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3DO reading burned games


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Thanks for the reply. Are Verbatims and Sony still a quality CD-R in case those other ones are beyond what I need that will be ok for either of my 3DOs?

 

And I'm not a 3DO hacker ... yet. LOL but I appreciate the welcome! I can say I have found the dialogue to the English games I messed around with so I'm sure it's possible to translate those Japanese RPGs. I bet the developers never figured people would find and jack their data. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think I recently tried Verbatims on my Goldstar and they refused to work. I believe I had some leftover Sony discs and they did work. I will have to double check. Compatibility may vary from model to model, so the FZ-1 and FZ-10 models may have different results.

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Yeah, I'd really stick to the highest-end stuff -- Taiyo Yuden, Mitsui, maybe a couple of others (I think Fuji had a good reputation at one point). These brands seem to perform as well as pressed silver discs, or even better in some cases (my Taiyo Yuden burn of Dracula Unleashed works better on my Sega CD than my very lightly scratched original discs).

 

Anything lower-end than that probably does tax the laser and/or drive assembly.

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I have had experience burning with both different disks and softwares with interesting results. I found the 650 MB Sony CD-R's seemed to have the best consistency and TDK 650mb was a close second as long as they were burned slowly. I did have some issues with Verbatim 700 MB and some no namer brand 650 MB for the 3DO more than either my Saturn or my Sega CD.

 

The big thing was burning software which I felt made the bigger difference.

Roxio - umm not good no really I did not like this one lacked features and really varied the quality of burns.

Alcolhol 120% -decent but I still had some variances when doing the same game over and over.

ImgBurn - Probably the best I found so far since it allows for single speed burning and it very consistent.

 

So thats some experience with those pieces anyhow.

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Thanks guys. That's some good info right there. When I need to test my mods I'll see about getting some of those discs. The good news is I love ImgBurn. The consistency is very good with ripping and burning. :)

 

*edit*

Are these good ones?

 

JVC Taiyo Yuden Silver Lacquer 52X CD-R Media 100 Pack in Plastic Wrap https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R6B6FI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_m1Dhzb17AZCJG

Edited by jce3000gt
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  • 1 month later...

Hate to revive this topic but it relates to a few questions I have so no point in starting a new topic. :)

 

1) Do CD-Rs regardless of quality damage the 3DO in any way?

2) If any do not damage the 3DO can you please tell me which specific discs are 100% the best quality.

3) Is ImgBurn a good program to do the actual burning of discs or should I use another program?

 

I have a US FZ-1 from 1994 and I just bought a mint condition Japanese FZ-10 (date unknown as it is in transit) and a few games (so far) and as a test I ripped a couple of my retail discs to ISOs and burned them with my fairly new-ish Lite-On DVDRW drive (circa 2010?) at the slowest speed using cheap Memorex discs. All but 1 disc worked on my US FZ-1 but I mainly did that as a test to verify functionality of the 3DO reading CD-Rs because I'd use higher quality discs next time.

 

Now that the background is set let me explain what I want to do specifically so I can get some advice/information. I'm a ROM hacker by trade (mostly SNES RPGs) and I like poking around with games to do various things the main thing being hard or easy versions of games by request to name a couple. In 2014 I made a Supreme Warrior Easy mod by both request from someone and for my personal use. So I'd like to burn my mod of Supreme Warrior and other mods I'm working on to disc so I can both test them to and play them once finished. I am working on doing easy or hard mods for Star Control II, Lucienne's Quest, and Guardian War. Right now I'm data mining but I'd love to know if I'll have to use 4DO to test or if I can test them on real hardware.

 

Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

Haven't done this in a while, but my FZ-10 never has had a problem reading burned games. I do know that because the speed of the system is only 2X (or lower), you do need to burn them at the slowest speed your burner allows, or they won't read.

 

The CDs I used were decent quality, but certainly not top of the line. Never had an issue, though I certainly haven't spend hours and hours playing them. Imgburn was what I used to burn the discs. I've used that program for years

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes, and buy them while you can. JVC sold Taiyo Yuden to CMC last year. CMC has always made crap.

Unfortunately, since hard drives are so big and cheap and internet so fast nobody burns CDs anymore. A smaller market means there's less incentive to make quality stuff. And since modern readers are so robust, they can get by with crappy media.

I think the future for disc based systems are solid state loaders. e.g. http://3do-renovation.ru/USB_Host_for_FZ10.htm

Are these good ones?

