon and realised it was reading HKCU\SOFTWARE\ELABORATE BYTES\CLONECD\ plus subkeys. I tested CloneCD a long time ago (years), and it probably left its settings behind (which is normally not a bad thing to do). I removed the registry key in question, and lo and behold -- the thing finally works!

But here's the rub: The packaging (albeit I haven't studied all the small writing) doesn't state that one requirement is that you've never installed CloneCD. If I had tried to exchange the game in the shop, they would have laughed and told me that because games are so easy to copy, they would refuse to take it back.

So why is the copyprotection there? In order to stuff Macrovision's pockets? To piss off paying customers? (who here really enjoys swapping CDs only to play a simple game? I have three CD drives, and even then there's a fair share of DJ work involved)

I can't help but think that the smart thing to do is to bill EA for the hours I have spent troubleshooting this problem. Either that or hire a lawyer. I do not like the idea of EA dictating what software I can run or not run on my own PC.

I used to buy many games, but I do not have time for all the hassle involved. E.g. Splinter Cell's copyprotection doesn't support 64-bit Windows at all. So I bought Swat 4 instead (which actually works like a charm! Kudos Sierra!). But the research I have to perform prior to buying a game is now so extensive that it is no longer feasible buying more than one or two games per year.

The funny thing is this: If more people start doing what I did (use regmon to find out what keys Safedisc is allergic to), then next thing you know: Regmon will be on the list of processes that will cause Safedisc to bail. And you can bet that Safedisc will never tell the user what it chokes on -- it'll continue to force the user to play the guessing game (instead of playing the game you thought you had purchased).
 

Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Mar 8, 2003
38,416
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Originally posted by: erwin1978
were they really pleased with the no cd trick. thats funny

Despite the fact that it checks online to make sure no duplicate cd keys are in use.


Are they really afraid that someone is going to pirate it just to play against bots?
 

ttown

Platinum Member
Oct 27, 2003
2,412
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Return the game since it's defective.

They'll replace it with the same game... and it will be defective, too.
And the next one, and the next one, and the next one

Keep returning the game till the manager gets tired of you opening and returning games and gives you your money back.

It's none of their business what other software you are running.
 

MangoTBG

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
3,101
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Originally posted by: ttown
Return the game since it's defective.

They'll replace it with the same game... and it will be defective, too.
And the next one, and the next one, and the next one

Keep returning the game till the manager gets tired of you opening and returning games and gives you your money back.

It's none of their business what other software you are running.

Do you say that out of experience? I'm just curious if that has worked for you before.
 

crizzar

Member
Jul 17, 2004
147
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weakest plan ever... so take out clonecd... I run daemon tools and have had zero issue running any games
 

imported_BikeDude

Senior member
May 12, 2004
357
1
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Originally posted by: BigPoppa
Delete the old cloneCD registry keys and be done with it.

That's what I did. (how else would I be able to verify that the game now runs?)

But do you really think it is OK for EA to dictate what kind of software we users run? They're not too fond of Daemon Tools either, but the thing about Daemon Tools is that it is harder to detect (since the driver's name is changed at installation time).

In theory though, Daemon Tools could be detected since there are only so many active device drivers that are version 3.47.00 SCSI miniports. And as I think I've shown; Macrovision doesn't care that Safedisc fails to run on a few PCs. They just want the game publishers to be able to tell the retailers that they've done everything in their power to combat piracy.

I dunno about you, but I download e.g. ISO images from Microsoft. Daemon Tools is just another utility that helps me use these images. EA have no business interfering with this.

Besides; I was really lucky this time. Safedisc's registry accesses were really easy to spot. I think it is one of the easiest Regmon sessions I've ever encountered. But there is nothing that prevents them from making this a little harder (e.g. read a bunch of other keys in the registry -- anything to increase the size of the data someone would have to sift through).

So next time I buy a game, I could be faced with this exact same problem. I do not look forward to that at all.
 

imported_BikeDude

Senior member
May 12, 2004
357
1
0
Originally posted by: erwin1978
were they really pleased with the no cd trick. thats funny

"But I'm glad you were able to get the game to run and enjoy the game!" was the tech's exact words. I have no idea if he even bothered reading what I wrote at all.

 

spacelord

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2002
2,127
0
76
How did you do a mini image? I have BF2 on DVD and would love to be able to play without having the original DVD in the drive.
 

imported_BikeDude

Senior member
May 12, 2004
357
1
0
The mini images are found on gamecopyworld.com and other places designed to help victims of wacky copyprotection schemes. (my motto: "Don't discourage backup of original CDs unless prepared to replace damaged CDs")
 

Washoe

Senior member
Nov 13, 2003
425
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Let me get this straight. You can't run BF2 because you have or had once installed CloneCD on your system??
 

imported_BikeDude

Senior member
May 12, 2004
357
1
0
Washoe: I was prevented from running the game until I removed the offending key.

Until I removed that key, neither original DVD nor mini-ISO (alcohol 120%) image worked (but the noCD hacked executable did).

EA refused to give me any means of finding out what exactly made Safedisc run amok.