Posted at 05:09 on November 20th, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Bachelor Gumby Posts: 49 | Uploaded: Civil War Decisive Battles of the American Civil War Vol II Fire King Gulf Strike Harpoon Signature Edition v1.31se (Harpoon + Scenario Editor + Battlesets 2-4) Also, uploaded Harpoon Designer Series I and II, along with the official 1.32 patch disk from Three Sixty. No Kryoflux streams unfotunately, but the original files. |
Posted at 16:16 on November 20th, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Zombie Gumby Posts: 3881 | Quote: That's exactly the case, and those are the sectors I see listed everywhere (38 and 39) for that type of copy protection. Looks like indeed, Airborne Ranger has both disk copy protection + manual copy protection. Ok, I suppose this time we'll have to keep the KF RAW dump and make a Teledisk one too for emulation purposes. We already have a Teledisk dump on FTP uploaded by someone else, but it's version 441.01. We'll see if it uses the same CP scheme. Also, it appears that ID 132 and 1495 don't really have this protection. I checked the code for any familiar CP trace and none was found. BUT, apparently Wandrell (our previous manager) left a note in ID 132 saying explicitly that it's missing CP sectors. I wonder if he made a mistake. If I understood correctly, this game was released as protected and unprotected or half protected (doc-checks only). To be continued... ----- Cheer up! Remember the less you have, the more there is to get. ----- Edited by Moebius at 18:10 on November 20th, 2018 |
Posted at 18:51 on November 20th, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Master Gumby Posts: 102 | Has it already been cracked? I tried everything to get CP to fail. I even copied the files to a new disk (file copy not disk copy,) and it still passes as long as that disk is in the drive. |
Posted at 20:50 on November 20th, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Bachelor Gumby Posts: 43 | Originally posted by Pheonix at 18:51 on November 20th, 2018: Has it already been cracked? I tried everything to get CP to fail. I even copied the files to a new disk (file copy not disk copy,) and it still passes as long as that disk is in the drive. But how do you know it's passing? Do you know what happens when the copy protection fails? It might be a game-play issue, and not just the game refusing to load. I remember reading something about being able to equip only a limited ammount of ammo and weapons. Anyways, it's probably cracked. AFAIK, there are no versions with "doc-only" protection. |
Posted at 21:00 on November 20th, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Zombie Gumby Posts: 3881 | Quote: Has it already been cracked? I tried everything to get CP to fail. I even copied the files to a new disk (file copy not disk copy,) and it still passes as long as that disk is in the drive. I'm pretty sure it's not, at least not directly because file timestamps are usually indicative of that and in that respect ID 1583 looks the same unmodified. Can't be a coincidence. Like Otaku says, it must be some in-game quirks which are a little harder to trigger. Quote: I remember reading something about being able to equip only a limited ammount of ammo and weapons. That's quite unorthodox for a physical CP... ----- Cheer up! Remember the less you have, the more there is to get. ----- Edited by Moebius at 05:33 on November 21st, 2018 |
Posted at 21:29 on November 20th, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Master Gumby Posts: 102 | Correction... Leave the disk unmounted and it comes up asking for the key disk and won't continue. I believe I was rather thorough. 1) Copy files to HDD 2) Remove (dismount) disk 3) Try to play... After asking for ribbon, asks for key disk 4) restarted DOSBox 5) tried again... Same results (you'll see why I did this later) 6) restarted DOSBox 7) mounted disk image (Airborne Ranger) 8) tried again, game played - not very good at it 9) removed disk 10) tried again, plays just fine without disk now 11) copied files to HDD 12) mounted a random disk 13) tried again, played just fine I've heard of games doing some weird things as part of copy protection. Shamus, for example, uses a test & punishment for copying as the same action. The disk comes un-notched, so it just does a disk format before loading the next file. If the file loads, then the format failed, and it plays. If the file doesn't load, it throws up a "shame on you pirate!" message. On the C64, and I don't remember the title, failed copy protection would start massively thrashing your floppy drive. I believe they ended up getting sued over that. It's possible that this game limits loadout or difficulty on a failed CP, even with the key disk demand, but I haven't noticed anything like that. |
