Writing original version of SD Snatcher to disk

Champion (325)

26-11-2018, 05:35

I have a feeling the answer to this is "no", but is there any way to write the original (non-cracked) version of SD Snatcher to disk and have it actually work?

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3851)

26-11-2018, 06:09

I found a dumped (and cracked) version which when I compared it to a dump from original disks it was only 3 bytes different. So very close (as in no other modifications than needed to bypass the protection). BTW only disk 1 is protected.

By Wild_Penguin

Hero (644)

26-11-2018, 21:18

Uberjack: Can you elaborate, what you mean?

AFAIK, The original version has no copy protection whatsoever on the disks itself. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The copy protection comes from the fact that these games (SD Snatcher and Snatcher, and KGC disks) game with the SCC+ cart which has some additional (non-standard) RAM. The games will not work without this RAM (without cracking them). EDIT: The carts are different, i.e. the RAM is mapped slightly differently, And KGC requires one or the other - don't remember which one.

By rderooy

Paladin (686)

26-11-2018, 22:05

My understanding is that the "Konami Game Collection" will work with either the Snatcher or SD Snatcher Sound Cartridge.

By Manuel

Ascended (19320)

26-11-2018, 23:44

rderooy: no, originally, they only work with the Snatcher sound cartridge.

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3851)

27-11-2018, 06:05

The original SD Snatcher disk 1 does have copy protection (bad sector), unlike Snatcher which does not.

By uberjack

Champion (325)

27-11-2018, 07:17

@Wild_Penguin: I'm trying to replace my damaged SDSnatcher disks with a new set.

I came across two different .dsk images some time ago (differ by a single byte), one of which refuses to load even with the cartridge inserted. From what I've read, disk 1 is copy protected with a bad sector (sdsnatcher73 and Manuel Pazos elsewhere confirm this). I was wondering whether there was some way of reproducing the original image (without damaging the media itself, heh). Attempting to start the game after writing it to the floppy doesn't work (get an error along the lines of "This is not the original disk"), ostensibly due to copy protection.

By Louthrax

Prophet (2437)

27-11-2018, 07:21

Uberjack, that can be done, but you'll need special hardware for that (like a SuperCardPro or KryoFlux device).

By TheKid

Paragon (1238)

27-11-2018, 08:00

How about DSK PRO https://www.msx.org/news/en/dsk-pro-104
It can copy protected disks.
I once had to copy sd-snatcher for a nephew. He bought sd-snatcher and it's previous owner had overwritten the original disks with the oasis translation! My heart actually stopped beating for a few seconds when I saw this. Anyway, ofcourse my nephew wanted to restore the disks to the original. So I took my original disks and copied them with a copy program on the atari st (my father used with cubase). I don;t remember what copy tool it was, but it could copy the disk including bad sectors and all. (So I know it can be down, that's why I suggested dsk pro, maybe this tool can do the same).

By NYYRIKKI

Enlighted (6033)

27-11-2018, 08:35

uberjack: There is no such thing as 100% copy... just like there is no two different coins that are identical. When you look close enough, you will always see a difference. The best copy that you can get is by using special hardware such as SuperCardPro or KryoFlux just like Louthrax suggested.

If it is enough for you that the data bytes on a copy are same and that the game starts, then I think tools like DSK-PRO (MSX) or X-Copy (Amiga) should do the job. What you can't do is to take a DSK-image that has the same data bytes as original and write it to the disk in a way that it would work. This is because DSK-files simply don't store any information about what kind of copy protection there is or where it is located. There are better formats out there that can store this kind of information (such as DMK used by openMSX) but naturally existence of these formats don't help when the information is not read from the original media.

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3851)

27-11-2018, 08:56

My earlier point was that the ‘cracked’ version I found, which differed only in 3 bytes, only circumvents the disk protection. It still needs the original sound cart to work (although a C2 in SCC+ mode will work as well). This will give you the same experience as with the original disks, just without the bad sector protection.