GD-ROM "Swap Trick" Ripping Process
- Second Drive Compatibility List

 

0.0  Disclaimer

Please note that producing a backup of your LEGITIMATELY OWNED Dreamcast games, using the methods described in this docuement (and all related pages on my website), for YOUR personal usage at home, is NOT illegal; or at least, definitely not in the UK. As for other countries - I have no idea, so consult your local solicitor now if you are concerned. Anyway, moving on...

 

1.0  Introduction

This list is an accompaniment to my own drive testing results - since I have only tested a tiny fraction of the available CD and DVD drives out in the open, I decided to gather together lists of any other drives verified either as working or non-working with the GD-ROM disc-swap-trick ripping method, and try and tidy up any inaccurate information, and add in missing details where required.

If you notice some drives missing from this list compared to the original sources, those will be ones I've taken out because I have already tested that particular model (or someone else has, and then emailed me to confirm it), in which case it'll be on the Drive Testing Results page. I am not responsible for you readers spending money on a drive that doesn't work with the rip guides where it was specified as not working - make sure you read everything thoroughly first!

 

1.1  Credits

This guide would not have been possible to compile without any of this stuff - thanks to all of the following resources and / or people:

 

2.0  Verifying exactly what model of CD or DVD drive you have

Many PC optical drives are produced by only a small number of manufacturers - a brand name on the front of your drive is no indicator of who made it, or where it originated from! Hence, if you do have a drive you want to test out with the disc-swap-trick method, be sure to look around on Google or an equivalent website to obtain information on clone drives. Don't waste time busting your drive open if it turns out to be a dud - of course, if the warranty has already run out, then it's probably worth testing regardless, in case some of the info in this document inaccurate (unfortunately, I can't guarantee that it's all 100% correct).

For additional drive verification purposes, the CD-Recordable FAQ also has listings of clone drives, and I have used some of the info there to update this list. Any such entries are marked with a ♣ (clubs) symbol. For the full list, go to this page. In addition to the clubs, I have flagged some other sentences with the ♠ (spades) symbol, which you should follow for further or extended information.

One problem you may find with reading the main drive list is the question of "Which drive model is being referred to when I see, for example, Creative 24X written there?". As a Creative Labs drive, it's most likely a rebadged Samsung drive, but without a concrete model number and / or firmware revision it's not very useful, as manufacturers will often (re-)release drives with the same specs and / or updated firmware.

In any case, always try to match up both the model number and firmware revision used, if all of that is specified (it's usually printed on a sticker, on the top or bottom of the drive casing), with what's in the list. The model number will usually suffice on its own, though - if the only info you can match up is the speed of the drive, assume it is not reliable information, and test out your model to verify (and send me the tested drive info so I can add it to the main list!)

 

2.1  Status of the drive list

Almost all of the drives now have at least one model number associated with them, so most of the details are now useful. Of course, as stated earlier, I cannot be 100% certain if all are correctly identified as working / not working - after all, the Yamaha CRW2100S, listed as working on The Portal, doesn't seem to work for me (hence I left the entry unchanged, and added a note below it to reflect my experience). If additional results come in I will update the entry for that drive, otherwise I won't be changing this much in the near future.

 

2.2  Wanted information

Model numbers for drives in this list which do not have them, but be careful - multiple drives with identical speed ratings / specifications can have more than one model number associated with them; for instance, if an older drive has been upgraded and re-released with a slightly different name, serial number and / or firmware revision.

 

3.0  Second drive compatibility list - notes

 

3.1  Second drive compatibility list - the actual list (at last!)

Working drives:

Having now retested the CRW-2100S with the Yursoft trap discs, which yielded no different results to my home-made ones (and the same old "Unrecoverable drive error" messages in CDRWIN when trying to rip from a GD-ROM), it looks like this can't rip GD-ROMs. Unless of course it needs a modified firmware, but I haven't seen one (yet).

Non-working drives (sorry, there's a lot of them!):

I used to have a CRD-8521B, but was not able to rip using the drive, and could not obtain any firmware files to do additional testing with, so I threw it away.

Clones of the above Philips drive (some branded as HP) can be found at this site ♠.

In the HP drive name, the letter "x" can either be "e" for external or "i" for internal.

The above drive could actually be Creative (Samsung-built), since they use the "Vibra" name in some of their products.

Many models of that Toshiba drive exist, see Tosiba's ODD Archive for more details. (The link is now broken, but it may still be reachable via the Internet Archive.)

The above Philips drive only shows up on the page that this list originally came from, so it's either a typo, or just incredibly rare.

The above Creative drive comes in these models: iNFRA 36oo [aka CD2420E], CR58[7/5]-B, CD-2422E). A full list of Creative optical storage products can be seen here.

♠ In case this page is down, the list of drives is mirrored here:

This "ATAPI" drive is probably an AOpen - as I own two of their CD-ROM drives, I know that both of them appear in Device Manager with a name starting with "ATAPI". Another way of telling if your drive is AOpen is if the model name in Device Manager ends in AKH, or if the drive cover has the acronym "MTRP" stamped on the front of it, around the drive's speed rating (e.g. 52X MTRP).

  

4.0  The End

That's all for now - apologies if your head exploded while trying to digest all of that information!

 

4.1  Copyright Information

Unless otherwise stated, all of this information was written by myself (RobbyW / STC-Fan / zedeckseightyone) ©2004-2008 or adapted from sources who have helpfully contributed information to this document. You may NOT use any information from this document unless you ask nicely beforehand, or something like that.