detail information

Now we'll start testing the reading of copy-protected data discs. Copy-protections are used on almost every game nowadays so it's important a writer can handle the various protections out there. For the tests we used CloneCD version 3.3.4.1 from Elaborate Bytes (www.elby.org). We'll test the following, most common, copy-protections:

Copy-protected Data
• LaserLock
• SafeDisc
• SafeDisc 2
• SecuROM
• PlayStation
• Conclusion

Protected Data - LaserLock:

For this test we'll use a game called 'Desperados' protected with LaserLock 2. We scanned the disc with the German ClonyXXL (home.arcor.de/bejot) and it indeed finds the LaserLock protection:

LaserLock 2 is hard to read for a lot of recorders and the Waitec MEGALUS finished the job in 1 hour and 30 minutes when reading from the original disc! The back-up disc took only 20 minutes to read though. Here's a screenshot of CloneCD reading the original LaserLock protected disc:

Since our previous reviews done by StevieB were done with a LaserLock 1 protected disc we can't really compare the drives. There's no real need to either since, like said before, LaserLock takes a long time to read with every drive..

Protected Data - SafeDisc:

For this test we'll use a game called 'Beavis and Butthead: BungHole in One' protected with the normal SafeDisc. We scanned the disc with the German ClonyXXL (home.arcor.de/bejot) and it indeed finds the SafeDisc protection. Note that 'Alt' means 'Old' since SafeDisc is a rather old protection:

Here's a screenshot of CloneCD reading the original SafeDisc protected disc:

The Waitec MEGALUS performs very bad here and needs 1 hour and 32 minutes to read the disc while my old Plextor PX-W1210A only needs 3 minutes tops! The Plextor PX-W2410A and the Lite-On 24102B really are a lot faster here. Again the Plextor writer is 'king' here blasting away both the Waitec and the Lite-On.

Protected Data - SafeDisc 2:

For this test we'll use a game called 'The Sims: House Party' protected with SafeDisc 2. We scanned the disc with the German ClonyXXL (home.arcor.de/bejot) again and it indeed finds the SafeDisc 2 protection:

Here's another screenshot of CloneCD reading a SafeDisc 2 protected disc. This time we used a back-up disc to see if the SafeDisc (2) errors were skipped faster than with an original SafeDisc protected disc:

Like expected SafeDisc 2 also takes a long time to read with the MEGALUS. It needs around 46 minutes to read the disc and is again way behind both the Lite-On and the Plextor.

Besides reading SafeDisc 2 we also need to check if the drive can write SafeDisc 2. Unlike the other protections SafeDisc 2 back-ups depend on whether or not the drive support 'Correct EFM Encoding' which is needed to write 'regular bit patterns'. For more info on SafeDisc 2 read this article.

Unfortunately the Waitec does not support this feature and fails to make a working back-up. The disc wouldn't even work in the recorder. This is a big disadvantage for people who want to use the drive to back-up their games since SafeDisc 2 is (one of) the most common protections used nowadays.

Next we tried to write the disc with CloneCD's 'Amplify Weak Sectors' option enabled. This is a new CloneCD feature which is supposed to help writers like the MEGALUS produce better (read: working) back-ups of SafeDisc 2 protected discs. For more info on this new feature read this article.

With CloneCD's 'AWS' the Waitec MEGALUS again failed in making a working back-up. We tested the back-up disc in both the Waitec and a Toshiba SD-M1502 DVD-ROM.

Protected Data - SecuROM:

The final tests we'll do is with a game called 'V-Rally 2 Expert Edition' protected with SecuROM 2. We scanned the disc with the German ClonyXXL (home.arcor.de/bejot) again and it indeed finds the SecuROM 2 protection:

The MEGALUS supports the reading and writing of 96 bytes of SubChannel Data and will read the disc very fast (less than 3 minutes) which is faster than both the Plextor and the Lite-On.

Protected Data - PlayStation:

An extra test we'll do is with a LibCrypt protected PlayStation disc called 'Final Fantasy VIII'. We scanned the disc with the German ClonyXXL (home.arcor.de/bejot) for the final time and it indeed finds the LibCrypt protection:

The MEGALUS needs about 12 minutes to make an image with CloneCD. Since stated before the MEGALUS can read the full SubChannel Data, copying PlayStation discs is no problem. The Plextor drive however is again faster with creating the image.

Protected Data - Conclusion:

The Waitec MEGALUS can't really handle the various copy-protections. It's most of the time too slow to keep up with the Plextor PX-W2410A or the Lite-ON 24102B. It can't handle SafeDisc 2 properly and that's a big disadvantage since SafeDisc 2 is the most used copy-protection nowadays. The Waitec MEGALUS does support the reading of the full SubChannel Data so it's not all bad..

Now for the CD-RW tests...

Read Tests - Unprotected Data

Read/Write Tests - CD-RW Media