JVC Taiyo Yuden Silver Lacquer 52X CD-R Media 100 Pack in Plastic Wrap https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R6B6FI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_m1Dhzb17AZCJG

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Yes, and buy them while you can. JVC sold Taiyo Yuden to CMC last year. CMC has always made crap.

 

Unfortunately, since hard drives are so big and cheap and internet so fast nobody burns CDs anymore. A smaller market means there's less incentive to make quality stuff. And since modern readers are so robust, they can get by with crappy media.

 

I think the future for disc based systems are solid state loaders. e.g. http://3do-renovation.ru/USB_Host_for_FZ10.htm

 

 

Oh crap, that sucks. So chances are finding non-CMC discs are going to be impossible by now? As for the link you posted I have a concern doing business with someone in Russia with either one of our governments being an ass about it through customs or just getting ripped off. :( Does anyone in the US or Europe sell these or something like these?

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Apparently CMC also bought Taiyo Yuden's equipment to continue manufacturing their line of discs, so maybe the situation is more hopeful than that? I recently bought a batch and so far, they're reading very well on systems that don't usually do well with cheap (or even mid-line) discs.

 

Obviously that's no substitute for a systematic, quantitative test, but I seem to remember reading at least one report that said the quality hadn't nosedived (can't find it now, though).

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Apparently CMC also bought Taiyo Yuden's equipment to continue manufacturing their line of discs, so maybe the situation is more hopeful than that? I recently bought a batch and so far, they're reading very well on systems that don't usually do well with cheap (or even mid-line) discs.

 

Obviously that's no substitute for a systematic, quantitative test, but I seem to remember reading at least one report that said the quality hadn't nosedived (can't find it now, though).

 

Ok good to know, thanks for that info!

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  • 6 months later...

I finally had an issue with this today. All my burned games were on Imation CD-R that I had a stack left from around 2010 or so and hadn't used. All work perfectly.

 

But I ran out and bought some new Verbatim CD-R and burned 13 discs and all will not work. They will not even start or load from the opening screen and the 3do ejects them. I went to the store and bought a stack of Memorex CD-R and the same thing, will not read and ejects the disc.

 

Sucks because I can't find Imation in the stores so I am ordering a stack off Amazon that I hope will work since that's what worked for me before.

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I strongly recommend buying Taiyo Yuden discs instead. You'll have to mail-order them but, in my experience (and I hope things haven't changed since the buyout), it's worth it.

 

I personally won't use anything else, as the difference in read quality/reliability is striking, i.e. an old CD player I had that wouldn't reliably read any other brand of CDRs.

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I strongly recommend buying Taiyo Yuden discs instead. You'll have to mail-order them but, in my experience (and I hope things haven't changed since the buyout), it's worth it.

 

I personally won't use anything else, as the difference in read quality/reliability is striking, i.e. an old CD player I had that wouldn't reliably read any other brand of CDRs.

After messing around with it more last night I think the console might be developing a laser issue. As it was then struggling to play other games burned on the Imation discs. Including discs that had never had issues before at all.

 

But it for sure absolutely refuses to play any of the Verbatim discs at all. Yet my Saturn has no problem with the Verbatim discs by any means. I wonder if when my Imation discs arrive I need to slow it down from 8x down to 2x and try that to be safe.

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Write speed should have no influence on the readability of the disc. The info is still stored in the same place. The 3 factors are the quality of the burner, the quality of the disc and the quality of the optical pickup.

 

The 3DO pickup is notoriously picky about which brand media it will read. Always use best quality media like Taiyo Yuden. Also make sure the laser is cleaned with isopropyl alcohol.

 

Your laser may be getting weaker but start with the first 2 suggestions. If it still has trouble reading discs the the laser will need adjusting or replacing. Both are not straight forward. Replacement lasers are practically non existent and similar lasers require a bit of modding. Adjusting the laser power requires an oscilloscope.

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Thanks for the info dude! I have been using the same burner as with the other games. I had a stack of 8 year old Imation discs that worked perfectly but when I ran out switched to Verbatim which work in the Saturn but not the 3do. I have a stack of Imation discs arriving today in the mail so I will pray they work and if not then hopefully I'm not developing laser issues or have to buy those other discs. I'll continue to burn at 8x and try these and maybe even try 2x or 4x and see what happens then report back later!

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They arrived and did not work. The Imation I ordered has a different packaging and different design on the CD itself. The 3DO will not read them like it will the old Imation I have.