Posted at 23:56 on November 20th, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Bachelor Gumby Posts: 43 | Originally posted by Pheonix at 21:29 on November 20th, 2018: Correction... Leave the disk unmounted and it comes up asking for the key disk and won't continue. I believe I was rather thorough. 1) Copy files to HDD 2) Remove (dismount) disk 3) Try to play... After asking for ribbon, asks for key disk 4) restarted DOSBox 5) tried again... Same results (you'll see why I did this later) 6) restarted DOSBox 7) mounted disk image (Airborne Ranger) 8) tried again, game played - not very good at it 9) removed disk 10) tried again, plays just fine without disk now 11) copied files to HDD 12) mounted a random disk 13) tried again, played just fine I've heard of games doing some weird things as part of copy protection. Shamus, for example, uses a test & punishment for copying as the same action. The disk comes un-notched, so it just does a disk format before loading the next file. If the file loads, then the format failed, and it plays. If the file doesn't load, it throws up a "shame on you pirate!" message. On the C64, and I don't remember the title, failed copy protection would start massively thrashing your floppy drive. I believe they ended up getting sued over that. It's possible that this game limits loadout or difficulty on a failed CP, even with the key disk demand, but I haven't noticed anything like that. That's very interesting. Here's a question, once you've managed to successfuly pass the copy protection with the key disk mounted, if you reboot your dosbox and don't mount the key disk, can you trigger the copy protection again? Or once you've passed it, it's kind of "permanent" on the files in the hdd? You may check sha1 or md5 of all the files before and after, maybe the executable is changing itself or some other file once you pass the copy protection once and doesn't bother you anymore after that? |
Posted at 03:17 on November 21st, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Bachelor Gumby Posts: 49 | Uploaded: Command HQ 688 Attack Sub F-19 Stealth Fighter Conquest of Japan |
Posted at 04:24 on November 21st, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Master Gumby Posts: 102 | OK, more testing... It works if I just reboot (equivalent to <CTR><ALT><DEL>) DOSBox, not if I exit completely out and reload it. No, it doesn't actually change any files. I would guess that it does something in RAM that isn't lost in a reset. It is true, though, that it doesn't matter the disk. I put Willy Beamish disk 1 in and it worked. **sigh** Going to test it on PCE..... It's DOSBox, it seems. In PCE it now fails the keydisk if the IMG file is inserted (or any other disk for that matter except the TD0 or PFDC version of this disk.) It also checks again on a system reset, not just on a system shutdown. So, DOSBox seems to partially crack it on the fly Probably a bug in DOSBox they'll fix eventually. All that being said, it looks like tracks 39 & 40 of side 1 are CP tracks. Have uploaded PFDC & TD0 versions (both work in PCE.) TD0 doesn't work in 86Box (yes, found it.) |
Posted at 05:24 on November 21st, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Zombie Gumby Posts: 3881 | Quote: Have uploaded PFDC & TD0 versions (both work in PCE.) TD0 doesn't work in 86Box (yes, found it.) Thanks. You forgot about PSI, though. Also, did you turn on turbo timings in 86box? Won't work otherwise. ----- Cheer up! Remember the less you have, the more there is to get. |
Posted at 20:16 on November 21st, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Zombie Gumby Posts: 3881 | @mikic, Added: 688 Attack Sub (2895) Command HQ (2896): Manual copy protection. Conquest of Japan (2897): v1.00 Decisive Battles of the American Civil War, Vol. 2 (2898) Fire King (2899): Restored OEM ID, cleaned AT. Gulf Strike (2900): Restored OEM ID, cleaned AT. Harpoon Challenger Pak - Signature Edition (2901): Harpoon v1.3 & all add-ons. Harpoon Designers' Series 1: BattleSet Enhancer (2902): Scenarios for Harpoon. Self-made WinImage files. Harpoon Designers' Series 2: Post-Graduate Naval Operations & Tactics (2903): Scenarios for Harpoon. Self-made WinImage files. Harpoon Patch Disk (2904): Upgrade to v1.32. Not added: Civil War: Broken disk. Pheonix is currently researching it. F-19 Stealth Fighter: Something's wrong with disk 1, couldn't convert it properly. Errors or copy protection, not sure. Pheonix will investigate. @piggabut, Added: PC Calcio (2905): v1.0 AKA PC Futbol. Embedded CT & AT, but could be factory setting. ----- Cheer up! Remember the less you have, the more there is to get. ----- Edited by Moebius at 20:25 on November 21st, 2018 |
Posted at 22:02 on November 21st, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Master Gumby Posts: 102 | Civil War () - I'm afraid it is a bad dump. It looks as if side 1 had been erased. Could be the disk head was dirty during the dump process, but the flux files don't contain anything salvageable that I could find. ----- Edited by Moebius at 23:38 on November 21st, 2018 |
