Hi.

Ripped hundreds of CDs now with EAC, and they all rip perfectly first time EXCEPT Franz Ferdinand's You Could Have It So Much Better. I've searched around the net, and it seems that there's some kind of copy protection on the CD, but I can't find a way around it.

I've disabled autorun on my CD drive, but that makes no difference.

Can I rip this CD?

Galilee

Have you tried burst mode Test and Copy?

Just tried that and got between 1 and 3 timing errors on about half the tracks. These are audiable in the finished copy.

Can you slow the ripping process within EAC for your drive?

F10 > Offset / Speed > Speed selection.

A slower rip can produce better results.


In secure mode, did you try disabling C2, if it was enabled in the first place?

Do you get matching CRCs?


Getting good results with copy protected CDs can also be dependant upon your drive.

Well, I actually just ripped that cd a few hours ago without any problems.
I do have AnyDVD running in the background though, but according to its log it didn't remove any copy protection from that disc - it was a standard audio cd.

Disabling Autorun at this point won't help if the DRM Copy Protection software has already installed itself. If this is Sony/Columbia CD, then see about getting a non-DRM'd non-Copy Protected version from Sony for free, along with the software to remove their rootkit.

If this is an EMI or other label, the DRM Copy Protection usually involves a corrupted Table of Contents (TOC) which generated errors for EAC. The disc may also contain encoding which generates additional errors in your drive.

You will have to use your best buddies Google and Wikipedia for info on those. HA TOS prevents us from discussing ways to disable DRM Copy Protection .

Hmmm ... FF are on Domino Records, an independent label. But I'm sure they're owned by someone big that they don't like to mention on their CDs or website. I think it's Sony. I think (on principle!) I'll try and bother them for a regular copy!

Thanks - Galilee

I've found that it is dependent on the drive itself. I've got a copy of A Perfect Circle's "eMOTIVe" that I was able to rip on my old computer (had an LG drive), but can't even begin to rip it on the laptop I'm using now (with an NEC drive).

Some old drives were made without the error inducing firmware. Pressure from the RIAA has ensured that all a whole lot of current CD/DVD drives have the DRM Copy Protection firmware.

That's not true. My Pioneer drive can rip most copy-protected CDs and it's very new.

You are right - it is not all, and I corrected my assertion.

Do note that there are several types of copy protection, some involve corrupt or false TOC's, others induce errors via the drive's firmware. You can experience success with the former, while still having the firmware for the latter in your drive - just not used by that DRM Copy Protection .

In fact, a lot of the drives reviewed on cdfreaks seem to be able to read the majority of copy-protected discs. Do you have any proof that drives have such a firmware/"feature"?

Errors through firmware??? Please elaborate, as I think you are making things out.

H.

Discusses the nature of CD copy protection and the role CD ROM firmware plays in it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_copy_protection

"Also, many ordinary CD audio players, e.g. in car radios, have problems playing copy-protected media, mostly because they use hardware and firmware components also used in CD-ROM drives."

There are examples user modified firmware that will not choke on these intentional DRM Copy Protection generated errors. And no doubt there are drives out there that ship with DRM Copy Protection free firmware.

All of the Toshiba, Samsung, LG, Sony, and HP drives that I have used in the past 6-7 years do not properly play DRM'd Copy Protected discs with intentional data errors.

I don't think I can say more without violating the HA TOS.

You are confusing DRM and copy protection here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management




I'm not sure what you mean by that. I don't think the RIAA or IFPI force the drive manufacturers to have their drives fail when trying to read a copy protected CD. In fact, many drive manufacturers seem to make sure that their drives can read CDs with as many different copy protections as possible.

The drive firmware does not have any kind of DRM mechanism in it. What they mean with "Also, many ordinary CD audio players, e.g. in car radios, have problems playing copy-protected media, mostly because they use hardware and firmware components also used in CD-ROM drives." is that dedicated audio CD players, like a normal CD player without MP3 capability, will disregard all copy protections and treat it like a pure audio CD, thus being unaffected by copy protections.

A CD/DVD drive however can fall for the different copy protection mechanism, as it has no way to treat an audio CD just as an audio CD. Instead, it will first load the disc to see what kind of disc it is, and then it either falls for the CP tricks, or if the drive manufacturers made a more intelligent firmware, it will not fall for the CP tricks and access it like normal.

I'm not confusing them, and I do understand the difference. I *was* sloppily using one as a loose short hand for the other - and I caused confusion in the process. In the future I will be more precise in my use of the terms.

I agree with the other things you posted about DRM vs CP. (they are all part of the same oppressive ecosystem to me)

Maybe WinDuck will be your friend