 

I would live to avoid having to buy a full stack of 100 of the Tayio Yuden as you have to buy them at a minimum of 100. If be doing so just to see if they even work. Does anyone have a few I can buy and test them out?

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Alright I was able to get the problem solved!

 

I had to buy a 100 pack of the Taiyo Yuden CDR. I got a stack off Amazon with 2 day shipping for $27 and they arrived super fast. I tested and burned about 15 and all work! They key is to check what it says in IMGBurn if that's the program you use. When the disc is inserted it says "accepted write speeds" and mine said 10x, 16x, and 24x. When I tried to burn them at 1x, 2x, and 4x thinking that was the cause of the 3DO not reading them properly. They did all burn and load (whereas the other discs would not) but they skipped and were slow and choppy during the FMV scenes. So once I figured out I needed to burn them at the accepted speed I did them at 10x and they work flawlessly now.

 

Also the ones I got said CMC on the outside of the packaging and Made in Taiwan. They weren't the JVC ones as those were harder to find and more expensive. But either way, they work perfectly if burned at the acceptable speed!

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Glad you got it sorted. That's interesting that you got better results burning the discs at the imgburn recommended speed. From what I've seen the 3DO laser pickup is among the most temperamental.

 

post-61381-0-35321400-1516576271.jpg

 

Here is a comparison of RF signals from CD lasers using an oscilloscope. It's taken from this page http://www.activewin.com/reviews/hardware/burners/yamaha/crw70/technology.shtml which has some more info on jitter. It's mainly about burner quality but the principal is essentially the same. The quality of the burner, the media and the laser pickup will have an effect on the amount on jitter present in the signal. The more jitter, the harder it is for the CD-rom to maintain a stable read. All CD-rom have error correction but with a high level of jitter, it's more likely the CD-rom will be unable to recover from a bad read and the console will throw off dirty disc errors.

 

By minimising the jitter as much as possible, we can enjoy stress free gaming.

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Intriguing. Using cheap Verbatim CD-R's, my FZ-1 would play from a disc burnt on an HP usb drive, which has a minimum write speed of 10x, but the same iso written with an Apple 8x usb drive would just spin a bit until it gave up.

 

Conclusion - the burner drive is a variable as much as the medium, but not so much of a limit is that previously described minimum on write speed.

 

I will try some other drives once I dig them out, although after playing Immercenary for five minutes on this test disk, I'm not sure I really want to have any more memories of the 3DO crushed.

 

89602 Immercenary (1995)(Electronic Arts)(US)[!][B749 CC 731407 2 R71] 2

Edited by towmater
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I am using a sort of business style HP laptop. I bought it used and have no idea how old it is, likely fairly old The burner may not even be of good quality. But now that my other laptops do not even have a CD drive or burner for that much, this is my only option. Burning at 10x has helped as burning on the Taiyo Yuden at any other speed seems to skip.

 

I was just playing a game called "Mazer" and got pretty far until it started skipping on the music and then shut off and restarted the game. That was the first burned disc I made at 2x and it was working well until then. I decided to reburn it at the 10X and it seems to run fine now.

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When the disc is inserted it says "accepted write speeds" and mine said 10x, 16x, and 24x. When I tried to burn them at 1x, 2x, and 4x thinking that was the cause of the 3DO not reading them properly. They did all burn and load (whereas the other discs would not) but they skipped and were slow and choppy during the FMV scenes. So once I figured out I needed to burn them at the accepted speed I did them at 10x and they work flawlessly now.

 

It sounds likely to me that your burner can't really burn at speeds lower than 10x. Many can't -- they "fake" it to seem like they can burn at lower speeds, but in reality are only able to burn at higher speeds. I think the biggest thing is to burn at whatever speed works well with your particular burner. Glad things are working!

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It sounds likely to me that your burner can't really burn at speeds lower than 10x. Many can't -- they "fake" it to seem like they can burn at lower speeds, but in reality are only able to burn at higher speeds. I think the biggest thing is to burn at whatever speed works well with your particular burner. Glad things are working!

Some said they were thinking I needed to burn them at 1x or 2x. So I tried that but they didn't work. Depending what you use, I use IMGBurn and before it starts burning when the box pops up and tlls the info about the disc that's where I got that 10x, 16x, and 24x options. So I went with those. I think you're right tho likely the burner can't go down to 1x, most probably can't. Either way I am super happy these finally work for me! I had a fun weekend playing some games I hadn't tried before!

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