Posted at 04:12 on November 22nd, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Bachelor Gumby Posts: 49 | Uploaded: Fire Brigade Gunship (Disk 1 may be bad. Can you fix?) The Perfect General AV-8B Harrier Assault |
Posted at 22:15 on November 22nd, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Zombie Gumby Posts: 3881 | @mikic, Added: Fire-Brigade: The Battle for Kiev 1943 (2906): Will only run in forced CGA, EGA, Hercules and ATT modes, otherwise reports "graphics card 9 not supported". The Perfect General Scenario Disk: World War II Battle Set (2907): 1st scenario diskl. Not added: Gunship: Disk 1 definitely contains CP scheme and it seems to have interfered with the dumping process, which much like previously resulted in oversized IMG. Pheonix will have to experiment with it, I failed to get a correctly sized image. AV-8B Harrier Assault: Same as ID 669, which is already verified. ----- Cheer up! Remember the less you have, the more there is to get. ----- Edited by Moebius at 07:36 on November 29th, 2018 |
Posted at 01:48 on November 23rd, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Bachelor Gumby Posts: 49 | Originally posted by Moebius at 22:15 on November 22nd, 2018: Fire-Brigade: The Battle for Kiev 1943 (2906): Fails to run in any emulator with the message "graphics card 9 not supported". I was able to install and play Fire Brigade on PCem with no problem. I tested on a 286-DOS 3.3 with EGA video. ----- Edited by mikic at 01:50 on November 23rd, 2018 |
Posted at 02:53 on November 23rd, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Bachelor Gumby Posts: 49 | Uploaded: Special Forces Patton Strikes Back Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Hardball II Flames of Freedom |
Posted at 07:43 on November 23rd, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Zombie Gumby Posts: 3881 | Quote: I was able to install and play Fire Brigade on PCem with no problem. I tested on a 286-DOS 3.3 with EGA video Ah, I didn't get around to trying out different adapters. Yes, it does run in 86box as well if you downgrade the video to EGA (or CGA for that matter). Only VGA should emulate EGA display by default, which is why I didn't bet on it. Weird. Anyway, thank you for the heads-up. ----- Cheer up! Remember the less you have, the more there is to get. ----- Edited by Moebius at 07:53 on November 23rd, 2018 |
Posted at 08:32 on November 23rd, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Master Gumby Posts: 102 | What I've managed to get done: Harpoon Signature Edition () -Disk 1 & 2 have all but last 3 tracks modified (filled with format pattern.) Disk 3 is all modified except track 39 & 80 on side 2. Track 39 has data, track 80 is format pattern. All are 1.2 MB disks. Airborne Ranger (2886) - CP on Disk (Sectors 1 & 4 on tracks 39 & 40.) Otherwise all green. F-19 Stealth Fighter () - CP on Disk very simular to Airborne Ranger (2886). OK,identical except for an extra sector on track 41 (an extra track.) It appears to be an FM track, and works in PCE without it. Disk 1 & 3 are all marked as modified with Disk 2 coming up all green. Gunship () -Disk 2 is all green. Disk 1 is missing the MBR, otherwise all green (except track 5 side 1.) Tracks 1-5, on both sides, are 9 sectors (as normal.) Track 5 side 1, however, are all 2048 byte sectors (copy protection.) Tracks 6 through 40 are all 10 sector tracks. Track 41 is 8 sectors, and 42 is 9 sectors. This is one of the most intensive & nasty CP setups I've seen. Fixing the MBR as best as I am able, was able to access the files and even copy them off the disk. Except for the 0 byte file with no name or extension. also able to get a TD0 file that lets me do the same. Still unable to get it to load, though. Uploaded what I have. |
Posted at 23:47 on November 23rd, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Master Gumby Posts: 102 | Another batch of flux files processed: Harpoon BattleSet 2: North Atlantic Convoys (2876) - All disks heavily modified. No action. Harpoon BattleSet 2: North Atlantic Convoys (2881) [Challenger Pack] - All disks heavily modified. No action. Harpoon (2880) - Disk 3 all green, all others heavily modified. No action Harpoon BattleSet 3: The MED Conflict (2877) - Disks 1 & 2 heavily modified, Disk 3 all green except track 1 side 1. No action Harpoon Scenario Editor (2882) - All green. Set to verified Harpoon Scenario Editor (2879) - Heavily modified. No action Harpoon BattleSet 4: IOPG (2878) - All disks green. Set to verified Harpoon Challenger Pak - Signature Edition (2901) - All heavily modified. No action |
Posted at 23:54 on November 23rd, 2018 | Quote | Edit | Delete | |
Member Bachelor Gumby Posts: 49 | Added: Covert Action Jack Nicklaus Unlimited Golf Megatraveller Silent Service II |